In 1981 Cobb would have knocked Ali out, no ands ifs or butts:verysad Ali should have quit after the Spinks rematch....
It's now known that Ali was displaying early signs of Parkinsons as far back as 1978. I first noticed that something was wrong with his speech in 1979 when Muhammad was over here in Britain on,what we thought,his retirement tour. By the time the great man had those sad fights with Holmes and Berbick,it was all too obvious that he was ill. A fight with Cobb at that point would have been similar to the Berbick one. Ali putting up a fairly competitive showing enroute to a decision loss.
Manilla would have been THE perfect time for Ali to have retired for good. Hard to say,obviously,but I have a strong feeling that he would have been pretty healthy today had that occurred. It would also have been the right time for Joe Frazier to have called it a day too.
i'd say ali wins on points...he ties cobb up in knots even at that stage. in the berbick fight he made a good fight out of it in spells.....although he took an awful beating in some of the later rounds (7th especially). here's ali doing an exhibition in 83...dancing and doing the shuffle even....i think he beats cobb in 81 on points even if just from memory.....holmes was a mile above the likes of berbick and cobb. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxJ0S8aLGhk
I don't want to degrade a fellow boxing fan but who gives a f%$^&*#g s&^t about some fight between a deterorating has-been ATG vs. a tough journeyman. Prime Ali vs. prime Cobb is a one-sided beatdown. So what if Mr. Whiskers Cobb goes the distance??? And he probably wouldn't. Why not start a more reasonable thread?
Why not respond to the ones that interest you and leave those that don't to people who *are* interested in them?
You're right but I come on board here (I only go to the Classic Forum) looking for good, thought provoking threads. Why tarnish Ali's great career (he should have been retired long before 81) by imagining these mythical matchups between an aging and failing health ATG against mediocre fighters that were either young or still had some gas in their tank? Lots of Heavies in 81 could have had Muhammad for breakfast....
Tex would have beaten his easier than Trevor … Tex could box a bit and was a straighter puncher than Trevor ..
I never thought I would ever say this; but Tex Cobb was no Trevor Berbick! I seem to be picking on you tonight he grant, sorry, nothing personal. :good
None taken ,, Look at a still young Tex ... he is a much sharper boxer than the mauling, awkward Berbick ... I think he beats Ali easier as Berbick was a mauler and fought ugly ... Tex ix a bit under rated because of the Holmes fight but he was a tough guy who fought a lot of good fighters very close ... Norton was razor thin, Dokes was very close, pre - Holmes he was a fighter .. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1RajNtxZNg&noredirect=1