Witherspoon he has cross arm defence like Norton and he would be able to parry Ali's jab like he did to Holmes. M.Spinks well Ali did lose to his brother although Ali was way past his prime, I still think Spinks's awkwardness could give Ali some trouble. Thomas is very durable and has an elite level jab to give Ali issues. Page this would be a funny fight to see Page and Ali both dancing around the ring with Page impersonating Ali's fighting style. Tucker 6'5 very durable I can easily see him going the distance and winning his fair share of rounds. Douglas on a good night like he was vs Williams, Berbick, Tyson, he gives Ali problems with his sheer size and jab. Tubbs very fast handspeed I can see him also giving Ali some problems. Honestly I see alot of 80s Alphabet champions at their best giving a respectable account of themselves vs Ali.
I do too, and if we're talking about the Ali that struggled against Norton, Shavers, Young etc, then he's got tough fights possibly.
Also depends on which version of Ali we are talking about. 76-78 Ali I think Witherspoon can take him and a motivated Weaver also. If Leon can do it you know others can.
Well I'd like to put the Ali from 74 onward, that would make some interesting fights imo. Ali, still pretty good and facing the 80 s guys. Some like Bonecrusher and Coetzee he beats rather easily for me, then there's Spoon, Tucker, Thomas,, that could maybe test him.
I'd say that your list is as good as any, but assuming we're talking about peak Ali (Williams fight), I'm not sure any of them come any closer than an 8-4 decision loss. I can understand Witherspoon being on the list, since he did have that Norton-like style that troubled Ali in '73 & '76, but I can see a younger, sharper, more mobile Ali dealing with that style a little better. Ali would be on his toes, and I can't imagine Witherspoon landing often enough to slow Ali down much. I think Ali wins a decision win that's never in doubt. As far as the size difference between peak Ali and peak Douglas: Douglas would be 1 inch taller, would have a 5 inch reach advantage, and would be around 15-20 pounds heavier (with Ali having noticeably less body fat), so not really a huge difference. Ali would be far more elusive than, say, Mike Williams, or Tyson, who had vitually zero head movement on Feb. 10, 1990. I think Ali would be able to nullify that jab somewhat, and Douglas isn't the same guy if he can't work off an effective jab. Plus, there's always the issue of where Douglas' head would be at when he starts falling behind and things aren't going his way. I could see this one getting away from him quickly. I do like the choice of Tubbs, who also crossed my mind when I read the title of this thread. I think he is slick enough, and has enough hand speed that if he fought the right fight, he could at least be competitive in most rounds. The right fight IMO would be him backing up, ala Jimmy Young, and getting Ali to come forward if he can. Still don't see Tubbs coming all that close, but I do think he could be competitive with the right gameplan.
Others have already mentioned Tubbs, Witherspoon and Douglas, all of which I agree with. Weaver might be able to trouble Ali as well. Also Pinklon Thomas
