Would Anthony Joshua do worse then Ron Lyle against Ali?

I didn't say that Ali was a harder puncher or that he would stop him, but Joshua getting rocked and dropped by Old Man 2 year layoff Wlad isn't a very good feat by any means

 

Ali was just coasting much of the fight. 99% of people know he was renowned for it. He loved being out there. He did it in numerous fights. At times he'd fight as if in a glorified sparring session. He could have taken guys like Foster out well sooner, but hey, he had to get his time in the spotlight.

 

Ali really didn’t have a ton left by this point, and I think AJ is better than Lyle in all respects except possibly chin. Maybe equal power?

Think AJ at his best might well take this faded version of Ali. Is he beating prime Ali? Hell no. But this version? Eh. He might.

 

The Coopman and Dunn fights showed if you lowered Alis competition a bit he could still be dominant. And that was after Frazier III. Lyle was before. At this point Alis lack of dominance was due to the level of competition he was facing. After the Dubois fight I don't think AJs on Lyles level anymore.

 

It's a great example of how who you're up against affects how good you look. As an illustration of that general principle, top notch.

As it relates to Ali specifically, though, it's a sign of where he was as a fighter in the later 70s that he needed Dunn and Coopman to look that good.

 

I have heard this a few times Ali used to coast or let opponents hit him. If true that wasn't a good strategy because those punches probably shortened his life span by taking even more punishment.

 

Against the version of Ali that Lyle fought? No, probably does better

 

I take your pigeons and raise you a cat. Does the best version of AJ do better than Foreman in the jungle? Now, now, no knee jerk reactions here, Foreman is ten times, a hundred times the fighter AJ is but he fought a crazy fight that night....