Ali's power was clearly underrated

I watched an interview with Mohammad Ali where he talks about how he is not a knockouter at all, and what boxing means and represents.
I apologize; google translate

 

Ali could throw hard punches when he wanted to, but he had to set down on them and dig his toes into the mat to land hard. Not his style really.

 

I agree with the premise of what you’re saying and concur that Muhammad Ali did indeed have power. But in fairness some of those stoppage were also the result of such factors as exhaustion, cuts, or long term sustained beatings. But yes he could punch

 

He had at least average one punch power. A tad bit more and it would have been easier to keep Kenny and Joe off him. He did make both of them back up though.

 

He was a stiff punching heavyweight who could hurt you if he continuously landed

 

Liston spoke after their first fight 'that ain't the guy I was supposed to be fighting... that guy could punch!'.
He had a jolting snappy power and very fast, accurate punches. As we know he would also tire you out and drown you in deep water, lots of very late knockouts.
Ali had good power he just didn't fight much like the typical 'power puncher'.

 

People dwell on the rope a dope in Zaire. Rewatch the video. He was swiveling Foreman’s head with punches.

 

Why did he barely go to the body when throwing?

 

As well as not always being ideally set to punch most of the time, it seems Ali’s bad hands might’ve been a factor at times also.

I’ve no doubt that Ali was hitting and hurting Foreman often until the KO - clearly staggering George in round 4 - and such punishment can serve to hasten the depletion of a fighter’s tank. Ali had already confirmed that his hands were absolutely fine for that fight.

I think at 214 1/2, his top weight for his first career, Ali was that little bit less mobile but hitting particularly hard against Chuvalo in their ‘66 bout.

Fair to say that the impervious quality of Chuvlo’s chin might’ve masked the power that Ali exhibited in that fight - though in my eyes, Ali stung and backed up Chuvalo on several occasions - and likewise, the quality of Foreman’s chin might’ve neutralised perceptions - and the true extent of Foreman’s chin was likely not fully appreciated as at the time of Zaire.

If Ali had fought Frazier in the late 60s, I tend to think he would’ve presented most closely to the version that fought Chuvalo - a bit heavier, trading some mobility for power. I could be totally wrong and Ali might’ve come in light for optimal mobility - he was extremely light for both the Liston and Cooper rematches.

Ali’s weights and preparations going in were considerately customised to the specific attributes of the upcoming opponent.

Whatever the reasons, I guess it’s fair to identify apparent anomalies when comparing certain different fights. For how he could hurt other fighters, I might’ve expected Ali’s power to have more of an impact on Norton.

But then, Norton’s chin is underrated also imo - he took shots very well to a certain power threshold - beyond that though, he seemed to immediately come apart.

Strangely, and some might disagree, but it seemed that Jimmy Young, when he let his hands go, had at least as much success stunning or hurting Norton as Ali did.

There’s also the sideline fact that Young (of all people) did hurt Ali with a right hand in their fight - per the vision it appeared that way and Ali later attested to being rocked by the punch.

I suppose labels like punchers or powder puff punchers might hold for the most part given the careers of certain fighters and the general effect of their shots - but certainly it seems they aren’t necessarily locked into the labelling for every fight they engaged in.

Styles and accents can lend a lot to the material effectiveness of a fighter’s punch - but without being so harnessed, most if not all could probably hit pretty decently when not inhibited.

As size went, Jimmy Young wasn’t exactly small in his era, at about 6’2” and 210-215 when in shape - but Jimmy was safety first and his commitment to punch hard simply wasn’t there more often than not.

 

A better way of putting it, would be that he is underrated as a finisher.

What role his power played in this is less certain.

 

Simply wasn't his style.
No fancy explanation necessary.

 

I have said this for years. He was a punishing puncher at all times, and when he sat down on his punches he had excellent power. 37KO's in 56 wins is pretty damn great when your ledger is packed with as much elite as his, and then includes those later fights when he was shot.

 

Bap-bap-bap, BOOM, Bap-bap-bap-bap, move, bap BOOM is how I always watched his style.

When Ali lowered the right hand boom, planting his feet for a split second after dancing, he could sting and hurt badly. That laser right sneaking in there surprised everyone. Ali had jolting power that would sting guys and hit them in ways they couldn't see or didn't expect. His opponents would often walk onto shots at very vulnerable angles as well. He was a master of force-on-force collisions.

 

Ali loved to stuff around and carried many an opponent. He loved his time in the ring and quite often extended it for show and self satisfaction. When he actually wanted to hit hard he had some good steam in his punches and his handspeed saw them carrying plenty of velocity with the chance of being unsighted as well.