Bull****. I recall hating Lewis prior to Steward getting a hold of him. He fought like a *****, always off of his back foot, and seemingly never initiating the action. He was fortunate that he was talented enough, as a boxer with good reflexes, to get away with it. His worst fights after Steward were the ones when he was not adequately motivated and would revert beck to his old tendencies. Steward taught him to "fight tall", using his size and jab to establish range and control the fight. He was perhaps a bit better of a finisher than Wlad is, but the similarities now are otherwise undeniable.
Thats your opinion, but most boxing fans and historians would disagree with you by a landslide. Ali never punched hard, but it's not always how hard you hit, punch placement is much more important, this was something Ali was a master at. For a guy that many claim have no power, he certainly has a fair share of knockouts over some all-time greats and hall of famers, which is a caliber of a oppenent Wlad has never faced.
He'd have to get inside to land anything on Wlad. He's not gonna get to him from the outside -- no ****in' way in Hell. Ali's only hope would be for Wlad to tire and with the new Wlad, I don't see that happening.
I saw that coming. But, of course, any time a Klitschko fan tries to relate Wlad or Vitali's skills to that of regarded ATGs, you are ready to pounce. When their careers are over, history will remember them more kindly than you do, sir. I promise you that.
yeah, it's almost like Foreman surrendered in a way, to the will of the continent of Africa, which were totally united in favoring ALi. Foreman wasn't mentally strong enough at that time to be able to deal with being one man against the world and ALi. The energy and will of the Zaire crowd definitely had an influence on his performance. He discusses this in his biography By George.
Liston had one of the best jabs ever. Foreman's jab, while sloppy, was like a ****ing truck. Norton had an underrated jab. Ernie Terrell and Jimmy Young had fast, controlling jabs.
Ali had an 80 inch reach, WALDO has 81 inch reach, but Ali was far, far faster, and had a much better jab. You work it out for yourself how this fight would go if it was fought from the outside. If it was fought on the inside it would be messy but Ali would still prevail. Unbelievable ignorance, but I'd expect no less.
I just don't rank guys like Frazier or Norton great.. or even the first incarnation of Foreman. Frazier was a very small HW who came in head first. Had a great left hook, but he's never land it against Wlad. Remember what Foreman did to him? That's what Wlad would do to him. Foreman was a crude brawler in the early days. He totally relied on his punching power. I mean the way he fought against Ali showed he wasn't "there" yet.
You just don't want to accept that a Black American Heavyweight is the greatest Heavyweight of all-time.
If Corrie Sanders landed the left against Wlad then ATG Joe Frazier would. Frazier KO Wlad easily. Foreman KO's Wlad easily.