Don't know about top 5--but IMHO his greatest performance was in the FOTC! To put on that kind of performance against the peak version of Frazier (who was an absolute ferocious pit-bull in 1971) after being exiled for 3.5 years and having essentially 1 and 1/4 tune up fights--(the Quarry flight was a quick stoppage) is to this day astonishing! ANYBODY else that night against Ali goes down--I really believe that!!
1. Frazier 3 2. Foreman 3. Liston 1 4. Frazier 2 5. Terrell Sorry but beating a (literally) shot Williams doesn't count, no matter how impressive the show.
Foreman Liston I Williams Terrell Norton II I'm always changing my mind about these as Muhammad came out with so many top notch performances between 1964-75 but this is how my list stands today.
Other top tenners faced an even more depleted version of Williams like Chuvalo and Foster. Chuvalo had to settle for a hard fought decision and was visibly rocked Foster was nearly knocked out and on the losing end of a sluggers before ending matters. If it was that easy to handle that version of Williams, any half assed contender would’ve done so. But they didn’t.
If Angelo Dundee's opinion counts, it was the Zora Folley fight. If 'top' is taken to mean 'best'. Cant recall the source but I think it was a quote from Muhammad Ali: The Holy Warrior by Don Atyeo and Felix Dennis Greatest? Take your pick. FotC against that version of Frazier so soon into his comeback. The Rumble for obvious reasons. The Thrilla in that heat taking that punishment and prevailing. Liston 1. Overcoming those odds as a 22 year old. What a career.
1. Rumble: Amazing win over a top ten prime ATG in Foreman probably one of the best wins in boxing history 2. Frazier 2: Underrated performance Ali took Frazier to school running circles around him and winning a clear decision idk why people don't talk about it more Ali looked much worse in 3 and 1 3. Liston 1: While I don't rank this win as highly as others it was still an impressive performance to win the championship over a reigining champ would have been more impressive if it wasn't for Liston apparently being injured but still great performance 4. Norton 2: Honestly I think this fight was the best Ali looked in the 70s and he needed it to beat his toughest test. Close fight that I can def see for Norton but still a great performance showing that when he took his training seriously he can still replicate his form from the 60s 5. Tough one but I'm going to go with Patterson 1: Completely dismantling a former champ who would go on to be competitive with other great fighters in the era. Took him apart and made it look easy while Patterson could do nothing.
Wonder why nobody mentions Quarry II. It was complete domination over one of the best contenders ever that hadn't won a world title. Absolute domination
