Did Ali have the easiest Heavyweight reign 65'-67'

The only opponent in Ali's first reign that could truly be considered a soft touch was London.

Patterson was a former champion on a five fight win streak, including wins over Chuvalo and Machen. Mildenberger was undefeated in 17 fights, and had good results against Folley and Machen. Cooper was British and Commenwealth Champion, ranked in the top 10, and was entitled to a rematch based on dropping Ali in their first meeting. Terrel was WBA heavyweight champion, and riding a good solid win streak. Folley and Chuvalo were good solid Top 10 contenders at the very least. Even Williams was highly rated going into the fight, based on the fact that he had only lost once in the previous six years.

 

Have I missed something here or is it you who knows **** all? Williams was shot in 1964.

 

In what?

 

He got a title shot tho which is a bigger joke

 

There was an old Canadian poster on here who saw that fight, even he said Corletti won going away. A hugely undeserved title shot for Chuvalo.

 

People accused Patterson of ducking Machen when he was champ as well.

Funny to see what Patterson did to him when they actually fought though.

Machen simply wasn't that good and didn't deserve a shot as you said.

Ali would've trashed him as well but it's a moot point as it didn't and shouldn't have happened.

 

He was active until September of 1964...the end of the goddamn year before being shot, you twat. He was inactive for all of 1965, the following year.

 

He was #1 for a short while- around 1961 if I remember correctly. That Mongoose 'genius' obviously gets all his info from the Ring Rankings internet site. :yep:!:

 

Yeah, but he came in as a last minute replacement for Terrell at a time when Ali couldn't get a fight in the US.

 

Anything can be painted anyway you like it in boxing I guess - the fact that Williams was highly rated going into the fight indicates the difference between spin and the reality - Cooper was british champ fair enough but on the world stage that means about as much (probably less) than your average inter-state title in america - fact is Cooper also lost (twice) to the world beating Joe Erskine as well as Joe Bygraves (may as well have been Max Bygraves), Ingemar Johansson, etc etc he was a fairly average European heavyweight with a major cuts problem - perfect for Ali really

 

Ha ha, I see you just edited your original post. Well done there. :good

 

And Don Cockell got a shot against your boy Rocky and he was a fatter,shitter fighter than Cooper.

And I wont even mention Dempsey's title opposition as people have dedicated entire threads about how weak it was.

Truth is if you look at any title reign with hindsight and a critical eye you can make it sound a lot worse than it was in reality,as you guys a doing with Ali just now.

 

So we are changing the concept of the thread now?
You said Machen deserved a shot at Alis title yet he never won a fight for the first two years of that reign had a five month winning streak before losing to a fringe contender.

Machen may have deserved a shot at Liston or Patterson but they were playing out their duo of fights and then Ali took the title.
Machen blew his chance at Ali when Patterson then Terrel beat him.

I suspect Machen v Ali didnt happen in 63 because Eddie expected Liston to roll over Muhammad and he would then get a crack at Sonny, but as it turned out it didnt happen and Eddie was rolled by Floyd and Ernie

 

The Ring is more reliable than your crappy memory. Though never recognized as the number one boxer in the world, Henry Cooper was offered a title fight with Patterson after beating Folley and London in 1959, he declined.