Muhammad Ali's peak

1967. Folley and Terrell.

It's kind of disturbing to think he was getting even better right up to the point he got banned.

 

Muhammad Ali reached his peak in March 1967 right before the title defense against Zora Folley, he had speed, incredible reflexes, stamina, and footwork. During Ali's title unification bout against WBA Champion Ernie Terrell on Feb 6 1967, he displayed all of his above mentioned skills in scoring a very lopsided 15 round decision over Terrell to unify the title in Houston, Texas. We never saw Ali's prime because he was stripped of his title and his boxing license revoked for refusing induction into the military in April 1967. Ali began a 43 month exile from the ring, when he returned to the ring in Oct 1970, he retained speed, but his footwork was limited, his reflexes and stamina had diminished, this led to his first defeat at the hands of World Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier on March 8 1971, Ali lost by unanimous 15 round decision.

 

The Folley fight.

 

1966-1967 was when he looked the fastest and sharpest on film. Of course many of his better wins would come after he returned to the ring in the seventies but his footwork ( one of his strongest attributes ) looked diminished

 

Muhammad Ali was asked if he deliberately prolonged the Ernie Terrell fight to which he replied he couldn't put him away so thats why it went the full 15 rounds. Aside from the alleged thumbs in Terrell's eyes it's actually considered quite a challenging fight for Ali.

 

It is possible that his absolute peak never happened.

 

I'd say the first Cassius Clay versus Sonny Liston fight he exhibited a lot of his skills and many could consider that one of his finest performances. He went the full distance with both George Chuvalo in their first fight pre exile and Ernie Terrell and he looked in his prime against Cleveland Williams. The comeback version of Muhammad Ali's peak was in 1974 against Ken Norton and Joe Frazier in their respective rematches he trained harder for those two than any other fights to rectify his losses. So I'd say between 1964-67 and for the comeback version of Ali in 1974 when he was trying to regain the championship in his rematches against Norton and Frazier.

 

The Cleveland Williams performance had absolutely everything.

 

I saw it a week later on ABC's Wide World Of Sports, it was one sided, Ali had Terrell badly hurt in round 7, then in round 8, the interrogation began, What's My Name. A lot of fighter allege a lot of things especially if they are on the losing end. Ali could have ended it in round 7, but chose to punish Ernie. I do not make excuses for any fighter especially if they are my favorites, I call them down the line. I was an athlete in High School many years ago, we were taught good sportsmanship, shake hands before and after a Cross Country meet or Track meet. Howard Cosell as usual was his old instigating self rebroadcasting the Ali Vs Terrell fight, getting a big kick out of Ali putting Ernie down for his alleged complaint of fouls.

 

Jim Jeffries was as good as he had ever been when he retired.

Gene Tunney was as good as he had ever been when he retired.

Joe Louis was as good as he had ever been when he went into the Army.

Muhammad Ali was as good as he had ever been when he got stripped of the title.

We didn't necessarily seen the best of any of these men.

 

Well, he was exiled during his late 20s which means in all likelihood we never got to see him at as his peak.

 

Muhammad Ali was exiled at age 25 following his 9th title defense against WBA no. 1 challenger Zora Folley on March 22 1967 in Madison Square Garden, Ali won by TKO 7. When Ali returned to the ring on Oct 26 1970 against no.1 challenger Jerry Quarry, he was 28 years old, most of his skills were long gone, his stamina and reflexes, his legs also started to go, he was vulnerable. Ali could not fight for 43 months, sparring is not actual combat, headgear?

 

43 months out of the ring makes a huge difference, you lose a lot with a long layoff like that. Also, Ali did not have the same dedication in training after his exile either. He was known to drink sodas and not keep a strict diet regimen when he was training for fights when he returned from exile. Perhaps if he was more disciplined with his diet he wouldn't have lost to Frazier.

 

For Frazier, his reflexes and his stamina were long gone. Giving credit where credit is due, Yank Durham would not allow Joe Frazier to fight against champion Muhammad Ali in 1967, he thought his charge was too green. The Frazier camp waited per Durham, a very shrewd move by Yank Durham, Ali as champion used to make fun of that move.