From 1-10, how high are a prime Louis' chances against a prime Ali?

Oh i totally agree.

The 15th round KD gets remembered automatically but sometimes we forget how much trouble Ali was in that earlier round.

 

Solid chance. Eddie Futch thought so and had his boy Norton summon the fighting spirit of Prime Joe Louis while punking Ali on 3 separate tries...

 

Frank: In your book you say Ali is the best ever. Do you believe that?

Norton: As far as I’ve been around, yes.

Frank: Is Ali the best fighter you ever fought?

Norton: Yes.

https://www.boxing247.com/news/Ken-Norton-Interview.php

 

I prefer watching Joe's fights over those of Alis, but much as I admire Joe's style, I see the chances of a prime Louis versus a prime Ali at about 1, if that. Ali has foot-speed, hand-speed, size and a better chin in his favor.

 

I would add Conn to your list

 

2

 

I mostly agreed with him too, although Walcott unlike Louis reached his prime late & Louis had lost a good amount by then.
Many say Wolcott was uner 6', but I actually wonder if he was wrong when in a clip where Clint Eastwood appeard & hits a speed bag, Ali is himself not incorrect when he states he is 6'2".
In any case I cannot find Jersey Joe listed under 6', so he must have slightly outdone the height difference.
Ali's wingspan also varied in what was listed...

Still makes little difference, Ali has the athletic & stylistic advantage.

 

Ali was a legit 6'3". I was looking at images of Ali with other famous people and then googling their heights. You can repeat my exercise. That's the scientific method. There are photos of Ali with every president from Nixon to Trump. For instance there's a photo of him with Ford. President Ford was 6'00" Ali was taller than him and much taller than the 5'10" Carter. Think about two things. Ali was taller than most of his opponents. HWs aren't that short. Ali towered over Joe Frazier. If Ali was under 6'00", that would have made Joe 5'7", almost a manlet.

 

I met him in Philadelphia during his forced layoff. Though shorter than me, I would guess his height at at least 6 feet 3 inches, and I even checked out his foot wear. There is NO way that he is under 6 feet tall. Impossible. 6 feet 3 inches is about it with Ali.

 

Thanks another first hand account!
However did not mean to say Ali was under 6' tall, or even near that height-nobody outside of a mental institution would.

So institutionalize me; I just noted that I accidentally wrong Ali when I meant to type...
that I never see Jersey Joe listed less than 6' tall.
Thus when someone said Ali was 3.5" taller than him, this seems implausible, should be at least slightly wrong.

 

In a one off you have to figure Ali by decision but if Louis was trained to fight Ali actually using his legs like he did against Max Baer I absolutely think Joe could have been a living hell for Ali as a better Doug Jones or Norton with that jab .. he'd have to fight a different fight but I think he could do it ..

 

Good points. It's true people form their opinions based on many reasons. I think no matter how hard we try to be non-biased, a certain amount of personal favoritism will seep through.

I heard from a friend about the Ali-Jones verdict. However, he was not much an Ali fan, so that could have clouded his judgment.

I'm curious to see how I score it.

 

50/50 chance. It's a pick'em fight.

 

50/50, maybe 55/45 in favor of Ali.

 

I give Joe Louis six of ten against Muhammad Ali. Joe is my number one Heavyweight of all time.