Ali's best moments in the Holmes fight.

I didn't think there were any...

 

Nowdays though its doesn't seem unusual at all to see a 30 year old beating up a 38 year old. Even though Ali was shown to be totally shot when he met Holmes, its maybe worth noting that Ali at then 38 was actually the same age as current champ Wlad Klitschko is now and who some say is as good now as he's ever been. So maybe age is not always the defining factor.

 

Getting pulled out by his corner!!

 

King still robbed him, IIRC.

 

Wlad doesn't have the competition Ali had. And Ali fought 15 rounds many times. Ali racked up a lot more wear and tear by 38 than Wlad. And Ali had early Parkinson's. Plus a few of Wlad's losses were only a few rounds because of his weak chin. Ali's great chin meant he absorbed punishment in long fights many times.

 

Obviously it wasn't age. As discussed many times, Ali was on medications to lose weight and already showed symptoms of the disease he would later be diagnosed as having.

 

In the corner between rounds.

 

He looked a lot better against Berbick. Those "thyroid pills" did a number on him for the Holmes bout.

 

Ali landed a few sneaky right hand counters against Holmes, but that's about it.

But in terms of brutality, this fight shouldn't even be in the top 20 most brutal fights of all time. Obviously, Ali took a pounding, but he wasn't beaten up like many other fighters have been beaten up. Shannon Briggs took a worse beating against Vitali Klitschko; Tex Cobb got pounded worse by Holmes than did Ali. But since the fight involved a living legend, the beating seems much more severe. If that were a couple journeymen fighters in there, I bet not many would bat an eye about the beating the loser took.

 

Wlad also takes better care of himself between fights and does a better job of preserving himself than Ali did while fighting bigger fighters than Ali did. Wlad and Holyfield are the two most disciplined heavyweights through a long, high caliber heavyweight career I've ever seen. Marciano was before my time but his style meant he'd never have that kind of longevity despite his discipline.

All else being equal, better knockout power also means less wear and tear over the course of a career.

 

please...give one of them a sign to click on it