I must admit that when I read your post about Ali being 227 ,my first reaction was to post you that this wasnt a good weight for Ali.On looking up his fights I found that he scaled224 1/2 for the Thrilla, 216 1/2 for the Rumble in the jungle,so you are about right
Ali was hardly in great shape for the Thrilla, though. And looked accordingly sloppy. Great fight but they were not nearly as well-conditioned and technically skilled as they were in their first meeting when both were 10lbs lighter. Ali also looked more swift, accurate and quick at 216lbs vs Foreman.
I've always been a great advocate for picking fighters of the 70's over greats of other eras. Lennox Lewis however, would have had a chance at great success in any period of the sport including the golden age. I would always give Ali the edge over Lewis, but he'd have his hands full, and if he clowned too much or became careless, could very conceivably end up with a loss. Lennox was a larger and better all around athlete than any Ali ever faced. He also had the best combination of boxing ability and punching power of almost any heavyweight in history. Sure, there were better punchers and boxers, but probably none who were as well rounded in both areas as Lewis. This type of fighter would have been a big problem for any all time great champion including Ali. Unfortunately, Lewis will always have to drag the McCall and Rahman losses around like a ball and chain. These defeats would not be so much of a problem, except critics prefer to look at these performances for face value while ignoring the underlying truths beneath them. Lewis was 35 years old when he suffered the Rahman loss, and the McCall outcome was possibly the result of a premature stoppage. What's more, is that few ever give him credit for avenging both losses, when many fighters couldn't get over the phsychological trauma of having been beaten the first time. Ali by close decision, but he'd have to be at his absolute best to pull it off.
I don't think that any of these men can be even remotely compared to the type of fighter Lewis was. Although, I would still favor Ali.
People underrate Ali's size.. he's 6'3 and carries a solid amount of muscles. Ali can rock any man, let alone Lewis who's had his record of getting tagged and counted out. Ali would obviously have a great chance.
Well their first meeting was 4 years earlier,the y had accumulated some mileage through tough fights by then, Ali had crammed in 18 fights,includin g tough battles like the 2 with Norton,the fight with Lyle the 2nd Frazier fight and the Rumble where he took a lot of punishment to the body,Frazier had been soundly beaten by Ali in a return ,half killed by Foreman ,you would expect these fights to start to show wouldnt you? Both men were older and slower yet stil put on a memorable battle,comparable with any heavyweight fight Ive seen for a while any way.
Of course, you can't blame them for declining after the wars they've been in. I just pointed out that their best weights were a lot lighter than that. If Ali comes in at 227lb he's gonna get beaten by Lewis.
I don't know about Lewis being overrated. No less than The Ring magazine picked Lewis in a Lewis - Foreman mythical match up. So certainly many, many people think Lewis has a decent chance to beat Foreman. Foreman himself (which strangely enough doesn't carry much weight) said he thought Lewis was a combination of himself and Ali and that Lewis was the best fighter ever..this was just after the Tyson fight. ..(course Foreman said a lot of things, many of which were nonesensical)
I think it's safe to say neither fighter has fought a fighter with the same attributes. Lewis never fought an Ali type fighter and Ali never fought anyone with the skills and size of Lewis.
Well if Ali was a knock out artist this comes as news to me. Outside of beating Foreman who obviously punched himself out, and Liston, who may even have thrown the second fight, he wasn't known as a KO artist by any stretch.
Prime for prime Alis best weight was around 212 , I think,what would you sayLL's was? By the way I think Lewis gives any Heavy a great fight,just think Ali's speed would be the deciding edge,if Lewis didnt have those 2 blots on his record ,where would he rate I wonder?
Ali wouldn't need to "handle" Lewis' size, as he is not going to (literally) carry him, nor need to land and clinch. Ali would use his lateral speed to cruise to a points victory a la Williams. Lewis, who subscribed to Ali's boxing philosophy of "hit and not get hit", would be dazzled and frustrated by his master.
Believe what you want. His KO ratio is around 60% and I've watched him fight longer than I care to remember, and I've been on these forums for well over 5 years, and this is the first time I've ever heard Ali called a knock out artist. Sure he knocked out a few fighters, you'd expect someone with his ability to do so, but it wasn't his forte'. He also didn't make the Rings top 100 punches, unlike many notable heavyweights, such as Louis, Dempsey, Marciano, Lewis, Tua, Foreman, Shavers, Liston, Tyson, Jeffries, hell, even Holyfield make this list.
Actually his 1960-67 KO ratio was over 80%. 24 KO's in 29. He was not a big puncher but he stopped many top opponents (Liston, Patterson, Quarry, Foreman, Lyle, Bonavena, Ellis) excluding Frazier and Norton. Ali's KO ratio plummeted from 1975 onwards when he was getting past it (think Dunn was the only one).