Ali vs Ali whose win in Norton III was reversed posthumously

Two versions of prime Ali face each other.

There is a very small, posthumous difference between these two Alis.

One of them is the version of Ali from our own timeline. He will go on to win Ali/Norton III.

The other Ali is from another, hypothetical timeline. This Ali will *also* go on to win his own Ali/Norton III, which plays out identically to the one in our timeline.

The difference between these Alis is due to a branch-off between the timelines occurring only after both of the Alis have already died (on the same day, and in identical ways.)

In our Ali's timeline, his win over Norton remained intact after his death.

In the other Ali's timeline, officials from the relevant sanctioning organizations revisit Ali's victory in Norton III (in 2021, after Ali had died.) The officials reexamine the scoring, and declare that Norton was the actual victor of Ali/Norton III. The Boxrec entry in this timeline dutifully notes the change, and Ali from this timeline now has one extra loss on his official resume.

The fights themselves in both timelines remain identical, though, along with the rest of both Alis' careers being identical. The only change is that in one timeline, Ali's victory over Norton in the third fight was officially reversed by sanctioning body bureaucrats after Ali's death.

Taking each of these Alis in his prime, which one would you pick to win head to head?

 

Those are also my answers, for what it's worth. The other tricky part is that the alternative -- just doing your own revisionist scoring for every fight -- is sillier and more error prone than accepting official results.

Considering how possible it is to be labeled a "nearly man" for losing close fights that could've gone either way, it's a tricky endeavor figuring out what an official verdict should mean.

 

Which is certainly the best argument for scoring it yourself. On the other hand, it makes it harder to have coherent conversations with other fans about the merits of Fighter XYZ if you're carrying an entire alternative Boxrec around in your head. And if your own scoring standards are idiosyncratic, it becomes hard to even figure that out unless you're inviting plenty of input.

On the *other* other hand (and in your favor), there's this weirdness:

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(Makes me wonder what the revised lineage is, since he would have succeeded Johnson, of all people.)