Ali provides a detailed analysis of his destruction of Cleveland Williams & others

He was right about that @ 'I will quit the day I am beat!'

He quit on his stool against Larry Holmes

 

It never ceases to amaze me how incredibly fast, agile, and coordinated Muhammad Ali was in his prime. His stamina to maintain such a high work rate and non-stop movement was equally mind boggling. I also believe that he possessed power during his prime that often goes unnoticed. He was great in his signature battles during the 1970's with Frazier, Foreman, Norton, Quarry, etc. But, He was noticeably better in 1967. He was way ahead of his time and his opponents were grossly outmatched. In fact, I believe that it could be legitimately said, that it took the four year layoff to create parity in the division. Cleveland Williams had no business in the ring with Muhammad Ali.

 

If you noticed at the very first for the Wide World of Sports lead-in, the reference to the "agony of defeat" does not show the skier who became "The Agony of Defeat".

 

Cleveland Williams had no business in the ring with Muhammad Ali.[/quote]

Especially after you had been shot in gut by a cop.

Williams had been inactive the entire year of 1965 while recovering from gunshot wounds he suffered at the hands of a police officer arising out of traffic stop. Williams was shot with a .357 Magnum in the abdomen, barely survived, and suffered permanent kidney damage, a loss of over ten feet of his small intestine, and nerve damage from the bullet which affected his left leg above the knee, causing it to atrophy as a result. In this greatly diminished physical condition Williams fought for the heavyweight championship against

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and was stopped in the third round.

 

A bit misleading aint it?

Williams also fought four men before taking on Ali in 1966. Among the four was the regarded Tod Herring who was 26-5-0. Williams knocked him out in three rounds. After Ali Williams continued fighting on until 1972 going 13-8-0, defeating guys like Terry Daniels and Ted Guillick, and lost a competitive fight to George Chuvalo in 1971.

He wasnt the same, yes, as he was, but the man was capable and durable. Saying he had no business in the ring with Ali is a little stretched.

 

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I concur. William's near death experience rendered him partly disabled and robbed him of finishing his career on a better note. He was still horribly outmatched against Ali though, and frankly I don't know if even a prime Williams would have faired much better. Ali was just picking his shots out at will. If a pissed off Muhammad like the one who punished Ernie Terrell had shown up, Cleveland wouldn't have made it out of that second round....

Howard was right.. They should have stopped it..

 

What he did both before and after his actual meeting with Ali was irrelevant in my eyes, and frankly it wasn't that great in the first place. Sometimes a mismatch is a mismatch....Period. Williams couldn't even defend himself in there, against a man who more or less taking his time and choosing his shots. William's strait up stance, low guard and tendency to pursue, played right into Ali's hands.

 

Was it a mismatch, or was it that Ali had finally peaked, that that was the best he was ever going to get?

 

Would you say that the two were well matched?

 

I pretty sure Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Rocky Marciano, Mike Tyson, or any other atg heavyweight would look just as impressive vs THAT Williams that fought Ali imo.

 

Boxing is a strange sport....seldom do really equally matched fighters meet at heavyweight.

Williams had lost and drawn with Machen, Terrell, and beat Terrell... over the past 5 years.

Cleveland lost those 2 big fights against Liston in 1959 and 1960 when Williams was in his prime.

During the early 60's, Williams fought & beat the standard decent "opponents"

Sonny Banks was an "opponent" ...I used to see him in Dallas fight.

Todd Herring had lost 3 of his last 5 fights before he fought Williams.

I rate the "Ali" Williams at 70% of what he was when he fought Liston.

 

I agree with Longhorn's statement of Williams being 70% of the man who once fought Liston. Williams was still feared and was still an impressive physical specimen, well built and still packed a punch. He was certainly more on the level than what Brian London was.

If there was any puncher out there at HW more a viable contender at that time for Ali's crown than Williams we never saw him.

 

Was shot by a police officer during a traffic stop. Lost a kidney and went from 218lbs. to 145lbs.

Photo of Cleve in 1966.....he has seen better days.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4aNqgZmbbk
5:20

Williams was shot, literally.