So Who would you pick for Ali to fight, who you think would be his hardest opponent? Any era,any rules?
I should imagine Larry Holmes could really have tested Ali. He had the great jab, elite boxing skills, excellent movement, and durability. And the ability to fight at Ali's preferred pace. A prime Muhammad could make most heavyweight s fight his fight. A prime Holmes is one of the few to force Ali into a battle of pure boxing skills for 15 rounds.
Louis because he was the complete package none of his best opponents were. Big puncher Ali's size whose quick and gets better when things go wrong. Of all the big punchers he is the least likely to get Liston'd or Foreman'd. Wills, Loughran,Tunney, John Henry Lewis, Moorer, Buster and Tony Tucker are tough matchups. First and foremost go with fighters who could win rounds against Ali like Jimmy Young but someone whom judges don't have a severe allergic reaction towards. Ali did face a lot of his best opponents he was very lucky to fight Nortonx3Frazierx3Listonx2Foreman,Young,Lyle and emerge with a 9-2 record. And 5 stops to boot..
1920s: Jack Dempsey 1930s: Joe Louis 1940s: Joe Louis 1950s: Rocky Marciano 1960s: Sonny Liston 1970s: Joe Frazier 1980s: Mike Tyson 1990s: Riddick Bowe 2000s: Lennox Lewis 2010s: Wladimir Klitschko 2020s: Oleksandr usyk.
I think the more recent larger heavyweights are potentially trickier. Lewis for example - it’s a completely different test than anyone Ali faced in his career. Aside from the size dimension, Louis had a unique mix of handspeed and lethal combination punching. Ali obviously faced some huge punchers and stood up to them, but none that put punches together like Louis.
