Ali is not the GOAT--- Henry Cooper had him out on his feet...

No matter what you say, Ali's the greatest.

 

That Cooper argument is terrible. He did have Ali in trouble, so what?
Holmes was mentored by Ali, in fact he got much of his style from him.
Ali's record and achievements speak for themselves.

Shame on you for such a shitty thread.

 

Yes.......

 

Ali wasn't filled out against Cooper.

He's proof that somehow, in some way, a guys chin can improve.

Look at him in his prime, after the Cooper fight when he was still very green, he had possibly one of the greatest heavyweight chins of all-time.

 

All the punches he took from Frazier, Norton, Shavers, Foreman and MANY other great fighters he fought mean nothing all of a sudden, huh?

 

The Ali from the Cleveland Williams fight would probably beat any version of any heavyweight ever.

I think Holmes would win if they fought 3 times, but Ali would always edge a trilogy.

 

Yes he would have. Spinks moving from Light heavyweight beat Holmes twice, Whitherspoon nearly beat him too and had him seriously hurt at some point and Shavers dropped him.

Holmes is one of the greatest but better or greater than Ali?, I don't think so.

 

Based on what? His wins over all of those great fighters? Oh wait, the great fighters he fought beat him. Michael Spinks the LHW. Mike Tyson (albeit Holmes was done). Ken Norton and Earnie Shavers are good wins, as were Berbick, Cooney, Witherspoon and a couple of others.

But let's be serious: Ali beat Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier and George Foreman. Then you throw in Holmes' best wins as scraps for Ali - Norton and Shavers, plus the likes of Patterson, Quarry, Lyle, Ellis etc.

It's been proven many times that the glove cut gained around 12 seconds, this was proven with the FULL fight video on the classic board some time ago. The talk of 'minutes' is purely a myth that has been blown out as time has passed for those who wish to bring Ali down.

It was a very good left hook from a very big hitter, who caught Ali on the tip of the chin when he was young and green, and far too cocky. And Ali was up by the count of 4 or so!

 

That was a younger Ali that hadn't really mastered his style yet. He still got up at the count of about 4 after Cooper's left hook, and despite certain exaggerated reports, was only given about 9 seconds of extra time last I recall. All greats have their difficult moments, you're failing to consider the wealth of good that has come with the bits of bad in Ali's career.

 

He was not quite prime then, and he was easily winning up to that point and butchered him afterwards. In the rematch he dominated again.

Let's compare

Ali: Joe Frazier (twice), George Foreman, Sonny Liston (twice), Jerry Quarry, Floyd Patterson (twice), Jimmy Ellis, Earnie Terrell, Cooper (twice), Ken Norton, Oscar Bonavena, Zora Folley, Earnie Shavers, Clevland Williams, Ron Lyle, George Chuvalo (twice), Bob Foster, Joe Bugner, Leon Spinks.

Holmes: shot Ali, Norton, Shavers (twice), Berbick, Witherspoon, Weaver, Cooney, Mercer, Bonecrsuher Smith, Carl Williams, Leon Spinks, Snipes, Cobb.

Holmes, nor any heavyweight in history has a resume as stacked as Ali's. Ali is the greatest heavyweight ever.

 

SRR was the best of all-time, so this arguement is dumb. Ali was great as well, even with his extremist views and draft dodging.

 

Did you miss him against Shavers? :rofl