Could Ali handle lennox lewis size?

He handled Williams, Terrel, A. B. Lewis, Mathis', etc. size, so I would think so.:good

 

I think he could handle it but with some difficulty, I think Lennox Lewis stylistically isnt a good match up for Ali. I really couldnt even bet on who would win head to head.

 

A) Neither is a prime Lewis.

B) Mathis weighed 256 in the Ali fight.

 

sure. Ali, when he matured, was not a little man. 227lbs, 6'3 is more than big enough. Especially, when reach and all the other important factors are taken in.

Reach, two inch difference for Lewis. Height, two inches. chest and waste about the same size.
two inches in height and twenty pounds give or take, not much difference to speak of, plus, ali is not going to be trading with Lewis, too smart and athletic to do that.

 

A veteran Holyfield managed to keep Lewis at bay for 24 rounds. Imagine how a peak Ali would take away Lennox's legs with constant movement. Ali has advantages in hand and foot speed, faster reflexes and a better chin. For Lennox Ali is a horror opponent.

 

Of course he could, and would.

Could Lewis handle Foreman? That's probably a better question.

 

With all these recent Lewis threads it seems a lot of people are giving Lewis #1 head to head slot. I don't buy it. IMO, Ali beats him and so does Joe Louis, Liston, Holmes and Foreman, to name a few.

I would probably be most confident of Ali beating Lewis, though. Maybe not in a spectacular win, but in a solid one.

 

Ali at 227 lbs is overweight. His best weight was between 210 and 220lb (not that that's a bad mark, just saying). For instance, when he came in underprepared in his first fight against Norton, he weighed in at 221lb. When he came in focused in the rematch he was at a trim 212lb and it made the difference, he won.



As for the topic question, sure, he can handle Lewis' size.
Whether Ali can handle someone of Lewis' size AND talent is a different question of course. Terrel, Mathis (fat) and others are not even close to having Lewis' talent and ability so it is fair to say he is untested here just like for instance Gene Tunney is untested against a talented 200+lb'er.
Ali does have more durability and speed than Lewis however. What happens if someone comes by with Lewis' size who has Ali's speed and durability and Lewis' power and adaptiveness? A different case, but another 50 years may well go by before that happens.

 

Good hypothetical, Chris, but we are dealing with what has already occured. Ali handled guys as good as Lewis during his career; certainly equal in power, and pretty much the same size.

 

The guys Ali handled were nothing like Lewis. Foreman is not even close to having Lewis' jab, pacing, ring intelligence, technique, defense, accuracy (he barely hit Ali flush) or footwork. Chin goes to Foreman but that's a non-factor against Ali anyway.

Frazier is just a totally different fighter: a short, stocky pressure fighter.

Liston is somewhat similar but a LOT smaller and he was aging + undertrained. Despite what all mythical stories want to make you believe about the Godzilla Liston was, he was a mere 6'0" 212lbs compared to Lewis 6'5" and 245lbs. Liston was awefully slow. Liston is also much, much faster.
For instance, compare how Liston finished Williams on the ropes in their second fight to how Lewis finished Botha. Liston throws very slow, almost telegraphed punches and in very slow succesion. Lewis throws 3 dynamite knockout blows within a second and the difference is telling. Lewis also had much more ring intelligence; Liston had no idea how to cut the ring off. Lewis had better heart as well.


So no, i wouldn't say he handled guys as good as Lewis. You could argue that Liston and Foreman punched as hard as Lewis (i don't think so, but i can imagine this position). But that doesn't account for much when you ignore all other factors i just lined out.

 

So is Liston a turtle or hare... something scrambled my brain in this post

 

He wasn't so overweight that he couldn't box circles around Mathis.
Ali was a smart fighter, he knew when he had his work cut out for him. If a couple of extra pounds would work well vs Lewis, he would add them on. If he wanted to scale back and dance more, he could do that as well.

I admire your appreciation, for LL, I share the same. But the original question was, "is Ali big enough" I say of course he was.

The older they both got, the heavier they both got. Only natural. Some could say that Lewis best performance was 227 vs. Ruddock. If you want to tack on 15 more for Lewis over that performance, fine. But there is not a super, enormous weight difference there. Lets say Ali, 220. Lewis 245. Ali is going to be quicker of foot, faster of hand for sure. Better jaw most would say by anyone who isn't simply staunch Lewis.