Could Muhammad Ali replicate Joe's feat in the same era?

Ali was definitely a consistent champion, he was also better than Louis imo. I think that not only does he replicate Joe's feet, but tops it and doesn't lose to Schmeling.

There's always a possibility that he loses on an off night but it's virtually impossible to pick who, none seem to pose a threat to a non prime Ali. I'd say he has trouble with Walcott, as Louis did but I'll give the Greatest the benefit of the doubt.

 

Ali can't replicate Joe's feet. That's laughable

 

Ali dodges the draft again and gets stripped of the title

 

I am going to say possibly.

Ali proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he was consistent over that sort of time scale, against the best opposition available.

The key deal breaker for me, is that I don't see the Ali of the Spinks fights, beating Jersey Joe Walcott.

So does he come a cropper before that?

There is no Joe Frazier in this era, but there might perhaps be a Ken Norton type threat, who just has his number on an off night.

Hard to say really.

What I will say, is that Ali is perhaps the only heavyweight in history, who I would give a good chance of doing this!

 

I'd personally say Holmes and W Klitschko could. But Jersey Joe is a tough outing for the Holmes of the Spinks fight and Wlad of the Fury fight.

 

In hindsight, perhaps Louis's finest hour!

 

The combo he stopped Joe with was picture perfect. But then again, which Louis combo wasn't?

 

Would have been tough for Ali to beat Charles and WAlcott, I feel he would have beat all of Louis`s other opponents as well as Louis did providing he could stay focused.

 

Ali in his later years and sometimes earlier def had training problems. Could see him having an off night deep into his title reign. Prime for prime I think he tops Louis but he folds one along the way.

 

Agree with the consensus that Walcott is the potential banana skin. In the alternate timeline Ali doesn't have Manilla to precipitate his decline, but even the version who laboured against his Lyle is vulnerable to being outpointed by Jersey Joe. The Ali who fought Young is probably an underdog in that fight, and the version who fought Spinks has little chance.

Looking at Louis' list of challengers, I don't think anyone stands out as giving Ali a stylistic problem. The 37-42 comp was probably trickier for Louis than Ali style-wise, with plenty of sluggers like Buddy Baer and Galento who were able to catch Louis in exchanges, but who would probably struggle to land much on Ali. Louis' 1941 run presented problems for the sheer volume and frequency of fights, but there's no way I'd commit to Nova or a much smaller Conn getting the better of a prime Ali.

If anything, Louis' pre-title comp would have been trickier for the pre-64 version of Ali. The young Clay who struggled against Cooper and Jones may not get past Schmeling in particular, and Baer would have the proverbial puncher's chance.

 

Ali would dominate that era, he might even retire undefeated and would definitely have more knock outside on his resume, that is if he doesn't dodge the draft in ww2 and get banned again, he would also he much less popular with the people of that time

 

Think so, but he might need a controversial decision against Walcott, just as Joe got.

Otherwise - I can't see Schmeling, Buddy Bear, Godoy, Farr, Galento etc posing much of a problem for a prime Ali.