hey i was wondering alot of fights with ali you hear of him "toying" with guys but an interesting thing is that when you watch alot of those fights... you see ali moving around throwing fast slapping jabs(that have no effect on the other guy) and then clinching and smirking and makeing it look like he finish the fight whenever etc.... but the question remains is he really toying with them or is he just running from them and getting them tired lol like when you see jack johnson "toying" with someone you can see that when he throws a hard shot, it hurts the other guy... also slaps are illegal in boxing, but no really ever mentioned that about ali... also he balant holding does not get mentioned much. another thing i though it is very easy for fast footed fighter to laugh at you from 10 feet away because you can't catch him, but when someone else does it, they call him a show off and tell him to actually fight the guy lol but in ali's case, it's a brillant game plan and he is just showing that the other guy is a baby in the master game lol these are just some things i wanted to point out...i am actually an ali fan it's just no one mentioned them
If he could hurt Foremen, Bonavena and Wepner he could hurt anyone at his best. Even mediocre power coupled with blinding speed can be dangerous. Anyway, Ali sat down on his punches a lot more during his comeback, and he had hand issues on and off during his career. Two things to consider.
Foreman and Wepner were ko'd by exaustion, not punching power. Bonevena was tired, and Ali not going to neuteral corner helped him get tko. Ali was not a good puncher power wise.
Ali toyed more in his later career. In the 60's he didn't do that and came after opponents throwing lots and lots of punches, then he would move away and quickly attack again and again. Lefties and left hook artists gave him a problem, otherwise he was in complete control. He was a very accurate puncher too, and a head hunter, rarely going to the body. In the 60's no one could touch him. He didn't start toying & holding until the mid 70's or so.
Ali done a hell of a lot of fooling around against Lyle. Peek-a-boo style, throwing nothing, and acting like a clown. Ruthless finishing right enough.
Similar to RJJ (Or perhaps RJJ similar to Ali), after a while they sort of got bored with hurting the guy they were up against. The difference between the two is that Ali knew how to finish where as RJJ never seemed interested in ending the fight on his terms.
