Who was his best challenger? Liston maybe quit after one round. Patterson from the 50's Williams from the 50's Folley from the 50's Cooper grade B+ Mildenberger grade B+ Chuvalo grade B+ London grade C+/B- Was Ernie Terrell actually the best fighter Ali fought in the 60's??
Longhorn71,,,,,,,,,, A good question that quite possibly, can never be answered. I think all of the boxing experts agreed, that though George Chuvalo was never going to win,,,,,,he was going to be the toughest challenger, based on style and aggression. Zora Folley from 1957/1958/1959 {Age 26/27/28} was probably the best, not the old man (2 months shy of Age 36) that stepped into the ring in March of 1967. As for Sonny, way too much baggage to unfold here....
Terrell was actually a fine fighter, and yes, he is clearly the best Ali beat in that particular run. Liston was a terrific opponent, but the result was so easy it can hardly be called a challenge, more like cementing his claim on the title.
Terrell was a decent fighter but in retrospect I don't think he was as good as say Tony Thompson. Floyd dispite his injured back may have been the best of the group and gave Ali a run for his money both times. Terrel had size and youth but I think Floyd was the best of the group. Sonny would seem to be the best but either had style problems,was overated and one-dimentional, took a dive or dogged it.
Magna and Bummy make good points,,,,, On paper,,,,,,,,Ernie Terrell looks to be the best challenger. But, if you read the boxing writer reviews of his fights with Eddie Machen, George Chuvalo and Doug Jones, they basically called him; 'embarrassingly inept' and 'a fighter who does not appear to be either formidable or a desireable foe'
