Muhammad Ali's power was underrated

If someone thinks Ali had feather-fistedness, they are dopey as hell, honestly. He is a harder p4p puncher than someone like a Lomachenko, from now. His power might be similar to a Calzaghe or better. He wasn't a puncher, but there weren't many guys who he couldn't buzz enough to let them know if they dismissed his power they might get knocked out. Also, like a Calzaghe, he just decided when he showed the max power he could, and then tactically backed off of that level for long spells while he scored points with lesser punches. He also had a kind of termite power. Don't come at me from either side because I mentioned these other fighters but a bit of VItali-style cumulative power in that way. Where a durable guy thinks he's fine because no one punch seems dramatic and they can keep wading in, then after several rounds they have to realise all of a sudden that they feel awful and the damage must have been done by Ali's fists. Then they have to call a contractor to fix everything. I don't know what I'm talking about either. I'm just talking. What I'm saying I think is that Calzaghe and Vitali Klitschko are p4p as great as Ali, as punchers. Everyone will like that, I think.

 

I think anybody who says Ali was feather fisted simply needs to watch a different sport.
Of course he wasn’t a power hitter like the obvious candidates, but when he sat down on his punches he could hurt alright.
Even in the first Liston fight he shook up the granite jawed Liston in the earlier rounds before the stoppage, the same with Foreman.
Late stoppages against Bonavena and Lyle suggest he carried that power late.
Especially in his first career Ali was on his toes most of the time and simply wasn’t even trying to knock opponents out but when he got down to work especially with that chopping right hand it was nothing to be sniffed at.

 

He certainly had the physical attributes and potential to have been a power puncher, but his chose style favored speed and quickness for success and it did work out pretty well for him, after all isnt he a three time heavyweight champion?

Edit; He could send someone to the canvas just the same as Foreman or Tyson, just used a couple more shots to achieve the KO. This does not mean he was weak or his punches were "soft". I guess what I am trying to say is he was not a brawler but more measured and relied on speed and strategy as opposed to brute force.

 

I think I know what you mean.

Like when I have 20 beers before I have to break the seal and go to the little boys room. I feel fine, witty as hell, life of the party, but as soon as I try to get up from my stool I find I have no legs and fall flat on my face amid much laughter . Same thing - NO?

Actually, I think it was Termite Lagers that I was drinking…nah, I remember now..they were Redbacks.

 

Underrated power by speed.

 

So described, Ali's power is overrated. He had many other skills that made him who he is, but power isn't one of them. Not that he was a feather-fisted, but can't describe him as a power-fisted neither.

Not taking anything from him, but not giving him so, Ali is Ali the way he fought, not the way he maybe could have done.

 

Larry Holmes said before you roll someone you have to get him drunk first. Ali certainly had cumulative power. Re:The Thrilla. Ali knocked out Joe's mouthpiece twice in that fight and had him backing up in the 13th and 14th round, something he never did.

 

Ali is probably a good example of that old maxim, "the one that hurts you is the one you don't see coming." Devastating speed for a heavyweight.

 

Maybe it's fairer to say he could throw punches in bunches and create opportunities out of nowhere. People say the Lyle fight was an early stoppage but Ali reeled off 54 unanswered punches. They seemed to have come out of nowhere.

 

This, when Ali dug his toes into the mat and set down on his shots he could hit pretty good. The right hands he spun Foremans head with would knock out half the division today

 

I think what made Muhammad Ali so special and so dangerous is his unfathomable coordination, Ali seemed to just manifest his own leverage out of thin air.

 

I’m not aware of many people overrating Ali’s power.
His power has generally been underrated.

 

Neither you, me or anyone can generalise how people see Ali's power. But I see it as above average, but not really powerful puncher. And even if so, there is no problem with that or his average KO ratio.

 

I remember reading or hearing somewhere that Ali used to say something to the effect of he didn't like knocking guys out because then he got to hit them more

that heavy bag looks the same size as the one Foreman was on in the footage leading up to the rumble

 

I agree, the bag looked the same, about 60 lbs I believe. They kept Ali from watching George punching the heavy bag - no wonder!