Did the heavyweight division actually lose something after Ali retired..?

He was a dangerous durable hard hitter, much better than dubois

 

Was he, though? Did he beat anyone near as good as Joshua or Hrgovic? Or even Miller?

And as far as durability, he was stopped by Ali and Ball.... and yeah, he survived Shavers but so did 20 other dudes.

Lyle was a basic fighter whose stock was inflated by ginned up estimation of his era, which just wasn't that good. Guys like Bobick, Howard Smith and Johnny Boudreaux were getting ranked.

 

Yes Lyle was better than Dubois.

Duvois beat a post Usyk Joshua who has not beaten one legit contender since. Not a big achievement. Joshua has not beaten anyone notable since Ruiz in 2020.

Hrgovic has a paper thin resume with his best win being arguably a gift vs Zhang

Lyle was more durable, didn’t go down 3 times vs Kevin Larena. He beat Shavers, Bugner and Bonavena and hence, he has a better resume than Dubois

Dubois beating a past it Joshua whose team has not put him in with legit contenders in years is no great achievement.

Lyle would be a top contender in any era including today.

 

Agree but I would say it was post Manila. After that he was a ghost. Recently watched the first 10 rounds of Ali/Shavers. It was disgraceful almost like Elvis in Las Vegas. Had to turn it off

 

Ali's late-career bouts were painful to watch -- a great fighter and man trying to mask his declining skills by clowning, holding and showboating. It was a blessing when he retired. He had become unwatchable.

 

Yes and no.

Yes it was a weak division, but the key fights wee still being made, in a way that they wert after the belts fragmented.

 

I mean he was the most famous athlete in the world. He almost is like a Jesus figure in a way, every single boxing gym you go into there are pictures of him everywhere and fighters talk about him as if he is some kind of deity, which isn't really weird considering he won fights he should have never won to begin with.
Being born in the 90s, I knew the name Muhammad Ali before I knew what a sport was.

BUT
I do not think losing him was as disasterous as people make him out to be. the kings came right after him and after them we got Mike. Boxing did not take the hit it did until after Mike left and it honestly hasn't recovered since,not to THAT extent. But it would be wrong to say it was on life support or anything as Manny and Floyd held down the sport after him. Once Floyd and Manny were through that was when it took a real hit imo.

 

Ali was larger then life. He transcended boxing and he was one of a kind.
So when he retired nobody was ever going to be able to fill that.

 

The 90's were a good decade for heavyweights.