90 Holyfield vs 71 Ali

Hmm, a young quick and hot Holy vs a not quite as fast as he used to be but sitting into his punches more Ali.

I give this to Ali, but Holyfield's reputation would gain a lot from this decision loss.

Ali experiences the left hook (has him holding a couple of times).

 

So. When we say that the FotC was the single greatest victory in heavyweight history, do we need to reassess that now with the caveat that the vanquished fighter may have let himself get out of shape between December - because Ali looked fine aganst Bonavena - and February? Might Ali have been less than what he could have been come March on account of a lack of discipline between fights? Or do we just say, it's one photo. It may have been the angle. Let's be honest, he looked good enough on the night.

I lean towards the latter though I would say that Ali could have been more prepared. More tune-ups and less ice cream and peach cobber after Bonavena. On the day of the Frazier fight he took a massive walk around New York, by all accounts. Did that expend energy that he might have been able to draw on later that evening?

This is the enigma with Ali. What shouldn't have worked - laying on the ropes against Foreman being the perfect example but, by no means, the only one - often turned out fine for him. Maybe the big walk energised him or maybe it relaxed him and made him less tense in the ring.

I digress. But that's easy to do with Ali. There are always so many talking points, even around something so mundane as a Fight of the Century!

PS: Good luck with college.