Rahman was a low low skilled hwt. The rematch with Lewis is what should have occurred in fight one. Be impressed by skill not physique, not size.
Liston by KO. There is nothing that I've seen from Rahman, that convince me that he's capable of beating Sonny Liston. He might make it more competitive than we let on, but I'd favor Liston without any reservation.
1. Ali was never known to be a hard puncher 2. Williams had four warmup fights prior Ali 3. Satterfield was a 35KO/50WIN LHW 4. Williams didn´t have the strongest whiskers, as did Patterson 5. Patterson and Machen would both fight @modern 190 6. Both would most definately do very little fighting in Rahmans footsteeps
You'd have to favour Liston on pedigree but I'd give Rahman a decent chance at getting the upset. Williams landed plenty on Liston and I feel Rahman is at least on that level and probably a better puncher. I just don't get the hate Rahman gets. Yeah, he blew hot and cold and lost to guys he probably shouldnt have. But at his best he had back to back wins against Sanders and Lewis and that's nothing to sneeze at.
Very well put together. The "lol Rahman?", "Rahman gets destroyed", "Reallllyyy!?" posts are almost laughable. Nobody needs to give Rahman more than 40% for a reason. But considering the kind of boxer Liston used to push over, there is simply no reasoning for hate against a fellow putting 250lb Lennox Lewis on the table.
But he was never light handed. He was a fast accurate puncher who got some snap on his shots. He wasn't light handed. He just wasn't an ATG puncher So? He was litterally shot and dropped to 185lbs in hospital. He was not prime for Ali. Again. Murderous puncher. 7 of those 15 points victories came at the end of his career. 2 on his way up Was against Harold Johnson (no shame there) and another against Valdes So 4 people who a prime Satterfield beat (who weren't Elite) went the distance. Not bad. Before he was shot he litterally only KOed by 2 brutal punchers in Satterfield and Liston So? Not saying otherwise? But Liston would do much better than Patterson, Machen and Williams would
@George Crowcroft : Agree Ali was more agressive when he was young. I just think Williams collapsed a little quick against Ali. Satterfield: Thats exactly what I´m talking about, power*chin level. You simply can´t upgrade Bob Foster or Michael Spinks to HW power, because their achievements came at lower weights. Williams got stopped by a 176 pounder in 3. I don´t see that happen to Rahman. Patterson and Machen: Yes. They´d fight 190-CW with very good success. But thats not fighting guys like Rahman. And thats what I always say about Liston: He feasted on boxers 20lb less than him. Because of that, its very uncertain how he would do against McCalls, Rahmans, Witherspoons or Tuckers. But I tend to agree on things you stated and maybe put this a little to far.
