Did Ali make a habit out of holding...

Why don't you watch a couple of Ali fights and see for yourself? Yes Ali held a lot behind the head. He had some dirty tactics, such as this, some bad habits, such as going straight back and not throwing many body punches, and speed like no other heavyweight who every lived, and he could take a punch like few others. That's Ali. He needed all those attributes to beat Forman, Frazier, Norton and others.

 

he only beat fraizer once?

 

wow kid you hate anything that wasnt made prior to the good ol 90s dontcha

 

It became an important part of his game. No doubt about that. He was very good at it.

 

Yes, he did it too much.

I think they call it the "collar tie" hold in mixed martial arts, where it is allowed.
It's surely against Queensberry rules.

 

Did you're second name get banned now I Am Legend? You go thru them like Indian Curry goes thru foreigners.

 

He used to hold and push down on the opponents head, Richard Pryor made a joke about it, Ali's jab and hold routine

 

Yeah, Richard Pryor made that joke about Ali against Spinks the second time.

Pryor knew his boxing. Never could figure out if he was related to Aaron.

 

Indeed. Most fighters get booed for excessive holding, but with Ali the audience tolerated it because he often played his illegal clinching behind the head antics to the crowd.

 

Ali flagrantly held quite often. He wore down Foreman's neck with that tactic, and he did it like crazy to Frazier as well. Basically did it to anyone who put the heat on him. Totally illegal, but the officials were so wowed by him too that they never put a stop to it. That's boxing for you.

 

Yes, he held a lot, and according to all accounts, was very up front about it with Frazier in their second fight.

One dramatic difference between their first and second fights is that in the FOTC, Ali grabbed to get a momentary break when he needed it, but almost always let go after just a moment -- sometimes pushing Frazier away, but rarely holding so long that Mercante was needed to break them. The clinches weren't prolonged at all, and when Ali let go, Frazier was still in punching range.

Various reports said that in their second fight, Ali told Frazier, "I'm gonna hit you and hold you." And in that second fight, Ali not only grabbed Frazier when he needed a break, he held on until the ref came to break them and used the time to try to wrestle Frazier around a bit. Which meant that the clinches were longer, and when they broke up, it was a full, referee's arms' length break, and Frazier had to take time to work his way back into range. Frazier's comment after the rematch decision was something like, "You can't win a fight holding on to a man."

As his career went on, Ali turned that grab and wrestle into a regular tactic -- forcing the opponent's head down and making him expend energy struggling to try to stand upright.

[That tactic resulted in the half-comic, half-tragic scenes in the Ali-Young fight: Young, knowing what Ali was up to, wasn't going to waste his energy trying to pull himself upright -- instead, when Ali tried to pull his head down, Young just let himself fall right down to the canvas.]

 

As Archie Moore said, "There's no fighter who could hold me behind the head." Frazier and Foreman didn't do what they needed to to stop Ali. I don't think it was a major reason why Ali won anyway. I think what defeated Frazier were Ali's punches, which he landed hundreds of.