Could Ali handle lennox lewis size?

The biggest problem Ali has is that he tends to go straight back when pressured, which isn't good, and he is known to keep his hand low, which also isn't good against a fighter of Lewis' caliber. Finally he has a very limited inside fighting game, and doesn't really throw body punches. So he basically relies on his speed, his jab and his chin and his counter punching ability.

His chin isn't going to win him a fight, it's just going to keep him from being KO'd. So he has speed of both hand and feet, but not a particular great defense, if pressured. So he may win a decision, but he could also loose a decision and he could even get KO's if he was sloppy and he got trapped on the ropes or in a corner. I would say that Lewis might not win, but he has more ways in which he can win.

 

Ali by lopsided decision, especially over 15 rounds. He handily took care of taller skilled opponents like Terrell, Bugner and Mathis, bigger punchers like Foreman, Shavers, Lyle and Mac Foster, and at 212 would have easily hit Lewis without getting hit in return. Bugner was taller, fast and well-schooled, but hardly competitive. From what little I've seen of Chinnox, he had nothing resembling the sort of attributes needed to mount a serious challenge against a peak Muhammad. Sure, Chinnox would go the distance, but the outcome would never be in doubt.

Many cite the fact Chinnox would have been too tall for Ali to yank down on his head in the clinches, but Muhammad demonstrated with Bugner, Terrell and Wepner that this was no kind of essentiality in his approach to wearing down an adversary.

Larry Holmes chewed up and spit out the bones of the bigger and skilled Leroy Jones, as well as the much taller power hooking Cooney without difficulty. Boxers the calibre of Ali and Holmes do that to bigger and slower victims. Against a peak Ali, I give a peak Chinnox four out of 15 rounds tops. Size and strength are useless against an endurance athlete with that kind of speed and mobility, and no heavyweight had the combination of speed and mobility a peak Ali possessed.

 

Comparing Lennox's abilities with likes of Ernie "i do nothing for 12 out of 15 rounds" Terrel, Joe "after 3 rounds i fall asleep" Bugner and Mathis... :dead

Lewis has a MUCH better punching arsenal to take out (or let's say, be able to hit) a master boxer like Ali than Foreman, Shavers, Lyle and Foster did. They were much slower and more crude.

Lewis isn't going to punch himself out with wide looping shots in which he only hits a sitting duck a few times a round while leaving himself completely open nor is he going to quit on his stool after 6 rounds.

 

On paper, of course, you are right. Ali did most everything wrong from an orthodox point of view, and should have been easy meat for more technically correct fighters. My father used to despair of young Cassius Clay, saying he would get nailed as soon as he stepped up in class, because he held his hands too low.

But as we all know, Ali was somehow able to throw out the rulebook and still consistently win; even against the best talent pool in heavyweight history. Ali had some kind of an 'X factor' that enabled him to persevere in a way that no other heavyweight could.

Heck, call me a romantic, but Ali had a lot more magic than Lennox Lewis, even if Lewis ticks more boxes on paper.

 

Chris, it's not lost on me that you conveniently avoided mentioning Chuck "Driscoll-Pep" Wepner.

Well, the letter of the question concerned whether or not he could handle the size of Chinnox, and he in fact did this on a number of occasions. His punching arsenal may have been fine, but catching a young Ali (who had no problems going the 15 round distance with Terrell and Chuvalo, and actually conserved energy by dancing), and having an opportunity to punch often enough to even make a dent in the scoring, would be a different matter entirely.

 

Fair claims.

 

I agree. The problem I have is I think your father was right..provided Ali fought a fighter who could exploit those shortcomings, and I think Lewis could. I also under the aspect of magic, when people consider this fight, most don't want Lewis to win, they want Ali. Therefore they will either knowingly or not. find ways to make their desired outcome come true. This basically means they will either enhance Lewis' faults or by into the Ali mythology that at his best he was unbeatable. And while I too am a great fan of Ali, the fact is, nobody is unbeatable, not Ali, not Lewis, it becomes more of a style issue. The funny part is both of these fights has the style to give each one of the trouble. However, if you go further and look at the ways they will win, and their shortcomings, I think the outcome favours Lewis.

 

Maybe, but that logic leads you to believe a Byrd or Roy Jones could beat Lewis, which I don't think is true, neither do I think that the younger version of Lewis was particularly slow.

 

I like Lennox he was a great heavyweight fighter possibly the best of his era. He was not perfect by any means, he could be Kayoed by a single shot. His right hand up to around 94 was delivered like a cricket fast bowler in a huge looping arch, even Chanet could dodge it. Later in his career he would fall back on this shot when he was tired or under pressure. Ali could have landed 9 or ten shots while Lennox wound up one of these babies.

Lennox began to peak after the second McCall fight. Any match up between Ali and the young Lewis could end in an Ali KO win, think Ron Lyle for examples. In those days Lennox had a decent jab but no weapon other than size to trouble Ali.

After the second McCall fight Lewis was a more schooled fighter thanks to Manny Steward. He had an uppercut he could repeat consistently and a straighter right. He wasn't lightning fast and he could still be hurt. Under pressure he would stand off. The big question is could Lewis force Ali to try to lead early in the fight so that Lennox could set him up for one of his power shots. I don't think so, Lewis simply couldn't counter fast enough to surprise Ali. This kind of stuff might work against Tua or Bruno but never a speed merchant like Ali.

If Lennox takes the fight to Ali, to win he needs to cut off the ring like Foreman and fight at fast pace, whaling away at Ali's body. This doesn't add up either, Lennox's feet aren't fast enough and he couldn't match Frazier or even Norton's workrate for more than four rounds. I don't even remember him being able to throw bombs constantly the way Shavers did against Ali.

Maybe Lennox could try his usual walk in behind the jab mixed up with some right crosses and uppercuts. If that worked against Ali then Sonny Liston would still be champ.

So what advantage does Lennox have over Ali, oh yes size! To use this advantage Lennox needs to get close and start wrestling. Hard to do when your opponent is as slippery as Ali. Ali would negate this advantage by running the legs off Lennox, moving every time Lennox tried to set himself. A real matador performance.

Other than the above Lennox has a great chance against the Ali who fought, say....... Spinks or maybe Evangelista.

 

I can't deny it. What you say is true...I would prefer Ali to win. So I can see your point about that clouding one's judgement.

I still reckon it would be a great fight though!

 

Me too, and obviously either fighter could end up winning.

 

Fair enough, but i think the thread starter meant if Ali could handle someone of Lewis' size AND talent.

And whether or not Lewis can find Ali.. an old, slow Folley could find a peak Ali plenty of times with the right hand going even with him untill his glass chin gave up on him.

Of course this argument goes both ways, but it would be very hard for both men.

 

Prime ali of 67 could handle lewis fairly easily, he handled terrell.

Lewis is heavier than terrell but ali`s footspeed & movement in the 60s was the best there has ever been in any division, the best foot movement in the history of boxing & speed kills.

I dont see lewis getting settled in this fight at all.
Ali`s constant side to side & pulling away from punches would frustrate lewis all night long while building up a commanding lead on the cards.

Even when lewis does get to ali now & then, ali takes the punch very well & fires off a combo or 2 to keep the big man respectfull (Ali aint no soft puncher) all in all I see ali outboxing lewis & its the footspeed that wins it here.

Ali takes a 15 rd ud (possibly 10-5 or 11-4.)

 

Sorry but I can't take anyone's opinion seriously when they degrade one of the two people they are supposedly trying to analysis. Why not just say you don't like Lewis and be done with the topic? But I suppose it's better than protending to be impartial.