ALI in Place of LOUIS from1937 to1949

He would do well getting KO'd, Patterson knocked Cooper out cold in 4 rounds and he dominated Henry, Cooper would have been Ko'd by Baer,Schmeling,Walcott,Charles,Conn,Godoy,Buddy Baer,Galento,Farr,Carnera,Sharkey, and beaten by Braddock tko cuts

 

Ali in his prime would have a party with Louis's opposition. One fight with Frazier equals five fights withe the likes of Dorazio, Simon, Paycheck, Perroni et al. Joe may have fought more frequently but against lesser opposition. Put Louis in against Ali's opposition and see if he fights as frequently., I doubt it. A 215lb Ali is too fast and strong for the likes of Charles, Walcott, Conn, Schmeling etc. With his height, weight, reach, handspeed and especially footwork, who the hell would catch him? With the exception of Conn who weighed 169lbs(169lbs? Are you kidding me?) for his fight with Joe, all of Joe's opponents basically stood right in front of him and he in front of them. Ali would be culture shock for these guys! The only fighter from that period who would give Ali trouble imo would be Walcott. Tricky and shifty with a good punch. Other than Jersey Joe, Ali, a prime Ali, would have a picnic.

 

Cross trainer, a great post and thought provoking and informative, other posts not quite so!

 

A 34 year old Ali would have a lot of problems with Walcott when Ali was this age he was getting close wins against Norton and Young and Walcott is a more difficult style then both men. Also Ali outspoken attitude may have done negative things for black fighters like it did for Johnson so guys like Charles, Patterson and Liston may not have got their opportunities.

 

one good way to match the careers is made possible by the fact that they both turned pro very young. If Ali would have been in Louis' shoes on the same time line and the guys I would give some chance to win (however small).

Adolph Waiter. A real question mark. Not much is known about Waiter. But he seems to be a real tough opponent for somebody with a handful of fights. This is a question mark, how would an Ali do if this was his sixth or so fight? Question mark.

Max Schmeling. Ali would be very young here, and while Max might not be able to see a real exploitable weakness here, he is still a great fighter who would be in with a very inexperienced Ali. But I think that Ali's style would allow him to do better than Louis did. Though the second fight would not be like Louis v. Schmelling II. Schmeling fights him close on two close, but losing efforts.

Bob Pastor. This would have been a tough fight for Ali. Pastor was a very smart, defensive fighter and the kind of guy that Ali would have to look for. Ali would probably beat him, but he would look really bad and Pastor for sure would have his moments.

Tony Galento, a slim chance, but a chance because of the left hook (ali leveler).

Bob Pastor again. If Ali fights him again based on a close fight before, Ali does just as bad if not worse this time. Louis was the ultimate in rematch kings, Ali, not as much, whereas Pastor may bring more into the rematch.

Arturo Godoy. A tough swarming fighter who would give Ali a tough night and move him towards the ropes a la Chuvalo. Ali is really helped here because he meets Godoy in his prime.

Billy Conn. I think that Ali has a tough time with Conn. Yes Conn was smaller, and had very little power, but Ali does have a problem with a fighter that he will have to go after as opposed to one who will come in to take his head off. Conn could pull off the upset against Ali that he couldn't have done vs. Louis. But Conn's speed would be nearly be somewhat nulled because of the speed of Ali. Ali still needs to press here, so it could be interesting.

Lou Nova. Nova was a pretty good fighter who froze more than a little against Louis. Those that think that Max Baer may have done the trick because he wouldn't freeze up, I would be more inclined to go with Nova who had less power, but still good power, and was more of a technical fighter. I would still pick Ali to win because I think he could cut up Nova.

Tami Mauriello. How would a mid thirties Ali who has lost his legs somewhat do against the swarming Mauriello? Without the absolute bombs that Louis had, Ali would be in for a longer night here. No first round KO and Mauriello would really make a fight of it.

Jersey Joe Walcott. Walcott would have been a tough fight for Ali style wise at any time. The fact that Ali would be older here makes for a real tough fight. I favor Walcott here after he is perhaps robbed in the first fight, in a rematch.

Marciano and Charles would beat a Leon Spinks era Ali, but I throw those out the window.


Louis lost to Schmeling, Charles and Rocky. 69-3
Ali could lose to Pastor II, Mauriello, Walcott (at least once), Charles and Rocky. 67-5.

 

I think Walcott would have been ali's nightmare. A slick cutie counterpuncher with footwork and upperbody moves that could match ali's, and a devastating left hook which ali was sucseptible too. I still see ali winning but very close fight. Louis said Walcott would have beaten ali.

 

I would have liked to see how Ali would have done against Harry Bobo, Lee Q murray, Turkey Thompson, Elmer Ray, Jimmy Bivins, Jack Trammell, Willie Reddish, Roscoe Toles, Tiger Jack Fox. Too bad politics and world war II prevented louis from fighting some of these very well deserving guys.

 

Bivins against Ali would be great for the fans, Jimmy had a slick style who would be dangerous for Ali...

 

Ali clears it relativelly easy for that matter so would Tyson and Holmes.

Only Conn and Wallcot might give some trouble.

Louis did not really fight a great slew of of contenders.

But the myth of Joe Louis makes those contenders look better then they really where.

 

Cooper gets a bad beating by Ali in 2 fights but he lands one good punch and is now considered a troublesome fighter for Ali :nut Same with Banks LOL. When Ali did get knocked down he got straight back up. **** happens but it's how you react that's important. Clutching at straws me thinks

 

He might just have more trouble with Louis's oponents than his own.

While they were generaly inferior they might have posed more awkward stylistic match ups.

The guys I rather fancy as possible spoilers are Bob Pastor, Tommy Farr, Billy Conn and Joe Walcott.