If Muhammad Ali Never Developed Parkinson’s….

Ali relied on his physical assets, his fundamentals were not that great and made many technical errors. So the answer to your question is no, he wouldn't have done well in his 40s, even if we assume he didn't get Parkinson's.

 

Regardless of Muhammad Ali's onset of Parkinson's Syndrome, I do not think it would have been wise to continue on as a fighter. If Ali had not developed Parkinson's he did suffer more punishment in his fights in the 1970's, especially his two bouts against Joe Frazier. Also in defeating George Foreman in Oct 1974, Ali took brutal shots to the head, he continued to use his famed Rope a Dope in title defenses following his win over Foreman, that tactic cannot be good all of the time especially if you are going up against fighters like Ken Norton, Frazier, Foreman and Earnie Shavers. Ali's legs were gone following his 43 month exile from 1967 until his fight against Jerry Quarry in Oct 1970. the first things to go on a boxer is his legs, his reflexes also started to fail him from moving away from punches as he did in 1967. Ali was more vulnerable in his comeback. The only thing he retained was his speed. His stamina was also pretty much gone, he did not use the ropes as champion from 1964-1967. Ali very sadly would have ended up like Jerry Quarry and his younger brother Mike if he had continued in the ring. No amount of money is worth your health, especially if you are not around mentally to enjoy it as others will enjoy it.

 

He was your quintessential reflex fighter. What he accomplished after his reflexes were largely gone is nothing short of phenomenal.

 

His longevity in the sport was affected by his lay off and his lack of discipline and motivation to train. The best he ever trained after his hiatus was in 1974 for the Ken Norton and Joe Frazier rematches and quite possibly prior to the Leon Spinks rematch in 1978. He was notoriously promiscuous between bouts and his weight would fluctuate and he'd turn up to fights fat and sluggish. He was still quick in his later career but his skills had really eroded by then. If he had avoid all the women , skylarking and over eating in between fights he may have performed much better but because he was naturally so talented he cut alot of corners in training. Had he been surrounded by a team that kept him in shape and away from over consuming food and messing around with women he may well have gone on into the 1980s and been competitive but essentially he just got bored of boxing and turned up for fights for the pay cheques and was often out of shape alot of the time. But because he was so good he got away with it most of time but not when he came up against top level opposition.

 

Here is something I’ve been thinking about. Ali said his jaw came back harder after being wired because of Norton. Has that ever happened before? Yoel Romero had his spine fused and now the impact of a shot is absorbed by everything below the ears, the man eats absolute soul crushers now. I just wonder if Ali having his jaw broken could’ve explained his freak factor later on? But then there’s the Frazier fight…

 

Food for thought,definitely. Obviously,even had he been healthy and did n't take thyrolar,he would still have been too over the hill to have beaten Larry Holmes at that point in his life but I see him having enough left to beat the likes of Trevor Berbick in 1981. He could n't have maintained that form for long,though and would have packed it in for good by his fortieth birthday. Post retirement he'd have been a sought after boxing commentator.

 

How much of his degradation before the Parkinson's was diagnosed was actually due to Parkinson's? I think the real issue here is that we don't really know, so it's hard to begin to guess how his trajectory would have went.

I made a thread about this once, phrased in terms of what if Ali had aged like Holmes. No Parkinson's, avoids CTE, maintains enough of his hand speed and skills to be competitive for alphabet soup belts and score some upsets? I wonder if we'd have got a Tyson v. Ali bout? A Holmes v. Ali rematch? Hell, a Foreman v. Ali rematch once Foreman comes back?

Fun to think of.

 

No father time would've got to him. Aside from his ring IQ Muhammad also relied heavily on his athleticism and once that deteriorated his technical flaws would be exposed.

 

Spot on.

 

Parkinson's is something your born with from DNA, so it would eventually creep up on Ali.

 

Putting Ali’s actual fights aside - if you sit down and watch all the available sparring footage - it’s horrendous how much punishment Ali took in that particular realm.

Not as pronounced in his first career but even then he was allowing sparring partners to wail on him. I understand he rationalised that it was too toughen himself up - but really, it bordered on him being a highly addicted masochist.

 

Yeah like Coetzee. Regardless Ali’s skull was made in the forges of Olympia. I don’t like Ali as a man but he was easily one of the bravest, angriest and weirdly “aggressive” HWs ever the way he took unanswered shots from Shavers and just snorted like a bull is kinda inhuman and a testament to being a total G with a heart like a cornered bob cat.

 

You think he had Parkinson's in the early 70s?

I disagree. He only fought twice after regaining the title for absurd money, and retired before he even knew he was sick.

 

The only medical experience noneck has is being in the hospital for hitting his head, or being dropped as a baby (maybe by Foreman. It would certainly explain a lot).