Ali had problems with his hands after his lay-off, but how much did these problems affect him? He himself claims that they kept him from punching with proper power in the rematch with Norton, and that they made him hesitate to follow up when he had Frazier wobbled in their rematch? Claims like these are of course a dime a dozen, but I do think that Ali tended to punch more with his arms and the inside of his gloves in his second career. Did his bad hands have anything to do with this, do you think?
I think that's a major reason he didn't have those A+ efforts in so many of his bouts. Guys like Mac Foster & Blue Lewis and later on guys like Bugner. And especially after the Thrilla in Manilla it was decisions against guys like Shavers who had a ? chin and stamina issues/evangelista/spinks. I'm in the minority on this, but I think it was a major major concern for the Ali camp & why there was never a Foreman rematch--Ali would've had to have been 100% & I don't think those hands were up to the task in that 76/77 timeframe.
