Ali- Who could have beat him?

I think Dempsey with his bobbing, weaving and two-fisted power would have a decent shot against Ali.

Never thought Tyson could beat Ali. Man against a boy.

 

Cosell knew nothing about boxing and got his insight from fighters and referees he interviewed. Ali could never cut Marciano and would be go thru hell

i agree, Norton could beat him

 

Dempsey
Marciano
Dempsey
Marciano
Dempsey
Marciano

(repeat)

 

hahaha dempsey is probably the worst pick to beat ali... the worst... ali would have played with the poor dempsey, dempsey would have a chance against a green clay 62-maybe even early 63, but a prime ali... pffff.... please...
marciano would have been a serious rival... the pressure of frazier and rocky was a test for ali, however rocky was more slow than frazier, smaller and much easier to outbox.... but.... rocky had mental strength and stamina... rocky would put a fight on the table here... but he loses..

 

Jim Jeffries would walk thru Ali's powerpuff right hands to knock him out

 

Tom Sharkey
Joe Choynski
William Sheriff
Bob Fitzsimmons
Gus Ruhlin
Peter Maher
John L Sullivan
Jack Kilrain

Pretty much every ******* who ever put gloves on.

 

Good points, especially about the Cummings bout.

 

Alright you've made your hatred of white fighters incredibly obvious. Now shouldn't you be looting stores and rioting to bring Justice for Trayvon?

 

Frazier like he actually did in the most meaningful fight of the series.

Marciano would have had a really good shot and moreso for every time they fought.

Louis is too slow on his feet IMO just a bad matchup for him I've always thought but he can win with his destructive power over 15. Tyson has a chance for obvious reasons.

I'd have loved to seen wlad from the Byrd rematch against Ali. He had regained his confidence and was close to his physical prime. He isn't as fast as Ali obviously but he would be closer to matching it than most that Ali fought. (And a super heavyweight) those in this thread calling the klitschkos unskilled are just as bad or worse than tommo, the guys had hundreds of ammy fights and long pro careers, basically they have as much puglism experience as anyone and don't lose rounds period.

I don't give Lennox as much of a shot. He wasn't as smart and certainly wasn't as athletic as wlad. I think Ali would box circles around him, I wish we could have seen lewis-Byrd, It would have opened some eyes IMO but I would give Lennox an outside chance of landing something or surprising me.

 

Byrd was no Ali in no way shape or form. How long Alis arms are have very little to do with his jab effectiveness vs Wlads or anyone's jab for that matter. It's all timing and speed. Alis jab would be hitting Wlads at angles as he would move about the ring. Wlads jab would miss again and again as Ali was so good in this department. Ali had such incredible reflexes it would look as if Wlads was stuck in mud. Lots of cuts, blood and swelling later and Wlads gets koed or quits prior to.

 

Quite good post, even I disagree about some points, mostly about Lewis.

I agree that Louis would be a good matchup for Ali. He was powerful but slow, and Ali would surely take advantage of that. Louis would have a punchers chance of course, but nothing more. He isn't outboxing Ali and his style wouldn't cause Ali troubles either (assuming Joe doesn't land lucky puch or something similar).

On the other hard, Lewis would be the wrong guy for Ali stylistically. A big, super HW with skills who is outboxing his opponents is something Ali never experienced. Almost the same thing applies to Wlad, who is even worse matchup for Ali stylistically. Very big, skilled, athletic guy who barely loses any rounds would be a nightmare for a smaller guy who also prefers to outbox his opponents. It would be Ali who needs to get inside and it's hardly happening. Plus if we add "jab & grab" style of Wladimir, Ali isn't lasting long in the ring.

Btw I find it quite funny how some people here think that Ali was invincible. He was far from that.

Finally Marciano. With Rocky being my favorite fighter of all time, I have no choice but to be a little bit biased. Although Ali would be terrible matchup for Marciano stylistically, I think that Marciano would have a fair chance to KO Ali. His heart was his most important weapon in some of the fights. More objectively, Ali would be the favorite of course, but I don't see him easily walking through Rocky, especially if he gets tired at some point, because Rocky never slows down. 70-30 in Ali's favor is the way I see it.

 

Whats a Trayvon?

Henry Maske is my favorite fighter ever.

 

First....Louis was not slow. One of hwt boxings all time quick handed fighters. He threw those punches in 5-6 combination bursts with each blow having ko potential. Wlad is slow...Louis is quick.

Secondly...Ali would not need to get inside. He would fight as he always did in his prime and he would be too quick for any of the big hwts of the past 15 years. It's speed, timing, reflexes and technique not the height of a fighter or the length of his arms that matter. The guy who was koed by Purity, Brewster and Sanders kos the fighter who koed Foreman, Liston and Frazier? Not going to happen. Prime Ali is not going to be koed by someone as slow as Wlad. It would be a massacre.

 

Joe Louis was indeed lightning fast of hand, but rather cautious and intentional with his footwork.

Waldo is extremely fast of hand for a man his size and is also possessed of great, not average, great footwork for a heavyweight. Pretty much every top trainer of the past decade agrees with this sentiment. You are patently, and rather predictably, incorrect on this point. Shocker.

Look, Ali at his best is going to be favored over pretty much everyone. It is not an indictment to say others could not defeat him

 

Slow is slow. Fast for a big man still does not mean Wlad is quick. Fast for a big man does him no good vs Ali. Ali is super quick...the quickest and his punches would slice Wlad to ribbon. Either Wlad quits or Ali knocks him out. horribly one sided beating.

Louis actually had very good footwork. He would step in and out luring his opponent closer. He could side step and jab...classically outboxing dangerous opponents. At times he could bob and weave slipping and ducking beautifully and countering with pin point accuracy.

Once again you are on the losing side of the coin.