Ali's power?

Ali's power can be described with

"float like a butterfly, sting like a bee"

Truer words were never spoken.

unless they were about his defense

"you're hands can't hit what your eyes can't see"

That is very true.

 

People keep saying Ali had average power but then give him a 7/10 :huh

5/10, that's average, and that's what I'm sticking to. Seriously, to those people who are giving him 7/10, do you honestly believe there are six degrees of power below Ali? According to your ratings, Chris Byrd must be a five - who's below him?

 

Maybe best squeezing things down. 1 to 5 probably, rather than 1 to 10?

 

Well he did stop Lyle ,who was only stopped twice in his prime ,the other guy was Foreman.Stopped Bonavena ,when no one else did,so maybe hes a bit above a 5,not remotely in the Louis ,Baer,Marciano,class but perhaps a bit underated,its accuracy ,frequency and timing I suppose ,against correct delivery ,velocity,and pure power.

 

A simple, but provocative question.

Ali did not have the killer instinct. He could hold a grudge (Floyd and Zora) but he never wanted to hurt anyone. He wanted to look good.
But he was in the hurt business... and he was a big man who had fast hands. When he settled down and jammed, he did not necessarily go for the KO as much as dazzle the man -he would vary the speed, the trajectory of the shot, flick some BS shots to set up other dazzling shots. Now and then he'd slam something in and we'd get a glimpse of something we may well have seen more often had Ali had sadism and planted feet.

I'd give him no more than a 6. Holyfield is over him and contrary to conventional wisdom, Holyfield could hit -you don't knock down Bowe with one shot, stop Tyson, or knock down Mercer period without a good power.

 

I give him a 6.5-7/10. When he planted his feet he could hit, but IMO it wouldn't KO anyone.

 

Overrated more like it. People are giving Ali a 7/10 - that means he hits nearly as hard as Riddick Bowe. Never. All this 'when he planted his feet' stuff is crap because any heavyweight can punch with a fair amount of force when they want to - they're world class athletes. Ali stopped a few fighters, yea, but how many did he genuinely knock out? He whacked a tired Lyle & Foreman, okay, stopped Bonavena, good accomplishment there... Patterson, Liston, Quarry and Cooper were stopped twice apiece on technicalities (either accumulative damage or other). Frazier was stopped from accumulative injury - that's nine of his thirty seven knockouts discarded already. Where are Ali's other knockouts? Foster and Moore, light heavyweights? Williams & Folley were good wins and pretty solid displays of punching, but they were hardly primed and ready to fight. Don't confuse 'dazzled by speed' with 'raw power' - Ali stopped fighters like London & Ellis because he was too good for them, they couldn't fight back, rather than because he had solid power. Very, very rarely did Ali demonstrate a powerful punch that scrambled the senses of his opponents - against Bonavena, Lyle and maybe Foreman you could argue - but that's it. Maybe one or two other notables in a career of sixty one fights. Not the stuff of a 7/10 power puncher.

Ali's punching as a whole was good when he wanted to actually fight. His power, however, was no more than average (that means 5/10)- didn't know how to throw his weight into shots.

 

Of course, and so he should. He was a world class athlete. Doesn't mean he hit hard for a heavyweight though.

 

He does. Larry Holmes said this. Holmes doesn't always express popular opinion but I usually believe him. Holmes said that Holy hit like Ali, with the same power, except his punches were not as sharp as Ali's. This is a pretty good source if you ask me.

For my money: Ali did not have 1 punch KO power nor did he have the style to finish someone off really quickly. Holyfield could be a brawler at times who would wildly come at you and swing with all his might. Ali would always dance, move around a lot as he was punching - and so he wasn't swinging with all his might trying to get a guy outta quick.

That dancing style is why Ali rarely utilized his power the most. You see a famous flurry (forget which round - probably 6) where the announcer screans, "Liston is hurt! Liston is hurt!" - Ali sits down on his punches and wails away. That's a good exception and an example of what Ali could do. His punches could be very HEAVY as he sat down and put his weight on them. Didn't have EXPLOSIVENESS although his speed did offer the effect of a snap.

Yep, I'd rate his POTENTIAL power a 7 but the actual power he generated - probably a 4 or 5 (closer to 5).

 

Ironically Ali scored a good one punch KO against Folley in his last fight before exile. After exile he had trouble with his hands and Ferdie had to inject him before fights. That why he slapped alot against inferior opponents like Blin and Wepner.

 

Larry also said Shavers, Norton and Cooney would have beaten peak Tyson so i'll not stake everything on his words. It's funny, you are debating pro Ali power against me yet i rate his power better than you i think. I'd feel quite comfortable giving him a 7.5, Holyfield an 8 or 8.5. By seeing Holyfield as the harder hitter i am not slighting Ali. His unbelievable speed give him great punch velocity added to the fact many simply did not see some of his punches, which definitely adds to the stoppage potential. Holyfield hit heavy tho most every punch.

 

Cooney would have lasted 4 rounds with a prime Tyson, and thats pushing it for him. Cooney was very tall, lacked movement, and wasn't exactly as sharp as a razor at long range. Tyson lived for those type of opponents.

"Shavers, Norton, and Cooney would have beaten a prime Tyson". Holmes is just trying to talk up his opponents and make them look better than they actually were, thus make his resume look better.

 

He had average power for the standards of the elite fighters, his precision and speed were the results why the KO´s happened, not his power, I don´t understand how some here can give a 7 out of 10...

 

Yes, it is oh so obvious i didn't think i needed to say it mate.

 

Im familiar with Alis record ,I watched the fights when they took place.
Ali hit Mildenberger a shot that made him turn a somersault,kod Bonavena ,no else did and Lyle,I didnt suggest he had real power ,just that he might be underated.I dont think Im confusing anything,I stated the diference between Ali and the real hitters like Louis and Marciano,in my post.