Fighters who copied their idols but ended up looking different than them

Greg Page tried way way to hard to be like Ali to the point it became detrimental

 

I don't see any similarities between Floyd and Pryor TBH

 

I feel like most of a generation did this.

 

I think he turned out looking like a big Jersey Joe Walcott, just a bit more fluid.

 

Tf no he didn’t sir, not even close.

 

The semi-flat-footed slick movement that Page did always makes me think of Walcott. You don't gotta see the same thing, lol.

 

Great post mate.

 

I still struggle to find what Holmes actually copied from Ali. He was mostly self taught, and a lot of that came from sparring with Ali, but his actual style and technique? Didn’t seem to have a lot in common. He was more flat footed. Sat down on most of his jabs and aimed to use them to do damage. Engaged more often at mid range. Used those old timey guard manipulations and shoving to force guys to reset, would do the long guard mummy arms as defense, would do this arm bar to the face while stepping past an opponent to change angle and create a little distance, etc.

I almost think he went out of his way to NOT fight like Ali because he didn’t want to be in the shadow.

 

Good posts.

I wouldn't use the word idol, but I can remember David Haye and Chris Eubank Jr, both trying to fight like Roy Jones, with their left arm hanging very low.

Awful to watch.

 

Fury copies Ali a lot more than he copies Naz imo.

 

Holmes was an outboxer with a great jab that set up his offense, and he mostly fought at range with excellent footwork. That seems to shows he had a lot in common with Ali, at least fundamentally. Both fighters relied on their jab as the cornerstone of their style, Holmes’ was heavier and more damaging, while Ali’s was faster and flashier, but the principle was the same. They both used it to control distance, set up combinations, and keep opponents off balance.
Sure, Holmes added his own wrinkles—like his mid-range power punching and guard manipulations—but at his core, he was an outboxer with a jab-centric style, just like Ali. The similarities are definitely there, even if Holmes put his own spin on it.

 

This is kind of my point. That's the only real similarity I see between Holmes and Ali. They happened to have some of the same strengths and that's about it. Other than that one time Holmes spent maybe 10-15 seconds fighting as Ali against Norton, he never really copied (there's this sequence in their fight where Holmes circles around Norton, using the exact kind of footwork for that thing that Ali did, throwing Ali's flicker jab).

A late career thing I saw were people saying he was doing the rope-a-dope against Mercer and Holyfield. He wasn't! He'd go stand in a corner when he was old, but wasn't even to fight defensively, it was a way of conserving energy and compensating for his feet having slowed.

 

While the details might differ, the foundation of their styles is very similar. Holmes took what worked for Ali, tweaked it to suit his own game, and made it his own.

 

Foreman and Liston.

In his early fights, Foreman used his jab like Liston, but eventually, Sadler told George that no one could withstand his power, so Foreman focused on quick KOs.

 

Foreman did altered his focus at Saddler more.