Was Muhammad Ali a hard hitter? When I watch one of his fights I see a lot of glancing blows. His punches seem to slide off many times. I like watching his fights. I really like watching his interviews. I guess Howard Cosell is not with us anymore.
Ali was the definition of "Timing beats speed, precision beats power." He lacked raw power but his timing and intercepting shots badly hurt his opponents, this is how he finished Williams, Foreman, Lyle , Shavers and hurt people like Liston.
He wasn't a hard puncher in the traditional sense but I don't think he was a featherfist. A well-timed, accurate Ali hook or overhand right could definitely wobble or even drop a good opponent. I like trains.
Larry Holmes said it best, "before you roll a guy you have to get him drunk first." He threw punches in bunches. He also could bang when he sat on his punches. Back to Larry he said Ali was one of the few boxers to consistently punch off the back foot.
I never saw him hit harder than he hit Frazier in the 13th and 14th round of their third fight. It's the only time I saw Joe involuntarily back up.
Alot of people have said Muhammad Ali didn't throw any body punches and I would agree to an extent it wasn't part of his array of punches but if you study his fights the younger Cassius Clay and the older Ali threw straight long jabs to the body!
Ali wasn't a power puncher, but his power was very underrated. He hurt a lot of hard chinned mfs like Foreman, Frazier, Liston etc. The dude could bang
He was also limited by brittle hands; Ferdie Pacheco had to inject Ali’s hands with lidocaine prior to a fight so he could punch with full force and confidence. Bouncing your knuckles off a skull like Frazier’s would do it, I guess …
It's one of those "the one you don't see coming hurts you the most"... But I agree, I see a lot of missing or glancing shots in his fights. It's one reason I think a guy like Tyson or Holyfield would be able to tolerate them enough to eat a few to get inside and close that distance, and land their own, more punishing blows
Sonny Liston was interviewed after Ali/Liston 1 & was asked what happened , he said " They told me that boy couldn't punch . they lied " !!!!!
The one match of Ali's where body punching alone would have won the decision for him was against Blue Lewis in Dublin, Ireland. A much overlooked bout in the Ali canon, it shows him making the fight by coming forward and underneath. It's the proof that he actually could do it all. Next might be Mildenberger, where the idea was to get a southpaw by hooking to the body. He also used body shots with Brian London, Joe Bugner, Cleveland Williams and Ernie Terrell.