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

Oh god, I can't believe I found this. Your right, Cooper was #1 in the 60s..what a weak era. Worse, Williams was even in the top 5 after literally being shot. And Ali apparently wanted no part of the more deserving Machen, Erskine, and Corletti. All this time I thought he was the Greatest...I feel like throwing up.



The Ring Magazine May 1966

Muhammad Ali, Champion

1. Henry Cooper
2. Eddie Machen
3. Joe Erskine
4. Edurado Corletti
5. Cleveland Williams

:deal Evidence Ali is not the greatest, finally.

 

Ali did face every one there was about, granted not a strong era, but we cant fault Ali.

The problem with Marciano not fighting these guys was well These guys lost there title shots to better contenders.

IT Moore took the title shot by knocking off Valdes, and Charles knock off Satterfield.

Marciano didnt miss em at all, they just could not earn the shot imo.

 

While Chavalo should be commended for his toughness and effort, he really was not very skilled. I doubt he would win a round vs. Lewis or the Klitschko's.

The prime Ali in the 60 was very quick, but he really wasn't tested much either. The fact that Chavalo gave Ali a fight in the 60's makes me wonder if Ali was really head and shoulders above past and former greats.

Ie, Ali gets too much credit. He was great, perhaps the best, but not by a significant margin.

 

Yes, all this Patterson back stuff sounds grossly exaggerated. I thought he only injured it during the fight. Not Ali's fault, well maybe he had some affect to that happening. But it's not like he picked on a hopeless injured Patterson as an injured challenger. That's just inaccurate.

 

Actually Toronto was going to host Ali versus Terrell on March 29, but Terrell pulled out over money issues, so they put Chuvalo in as a substitute.
I dont see anything wrong with that.

 

I know...But I'm just saying that the same criticisms that are often applied to Ali's first reign could be applied to any other title reign, too. The truth is, Ali didn't miss many deserving challengers during his first reign. Neither did Marciano, as you pointed out.

Anyway, Ali defended nine times in three years. and given that the reign includes the name of Liston, Patterson, and Terrell, also with legitimate Top 10 contenders like Cooper, Folley, Chuvalo, Williams and Mildenberger, that makes it one of the better reigns in heavyweight history. Had he defended against London and his equivalent, it might have been different, but on the whole, it was a good run against an era that wasn't amazing, but hardly the worst of all time.

 

Not sure one of the better reins imo.

Just on 60's rein, I think I rank Louis, Marciano, Tyson predouglas, Lewis, Perhaps Jeff, Frazier from Ellis to Ali, and perhaps the begainnings of Holmes rein, before he started slacking off imo. Perhaps after Cooney over Ali.

Ali would still make a top ten, but I cant see it as a lock of the top 2 as he is now, I perhaps put him any were from 6 to ten about.

A decent era, but not a strong era.

As for worse of all time?

I guess only the 80's, 20's, 10's, and early 30's could complete with the 60's imo.

You can rank these eras in any order, of worse of all time, would not bother me.

And the 2000's can be added here.

 

In all seriousness, Cooper did enjoy a brief and controversial three month stay as the NBA's #1 contender when Liston was suspended by Phili. I admit to forgetting the NBA stripped Liston of his ranking. A B.S. move considering Cooper had already famously refused fights with Patterson and Liston. The Ring rightfully didn't honor this and placed the more deserving Machen and Liston above him. The Ring was not playing to the politics of the time and this if anything strengthens their crediblity. Nor do I see it as a black eye to era, Cooper did upset Ring and NBA's #1 Folley in 58..happens. He was a vulnerable but dangerous fighter who had a few strong streaks in his career.

[url]http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=S-grAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SWcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4518,1834584&dq=henry+cooper+national+boxing+association&hl=en[/url]

 

True.
He didn't really deserve a title shot at all, but he put in an honest performance when the bell rang and went the full distance.

Brian London and Henry Cooper were not much better.

Eddie Machen lost to Patterson, Terrell, Mildenberger around this time. He actually did a lot worse against Patterson than Chuvalo did.
Truth is, Terrell was probably the only real contender out there, with Mildenberger and Folley behind him. The rest were equally discredited.

 

No, you didn't 'forget', you didn't know and just looked it up.

This is not the reaction of someone who 'forgot'. Thank God for Google eh.