Ali as a composite puncher

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by McGrain, Jul 25, 2009.


  1. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    Working back through his career, here are some of Muhammad's more outstanding stoppages:

    Ron Lyle - Ali was the first man ever to stop him. He was stopped only three more times in his career, once by George Foreman with two more stoppages in the last year of his (pre-comeback) career. In his prime Lyle was stopped by only Ali and Foreman.

    Joe Frazier - Ali shares this one in common with George too. It's a TKO rather than the straight up Foreman KO, but still, only two men have been able to stop Joe Frazier, ATG puncher George Foreman, and Muhammad Ali.

    George Foreman - Ali is the only man to have stopped Foreman in spite of the comeback. His chin is confirmed granite with the comeback underlining this. Confirmed punchers that have tried and failed to stop George include Morrison, Lyle, Frazier and Briggs. Non were able to do so but Ali was. Hugely impressive KO.

    Oscar Bonavena - Oscar Bonavena would have slipped happily into the file marked "unbreakable" alongside guys like McCall had he not run into Ali. Stopped only once, Ron Lyle, Floyd Patterson, Joe Frazier and George Chuvallo are amongst the men that tried and failed to stop Oscar. A great, great stoppage win. The three knockdown rule was in effect but Ali shows devastating punching with both hands to stop his man, especially the timed left for the first knockdown, Ali's left hand being much maligned as a knockout weapon, of course.

    Jerry Quarry - Put together punches well enough to organise the fastest ever stoppage over Quarry.

    Sonny Liston - Whatever you feel about the details of the stoppage, Ali is the only man to stop Liston in his prime.


    So above we have a confirmed granite chin (Foreman), arguably a second (Bonovena), another great chin (in Liston) and exceedingly hard and durable men (Lyle, and in another category all together, Joe Frazier).

    That's some ledger. A better ledger than a confirmed punchers like Marciano, Tyson or Lewis, for example. Ali achieves his knockout wins through boxing and smarts, of course, but the punches have to do the work...and guys who achieve their greatest successes through skill rather than power generally don't break so many exceptional chins! So how do you see Ali in terms of composite punching ability?

    37 ko's in 56 wins, Ali was probably matched tougher than any HW since the days of Langford and Wills.
     
  2. he grant

    he grant Historian/Film Maker

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    Interesting post but a little tilted ...

    Frazier was a tko because Frazier was blind
    Quarry was a cut
    Liston simply quit

    That being said Ali had some power , more than given credit for ... strange how he KO's Bonavena but cannot really drop Patterson ... Stopped Lyle but never seriously hurt Norton in 39 rounds ... one of those things ..
     
  3. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    Fair enough but

    1 - Ali hit Frazier until he couldn't defend himself properly
    2 - Quarry was cut, but nobody else was able to stop him so quickly
    3 - Liston was compelled to quit for a reason, he didn't quit for giggles.

    Not that anything you've said is untrue.
     
  4. Chinxkid

    Chinxkid Well-Known Member Full Member

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    How many times did we see Ali, after rounds of moving, jabbing, scoring but not scoring big, almost running a stalemate by just keeping his guy off, connect with that one shot that changed everything, a shot that stopped the action for a moment as his guy was stunned, jolted out of the lull he'd drifted into, and then Ali's two-handed fast as lightning follow up finish him while he was still under the ether?
     
  5. TheGreatA

    TheGreatA Boxing Junkie Full Member

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  6. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    I agree with you A. It's not an "all the way" hook that he gets Oscar with, but it's definitely a left hand!
     
  7. PowerPuncher

    PowerPuncher Loyal Member Full Member

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    Ali is an underrated puncher, ofcourse he's never been a brutal puncher though but his technique is just beautiful. You have to remember most of his shots were about punching while not getting punched and he punched on his tip toes, which drastically reduces his power. The Frazier 1 fight is a good example of his punching, he sat on his shots early and really tried to take Frazier out and hurt Joe. When he came off his top toes he could really stun his opponent as Dundee himself said.
     
  8. PowerPuncher

    PowerPuncher Loyal Member Full Member

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    Its a hook, just a short sharp compact hook
     
  9. TheGreatA

    TheGreatA Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Here's the punch in slow motion as well as some craziness between Cosell, Ali, Bonavena and Frazier:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-j3H5FoDgM

    Ali actually caught Frazier with a similar left hook in their first fight but it didn't seem to do the kind of damage to him as it did to Bonavena. Frazier was in great condition to take the punches he took.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFh6Ya_zsHw
    3:00
     
  10. Manassa

    Manassa - banned

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    Muhammad Ali was not an above average puncher for his weight, and he is certainly not underrated in that regard. Nobody says he couldn't hit, infact, most people say he was underrated - which means he clearly isn't.

    And you can't say he had 'average' power then give him a 6.5 or 7/10 - that's not average! Neither can you show me a handful of examples where he caught his opponent in the right spot and tell me he was a solid puncher.

    Next, people will be showing me the Cleveland Williams fight and telling me he was good at bodypunching because he jabbed the Cat's stomach a few times - wait, that's already been done.

    Yes, Ali was capable of hurting his opponent, but then so should anyone heavyweight boxer. Some punch harder than others, but Ali was definitely one of the 'others.'
     
  11. groove

    groove Well-Known Member Full Member

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    are u getting the new stone roses 20th anniversary boxset Manassa?
     
  12. Manassa

    Manassa - banned

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    Didn't know there was one mate, but I doubt I'd buy it. I prefer the stuff that was released at the time, although some compilations can be good.
     
  13. groove

    groove Well-Known Member Full Member

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  14. Bummy Davis

    Bummy Davis Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Its not so much his power but his ability to land a clean pinpoint punch. This is my argument when I speak of JJWalcott and Charles, even though both were better pure punchers than Ali, Ali had speed and combo's but could also land a well timed punch ( important) In the case of Bonavena, Foreman, Ali's great conditioning came into play but I think his timing for Liston 1, and a combo of timing and conditioning for Frazier 2, Foreman and Bonavena...Quarry was stopped quick but Jerry kind of gave up going in ( mentally beaten) still there was some nice combo's and a few well timed pinpoint shots. being acurate enhances and and magnifies power
     
  15. JohnThomas1

    JohnThomas1 VIP Member

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    Ali is definitely a fine puncher. One puncher no, but he sure can hit when need be. Tho many many factors come into it on face value he has a better stoppage percentile than guys like Duran, Charles, Holmes, Ike Williams and numerous others. He also pretty much matches SRL. He's sure no feather fist like a Pep etc.