If Muhammad Ali never returned after he was stripped of his title

Liston 2x
Floyd Patterson
Archie Moore
Jerry Quarry
George Chuvalo
Cleveland Williams
Ernie Terrell
Oscar Bonavena


All of these wins were before his exile, so yeah he'd still be considered an ATG, just not one of the top 3 HWs of all time like he is now (IMO the #1 All Time, but I'm biased )

 

One of the deepest resumes in the history of the sport once he had retired.

 

Hands down Ali has the best HW resume, no doubt about it. Lennox Lewis has a great resume too, but he didn't have the incredible talent pool Ali had around his era. To me Ali is the greatest HW ever, hands down, I think the Ali who beat Liston twice would beat Joe Louis easily.

The most incredible thing to me about Ali was that he got most of his tremendous wins AFTER his exile. Ali's two greatest assets were his reflexes, and his footwork, both of which were gone after his exile. He won all those great fights post-exile do to his incredible smarts, and toughness. In his younger days he got knocked down a couple times, as he got older, he developed the greatest chin of all time IMO. In this day of PPV, Ali would be the biggest draw of all time without a doubt, he was a great salesman.

 

You can be biased as **** and it's still a legitimate statement.

 

Just to give everyone an idea of how great Ali was, here is his resume:

First, Before Exile:

Liston 2x
Floyd Patterson
Archie Moore
Jerry Quarry
George Chuvalo
Cleveland Williams
Ernie Terrell
Oscar Bonavena

After Exile:

Foreman
Frazier 2x
Ken Norton 2x
Jimmy Young
Jimmy Ellis
George Chuvalo (Second Time)
Floyd Patterson (Second Time)
Jerry Quarry (Second Time)
Bob Foster
Ron Lyle
Earnie Shavers
Joe Bugner 2x (This guy beat Ellis, which most people don't know)


JUST ****ING INCREDIBLE!

 

I guess I just wanted to be fair and let everyone know I'm not impartial Ali is my favorite boxer of all time, and it's not even close. There's Ali, and then everyone else way after that for me.

 

He'd be known as a good boxer but a stinkin draft dodger. History would not smile on him, I don't believe.

 

No, I think once people woke the **** up to the truth about the Vietnam war, they got it. That had nothing to do with him as a boxer, but who he was as a man, which I think people now respect about him. Would you respect someone more who stood up for what they believed in despite the consequences, or someone who was a puppet?

 

I completely see where you're coming from, and boxing is impressive with its containment of history, but he would not have the renown. He was big, yeah, but Frazier and Foreman and the likes just shot him that much higher. He'd be remembered as a great, but what i meant was in the average American household I don't believe he'd be near the heroic image he is today. I think he'd be more of a black icon than an american icon.

 

it took real balls to stand by his ideals, draft dodger does make him sound like a coward.
50 years before that the english shot cowards who wouldnt go over the top to face a hail of bullets..

dude was ahead of his time with his convictions.. its probly taken me 30 years to realise it lol

 

Well there is no doubt the majority of the wins that define his career came post-exile, I never had any argument there. I disagreed with the statement that he'd be labeled a "stinkin draft dodger," had he not returned though, because that had NOTHING to do with his boxing career. The majority of America respects him now for refusing induction into the draft, and I think it would be the exact same way modern day in that regard, whether or not he boxed again or not.

 

if ali was not stripped of his title, he would have ran into the best package of heavies ever... however, he would have fought most if not all of them earlier.... would have not met holmes....and this would have been a prime ali, and would beaten them all.... some in the same night!.... his foot and hand speed would be too much for any flat-footed fighter, and it was tough JUST TO GET TO ALI! only ali and father time could beat ali.....none of the other heavies during the late 60s-early 70s, even in their prime, could not beat an in shape ali...... but his legacy would have been different, and would not be as revered as he is today.... those fighters, once again, would b lucky to catch an in-shape, prime ali... and in my opinion, he beat frazier in 1971.... politics played a role in THAT DECISION...but that is another subject for another time....:hat

 

He defo would have been considered among the best of all time. But it was his wins over Frazier & Foreman that sealed the deal and firmly established him as the best.