if ali fought joe louis in their primes..

Ali too fast and big for Louis. Late stoppage.

 

The crazy thing about Ali, Clay, is we never saw him in his prime. That three year imposed lay-off, 26 to 29 years of age roughly, is a heavyweight's prime. But even before or after, I think Ali would have been all around him. If Louis would have caught him flush it could have been a problem, but Ali's greatest asset was his mind. The control he had over himself in that ring could make him so elusive, so hard to catch flush, he was almost invisible. But not quite I guess, in hindsight, coming to realize after all those spectacular performances that he was taking alot of those shots, and the long-term damage as well. What a shame, what a beautiful fighter.

 

Sad but True.

 

Thats just a guess. We did see him in his prime, simply because we know when he performed at his absolute peak from what we seen. Nobody knows how he would have looked and performed between 67-70.

 

I like Louis by knockout. Ali could be hurt, 185lb henry cooper put a fully grown muhammad ali down and practically out....All of Ali's technical flaws thay he could overcome with his athletiscm and speed would be exploited by joe louis in this fight. Ali's susceptibitlity to a left hook will be taken advantage of by joe louis in this fight. I like a Late Joe Louis knockout in round 12, with ali ahead on the cards

 

Louis would score big on the ropes.
Louis was great at cutting off the ring and his handspeed would catch Ali with body shots, pin him to the ropes, score big before Ali gets away again.

Contrary to popular myth, Billy Conn was caught by Louis on the ropes and on the inside throughout the majority of their fight, and it was Conn's CHIN, toughness and all-round ability that got him into the 13th round. Also, Conn was ahead but the fight had been close. It's the romanticized version that has Conn out-boxing and avoiding Louis at arm's length for the entire 12 rounds.

Also, it's another MYTH that has a prime young Ali that danced all night and never went to the ropes. Ali was stuck on the ropes or in corners against such ordinary stalkers as Chuvalo and Mildenberger at times in those fights. Early on against Chuvalo he's trapped in a corner. As graceful and as fast as Ali was on his feet he wasn't always precise and calculating with it, good fighters who really pressure him could forced him to dance himself into a corner.

I'm not saying Louis beats Ali for these reasons, just pointing out WHAT THERE IS TO SEE ON FILM.
Ali dancing flawless rings around a "slow shuffling" Louis is a cliched scenario, based I feel largely on Ali's own youthful boasts (which he made at the time, almost certainly deliberately exaggerating his confidence because AT THAT TIME no one would have taken him remotely seriously anyway!).

I think people who honestly watch the full fights of Ali and Louis at their bests will guess that the fight would be a very competitive two-sided affair.

 

Louis was great, but he didn't have great athleticism. Ali's athleticism would enable him to withstand Joe's outstanding technical precision and be him by UD.

 

Ali was a different fighter than was Clay. He moved less, he'd lost a little hand speed, picked up a little power and alot of know-how. I'm not saying there was much lacking in either, but we didn't get to see the transition.

 

I thinking probably Louis I feel he has the better jab and would punish Ali whenever he fought off the ropes plus he only needs to hurt you once to get the finish. While I feel Ali beat bigger punchers Foreman, Liston and Shavers I don't think he ever faced an as great finisher. Although the same could be said that Louis never fought a fighter as quick or smart as Ali. Close fight but I feel Louis ends it late.

 

Ali did,,,,,,not,,,,,look that great in fights against for instance Terrel and Chuvalo if you go through these bouts. He didn't impress my at all in these, or some of his other bouts. Speed and his athletic ability were there, but also a lack of some general boxing skills. In these two bouts particularly he doesn't compare to Joe. In the second Liston fight and again in the C. Williams bout he showed ability that may have been too much for Joe however.