Could Ali Punch With Power?

He and Holmes both have underrated punches, imo.

 

foreman liston and frazier all thought so and they weren't too shabby

 

His straight right hand had good power, the shot he got Lyle with was a beaut.

 

Yes he could. he may not have had one punch ko power,but he was n't featherfisted either.

 

I think Ali was an accumulation puncher more than anything, he could easily wear you down with hundreds of shots.

 

There were a number of times when a single shot from him triggered his opponent's downfall. The placement of the hook he ruined Bonavena with was as impeccable as the cross which sent Lyle reeling back to the ropes and unable to recover.

Foreman might be the best individual to defer to here. The right hand Ali knocked him out with is supposedly the hardest single punch he ever delivered. Muhammad straightened out from his right toes to the end of his fist for that one.

Mac Foster is not one of his better known performances, but he did make a sincere effort to deliver on his prediction of a fifth round knockout, and still later slashed into Mac while the ex-Marine was trying to counter off the ropes. Muhammad was actually all right in this one, but had an unexpectedly durable and defense oriented opponent in front of him.

Blue Lewis should have been a one punch knockout win, but for Lew Eskin's incredibly slow count. The right hand Ali stunned Frazier to the ropes with in round two of their middle fight was certainly the hardest single shot Joe took from him in their trilogy. It could have dropped Joe on his face (and did send him into a three step forward jig to regain his balance), but has been overshadowed by the errant conduct of Tony Perez. 9:21 (Move forward to 9:17):

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unpw2QHMDMs[/ame]

 

People who say Ali was a light puncher should be burned in the Nazi's ovens.

Ali could punch, he just boxed more than he did sit down on his punches to get most power from them.


DT

 

When Ali's Hands were Fine, and he was up against a dangerous opponent, then yes, he could and did, In his Pre-exile Career Clay/Ali often Hit guys with the primary combination of Speed and Accuracy, And it was the Shots that they didnt see that had a dramatic effect, the termination of Zora Folly's challange with two blindingly fast right hands was agood example of this

In Ali's post Exile career he often suffered from painful Bursitus (?) of the Knuckles, so often "Flicked" his shots, Also Ali being often a Kind fighter to outclassed opponents, rarely went Flat out for the KO, who can forget him "tapping" away at Buster Mathis or Rudi Lubbers, Only Twice in 15 rounds did he mount anything serious against Mac Foster. and there were others who "Earned & Learned" against a charitable (or Seriously Bored ) Ali

I have Little Doubt that with good hands, and the serous Mental Inclination to Meet Opponents with "full Power" shots, - sustained - like he did with say Frazier then his KO percentage would be Higher

I could not see Buster, Big Mac, Lubbers, Bugner (Badly Cut in 1st Round of 1st fight) Evangalista or Shavers going the distance for example.

To Punch with power you have to have that "Bad Intention" and Ali rarely had that against moderate opporsition, seemingly preferring to put on a several-act show, Most other fighters will take out the opponent if they are capable - as soon as they are capable - to look spectacular, The Ali global Road show didnt quite work this way, and as such Ali's true Punching capability was to a degree masked, Given that most Heavyweights, if nothing else, can Punch with Power given the right circumstances ,even failed prospects Ted Gullick, Morris Jackson, Jose Luis Garcia, Jeff Meritt, Al Lewis, Al Jones, etc etc for example, Ali was Little Differant, as stated, Given the Trouble-free Hands and Inclination - Certainly The Lyle Right Hand or the Bonavena Left Hook which set these Ironmen up for stoppages were rare examples of what cold come "out of the Blue" - It seems to me that Ali usually favoured the Stylistic rendition, when a more cruder, confrontational approach may of acheived quicker results, - yes, i think he could punch with power,

(Of Course extreme Louis Marciano or Foremanesque type Power is a differant matter. )

 

???????????????? i believe you are a strange person with very little tolerance to people with other opinions.

 

no he cudnt

 

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I think you've misunderstood him, JS. He wasn't being judgmental or dogmatic. All he was saying is people who think Ali was a light hitter "should be burned in the Nazi's ovens." God, do I have to get in and mediate on every thread? How do people come to these misunderstandings?

 

In Manila, Ali was strong & punched with real venom.

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He punched Frazier's mouthguard into the 5th row with a bomb from hell! :shock:

 

This is a 50/50 question.
Yes and No.

In the ring, there doesn't seem to be many 1-punch flat-out Knock-outs.
But many good 1-punch hits.

Roy 'Tiger' Williams didn't think so, responding to Ali.
'Hit me again, you punch like a ***** ******'
'