How is Usyk still the top HW at 38 when Ali was completely done at 38

Why was Wilfred Benitez, a defensive genius, in a nursing home at 39 years old when Manny Pacquiao fought the welterweight champion to a draw at 46 years old?

 

Ali was fighting guys like Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, George Foreman,Ron Lyle, Earnie Shavers.
Big difference in opposition.

 

134-6 with a Olympic Gold and a handful of world championships.

 

Ali had started earlier and been through multiple wars and hard fought bouts, also had the effects of Parkinson and allat sparring he did where he let himself be hit to up his defence game in the ACTUAL ring

Usyk, despite being in the amateurs, hasn't had all those drawbacks so his mental health will be just fine

 

Because Ali took a lot more wear and tear and developed a permanent illness as well. Not hard to answer

 

Because Ali had 60 fights by 38 and was mentally and physically done? He had fought and beaten the divisions monsters and been in the 'near room to dyin' . Incomparable.

 

Absolutely.

It's like that recent poll said: Usyk is a great boxer in a mehh.. heavyweight era, led by Tyson "Flubber" Fury.

 

"Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that primarily affects movement, causing symptoms like tremors, stiffness, and slow movement." Source: Google Search for Parkinson's.

 

I respect Usyk for his skills and how he has demolished the myth of the modern heavyweight being too big to lose. But you are right. Fury had arguably been gifted a decision vs a debutant MMA fighter. Fury had struggled to beat a fringe level opponent like Wallin a few years before. His only good wins were over an aging Wlad and 2 over Wilder, and Wilder himself has a very thin resume.

Its so odd to see folks get so carried away. Let's give Usyk immense credit for overcoming much larger stronger men, showing that good technique and fundamentals combined with excellent stamina can overcome size. I certainly think that overcoming much larger men is worthy of praise but neither Fury nor Joshua rank in the top 20 heavyweights of all time. Even top 30 is debatable.

 

I don't find it particularly remarkable when you compare their career trajectories.

 

Why is it called taking a dump instead of leaving a dump? You're not actually taking it anywhere.

 

No question that Ali fought some great HOF guys. He also fought Jean-Pierre Coopman, Brian London, Rudy Lubbers, Karl Mildenberger and others whom I believe even Dubois would have defeated.

Certainly fighting 4 times a year is wearing on a body. Harry Greb was washed up at 31 or so.

We don't know much about Ali's diet besides the fact he didn't eat pork. I've always wondered why he "lost his legs" during that 3 yr draft issue. I understand that he had some exhibitions. They drained most of the strength out of his legs? How?

Usyk takes great care of himself. No he doesn't fight 4 times a year but he did have an extensive amateur career....350 fights....so he was constantly in training for many years and surely had more than 4 fights a year; yes they were 3 rounds but the training was as intensive as a pro training.

 

Ali cleared out his division in 2 eras essentially.

Usyk sort of did this at cruiser, although the cruiser division wasn't filled to the brim with talent or greatness but Usyk got the job done. At HW, Usyk beat 3 of the absolute best big men available, but his resume is still relatively thin. No Parker, Kabayel, Wilder, Moses, Ruiz, Hrgovic, etc. Usyk also only fights 1-2x a year. His pro career in general is pretty short.

Ali had been boxing since he was about 12 with golden gloves tournaments, Olympics, etc. He turned pro earlier than Usyk and had many brutal old school sparring sessions and training camps. Ali also had a 3 year layoff, not to mention slacking off between fights ballooning up to 230-240 chowing on food. Lastly, Ali had neurological issues causing his athletic abilities to decline rapidly from Manilla onwards. There's really no comparison. Ali took on an absolute gauntlet of hall of famers fighting several times a year when he had nothing left to prove, such as the infamous Holmes fight when he shouldn't have even been given clearance to box making his decline worse.

 

Ali lost his prime years.
Ali had 61 fights. Usyk has had 24
Louis was washed up at 37
Many will say Frazier was over the hill at 29.