Did Ali lose his speed after the 3 year lay off?

Mildenberger? He was barely above Euro level. He had some atrocious losses. Quarry is way above him

Williams would have knocked out mildenberger had they fought in the early 60s

 

You vastly underrated quarry. The Chuvalo loss was bull****. Quarry won every round. Mistimed the count. He was fine.

Quarry beat Patterson, Martin, Lyle, shavers, London 2x, Zanon, Middleton, and foster...

I’d rate Terrell over him. But quarry was much better than someone like mildenberger!

 

I’d say he had the fastest feet ever and it’s not even close. Ali was way better in the 60s where fighters could barely hit him. Liston swung and missed the entire fight

 

64-67 ali destroys bonavena much easier

 

He definitely lost foot speed. He lost the bounce. In the 60's, he did the darting in & out a lot. In the 70's, especially after 74, Ali did this impression of himself. He backpedaled rather than bounce into range and bounce out. Legs had definitely lost something.

The hand speed was pretty good but he definitely lost snap in the mid 70's. His punches rarely had snap after 75.

 

The cult movie "AKA Cassius Clay"???

 

It shows his physical prime, which was in itself a thing to behold. But his technical prime came later. He learned and adapted. The speed was still there when he needed it, but he got smarter and learned of his chin post FOTC.

 

I agree. The quality of opponent is key.

 

Back then something like 30 was considered the age when sportsmen in general would physically start to decline it was cerainly the case with boxers.
If Ali had still been active '67 to '70 I think he would have still had his great foot speed by the time he fought the FOC although it might have been diminished slightly due to natural bulking up and the simple fact he didn't train much during the exile.
Having said that still being active he would have fought Frazier before '71.
I'm digressing slightly however, yes I think he certainly lost his foot speed and his reflexes were a bit slower although the handspeed was still there.

 

The thing is we all assume lost speed because of his exile, maybe he would have lost a step anyway due to age.

 

The biggest names above were either somewhat past it or somewhat green. A solid list nonetheless, but he also lost clearly to Ellis and lost to Chuvalo, albeit with a degree of misfortune. All in all a solid top 5 contender over a number of years, but nothing extraordinary in any sense.

Mildenberger had been undefeated for 4 years when he met Ali, with wins over fringe contender types like Alonzo Johnson, Billy Daniels and a past it Machen, and a draw against Folley. Pretty standard top 5 contender material I'd say. So, no, I see no big difference between him and Quarry in 1970. If you think Quarry was a bit better, fine, but I see no real difference in level. Mildenberger certainly looked a more live opponent than Quarry in their actual fights against Ali.

 

How many, who kept busy and disciplined, do you feel had lost a comparable amount of speed, stamina and coordination by the age of 29?

 

Yes, his movement in the 60's was both lighter and more coordinated. In the 70's you rarely saw him swivel out of corners like he did in the 60's. Instead he would initiate a clinch.

 

How many HW's had the legs of a young Ali........

 

I have not watched that yet, but it's on youtube so will give it a watch soon. This is the clip i was talking about where Cus D'Amoto could see the change. Ali was dancing on his feet in sparring, but he was struggling to get out the way unlike before the layoff.

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