Contender with the biggest stylistic advantage over Ali?

Looking at the guys who most troubled Ali when he was youngish, you'd ideally want:

* Fast feet

* Long reach + a great fast jab

* Stamina

* Pressuring style

* Great left hook

Dunno if there's anyone with all of those characteristics. A few guys have some of them (not even young Liston, who had reach, a great slow jab, hook, and stamina, but lacked footspeed and handspeed; Cooney had the jab and hook, but lacked a lot of the rest, etc.). I can't think off the top of my head of someone who had everything.

 

Actually, maybe it is Povetkin. He was fairly mobile, seemed to have a good jab, great left hook, was a pressure fighter, usually had decent stamina, wasn't too small, etc.

 

Povetkin is good on so many levels.

 

Joe Louis, though his footwork isn't very fast I have to admit. He checks the rest of boxes.

 

I agree with Povetkin stylistically.

If Andy Ruiz could get motivated and be in shape, how would that look?

If I'm being honest, Ali in his prime and seriously motivated, I'm virtually certain that contenders that come to fight and make him up his workrate either get cut by the corkscrew jab or beaten soundly on the cards.

 

Carl Williams & Tyrell Biggs

 

I would add "good head movement" to deny Ali his jabs, which had an uncanny ability to cut guys faces up. A left hook is paramount; both Henry (not Bert) Cooper and Frazier proved it was Ali's Achille's heel. The number of hooks that Smokin' Joe landed on Ali was amazing.

 

Bert Cooper on a good night

 

Tim Witherspoon Carl Williams

 

Yeah, he was my first thought. But the feet are a big component.

 

In that case, obviously Ken Norton. His awkward style would always trouble Ali, IMHO.

 

Blond Luis Ortiz and Juan Carlos Gomez might cause a lot of problems.

 

It seems, as per necessary attributes break down, the fighter to trouble Ali the most would be, quite simply, a very, very good if not great fighter himself as opposed to a fighter with a limited number of troublesome strings to their bow but strings that specifically play to and take full advantage of Ali’s weaknesses.

Perhaps the most simplified proposition possible would be a well rounded pressure fighter with endless stamina who is impervious to Ali’s punch or at least sufficiently resilient as to not be prevented boring in to do damage up close.

I know, I’ve basically described Joe Frazier, I left out a great left hook to keep it more generally applicable - and I still failed miserably, LOL.

 

Why those?

 

Easy.

Either Marciano of Frazier.

Pure swarmers who could smother him.

Fighters like that, will always overperform, against a man like him.

He essentially acknowledged it himself.