In style of boxing and even personality? Riddick Bowe ,I'm sure tried to emulate Muhammad in personality .I recall a interview with Michael Nunn in which he was doing his best to come across like him ,even saying of Barkley "" He's to ugly to be champ "" Would you say PBF is a Ali wannabe in his manner ?
Yeah and like most fighters who tried Ali impersonations,Nunn fell flat on his ass. Only Ali could BE Ali. Anyone else just sounded and looked stupid.
Almost every American fighter since the 1970s has been influenced by Ali and/or tried to impersonate him, but few have had anything approaching the wit and good humour as well as the ability to laugh at themselves. So they usually just come across as unaware loudmouths. It's embarrassing for the sport in my view. I always enjoy a quiet and humble American fighter because they are such a rarity.
This is so so true. Ali was a one off ,a one in a million. And that's in terms of boxing and personality. So many have tried to imitate but show them self's up .
If memory serves me, there was a boxing club out of San Diego which i believe was called the Muhammad Ali B. C. and Tony Tubbs was among them. Every one of those kids came out of that club wearing white trunks with the black stripe and brandishing the Ali style. But unaffiliated with that club and for my money the best Ali impersonation was Howard Davis. But Howard lacked the chin and balance of Ali.
"Sugar" Ray Leonard, Michael Dokes, Greg Page, James "Quick" Tillis, Tony Tubbs, Hector "Macho" Camacho, Aaron "the Hawk" Pryor, Thomas "Motor City Cobra" Hearns, Floyd Mayweather, Sr. and Jr., Vinny "Pazmanian Devil" Pazienza, Hilario Zapata.
Larry Holmes......Deontay Wilder tries to make up rhymes when he is speaking of a fighter, but he can barely talk so it never comes out right.
Jose Legra, the excellent Cuban featherweight champ in the 60's. Sot Chitalada too, another excellent fighter who mastered the Ali approach. Nino LaRocca and Kirkland Laing were more erratic and less successful, the Duran fight being an exception for Laing.
Azumah Nelson tried to be a mix of Ali and Frazier. I was watching him in his first fight against Fenech recently and he was doing the outside light on the toes circling and punching just like Ali did. Had the rhythm and form too, except Fenech wasn't having any of it. He'd bull in trap and smother Nelson in a corner.
