ALI in Place of LOUIS from1937 to1949

IN MY ANALYSIS OF THIS QUESTION, LETS TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT
TYPE OF FIGHTERS GAVE ALI THE MOST TROUBLE: PRESSURE
FIGHTERS LIKE FRAZIER AND FIGHTERS WITH GOOD QUICK JABS
LIKE KEN NORTON.

JIM BRADDOCK HAD A GOOD QUICK JAB, EXCELLENT STAMINA AND A
SOLID CHIN. EXPECT A HARD FIGHT FROM BRADDOCK VERSUS ALI.

LOU NOVA HAD AN EXCELLENT QUICK JAB, VERY GOOD FOOTWORK
A STRONG CHIN AND A HARD RIGHT CROSS. NOVA WAS ALSO
ABOUT 6' 3". NOVA WOULD BE VERY COMPETITIVE VERSUS ALI.

BUDDY BAER HAD HEIGHT (6' 6"), POWER AND DETERMINATION.
BAER COULD GIVE ALI A FEW ANXIOUS MOMENTS.

CONN FOUGHT A BIT DIFFERENTLY THAN ALI. CONN WAS AN
EXCELLENT BODY PUNCHER - HE KAYOED BOB PASTOR WITH A
LEFT HOOK TO THE BODY. CONN WOULD MOVE IN AND BANG
ALI WITH BODY PUNCHES AND CONN ALSO HAD A VERY GOOD
LEFT HOOK TO THE HEAD.

I'M NOT SAYING THAT THESE FIGHTERS WOULD WALK OVER ALI,
BUT THEY WERE ALL EXPERIENCED AND TOUGH AND WOULD GIVE
ALI A FIGHT.

GREBFAN9
WWW.FIRSTROUNDBOXING.COM

 

That Norton gave Ali trouble with his jab doesn't mean all guys with good jabs would trouble him. Liston had a legendary jab that only hit air when he met Ali, and guys like Terrell, Ellis, Bugner and Foreman all had good jabs, but that didn't help them much.

Can't really see why Conn would trouble Ali, who quite easily beat small, fast guys like Patterson and Foster (yes, Foster cut him, but Ali's win was never in doubt).

 

What troubled Ali was guys who fought on the back foot.

Bob Pastor and Joe Walcott would be two to avoid.

 

Except for Jimmy Young (who Ali fought when way past his peak), do you have any examples of this?

 

Yes

Jimmy Young

He looked like a lost little boy in that fight.

It wasnt just that he was faded. He genuinely didnt know how to fight on the front foot. Throw enough Jimmy Youngs at him and he will lose eventualy.

 

The Ali who fought Terrell wouldn't be allowed to fight Conn. Total mismatch. Foreman when he landed could kill Conn.

 

Yeah, I think it's a bit far-fetched to assume that Conn would be difficult for Ali just because Ali had trouble with Jimmy Young in one of the worst perfomances of his career when he was at just about the worst shape he's even been in (he came in at 230 lbs). Foreman lost to Young and I don't see Conn lasting very long against Foreman.

 

I cant see Ali losing to anybody on Joe Louis' record.

 

The Baer fight would have been pretty easy, Ali never had problems with slower lumbering power punchers. I think'd he'd look very impressive in that one.

The Walcott fight would be tougher than expected. I think Jersey Joe would have beaten Ali at that stage.

Ali was never a sucker to a right hand always the left hook. I think its within possibility that he might get cute with Galento and taste the canvas before resuming the clinic that he would have most likely been putting on display. I don't think Schemeling would have given him fits.

 

It is not a question of whether you would favour an given Louis oponent over Ali.

It is a question of whether he could beat them all under the same circumstances as Louis in the same order.

 

Personaly I think Conn would be one of his tougher asignments of that period.

A bit of a foil perhaps.

 

you can't compare Foster and Conn in terms of fighting styles. One, Conn, was a little guy who fought like a little guy (when he wasn't getting carried away), the other, Foster, was a little guy who fought the bigger guys like a bigger guy.