"I never could of beaten him"

Well I wouldn't be too sure of that. Joe Louis was special.

 

And Ali?

 

Lionel Rose was struggling with weight by the time Olivares got to him but he said that didn't make any difference as Ruben was way too good for him.

 

After Buster Douglas beat Tyson Ali said ,"maybe now they will stop asking me if I could have beat Tyson" the Ring.

 

Jeffries was getting on a train to go home ,after the fight,and a reporter said to him "well Jeff ,you would have beaten him at your best" .Jeffries replied"no I couldnt have beaten Jack Johnson in a thousand years,I couldnt have laid a glove on him" A year later he was saying he lost because of " drugged tea".

 

Dempsey claimed he never could have beaten Tunney

 

I agree with that. Besides, all the fighters mentionned in this thread had the ability to beat each other.

 

Dempsey also said,gentleman that he was,[outside the ring],referring to the long count,"if Gene says he could have gotten up ,I will not doubt his word",privately Dempsey wassnt sure Tunney could have made it before 10,but he was sure he wouldnt have stayed upright,Tunney himself said ,"Im certain I could have got up,Im less certain I could have survived".

 

Yeah, that was pure media spin.

 

tyson most certianly did say it.

i believe it was in the interview after the fight in his dressing room. he is sat down quite calmly holding a baby (his i hope!) being interviewed, and he says he could never have beaten lewis, says he was far too strong for him.

it was on youtube not so long ago, might still be if you have a look.

 

In that case I stand corrected.

I thought Tbooze was referring to the brief post fight interview Tyson conducted in the ring just after the fight.

I haven't seen the later interview you mention in the dressing room.

I do think that Tyson was being overly gracious and was in a very complementary mood as can be seen from his kissing of Lewis and wiping his face, which I thought was very creepy.

Incidentally, I still believe '88 Tyson beats any version of Lewis.

 

I tend to agree with you.

At one time I used to fiercely disagree with the idea that Marciano could have beaten a prime Louis. But as time went by, the more I watched Marciano the more I appreciated him and what he could do, sure he was crude but he had the ability to make big things happen when the chips were down. 49-0 isn't luck, his record could be considered somewhat padded but he is grossly underrated by most.

 

I used to think the same thing, that Marciano was overrated by most, I have come to realise I was wrong.

Louis wasn't known to say overly complementary things about other fighters, such as "I would never have beaten him". He did say that about Marciano though, yet he always maintained that he'd have beaten Ali. Louis was an intelligent fighter and I believe he saw something in Marciano that led him to believe he would always lose to him regardless of age. Perhaps it was the constant pressure he would have faced against Marciano, but there was something in Marciano that worried him.

I don't particularly like Marciano's fighting style, I prefer flashier more skilled fighters, he certainly didn't fight pretty. But I recognise the qualities Marciano had. I also think he'd have given Ali a great deal of trouble.