In which fight was Ali hurt the most?

Do you mean, for 2nd place, choosing between FOTC rd 11 and rd 15, you’d take rd 11 or also rd 11 as absolute # 1 for most hurt?

Just me, I’d still rate rd 4 vs Cooper # 1 though rd 11 FOTC was crazy and memorable.

Ali was very badly hurt as you described. Legs were screwed making his evasions look goofy - which might’ve helped ironically because his attempts to move away were quite erratic and hard to time.

He did play act just toward the end, even then I think his legs still might’ve betrayed him a touch but I’d have to watch again. Amazing how he got through that rd.

 

If talking dazed and out of it would it be fair to say he was more gone in round 11 than when he actually hit the deck in 15?

Agree Cooper tops the list. I'm pondering round 11 of FOTC as #2. Ali was extremely good at concealing things but having said that these two occasions really did stand out. Obviously stunned by The Acorn a few times too.

 

Sweet. Just clarifying, not at all disagreeing - Ali took some terrible punches in rd 15, including the KD punch of course (up at 4, what the f…?) and several brutal follow ups - but somehow (don’t know how) he appeared to stand up better than rd 11.

Shavers?

Jeeze, there was the stand out wobble in rd 2 but several other occasions when Ali got hit and his legs would betray him a bit after a split second delay. -

I must say, I’ve never seen fighters lose co-ordination as badly as many did after Shavers hit them (Williams, Clark..this list goes on) - eery, semi cognisant while their body was going north, south, east and west all at the same time.

 

Yes, he seemed to be only seconds away from being KO'd.

 

Joe won the first fight. At the end of the day nothing Ali could have done would have him allowed him to have the speed and reflexes of his pre-exile career. He was just older.

 

It shocks me that anyone can say anyone else. They performed no less than three rules violations to keep him in that.

 

Henry Cooper I

Ali walked back to his corner like a zombie. Got up off his stool like he was out on his feet didn’t know where he was. Dundee panicked.. opened up the glove a little, gave him a few extra seconds recovery then threw him in for round 5

 

I just rewatched Ali-Cooper and bang! that left hook truly rocked Ali's world.

Ali was literally saved by the bell, ten more seconds for the round to end and it was goodnight vienna for Ali.

So... if he are talking about ONE specific hit hurting Ali the most, it was Cooper's left hook hands down.

If we are talking about accumulative damage, then it is Shavers or Holmes. Ali endured those horrible beatings and his health paid the price ... absolute madness.

 

Not to open up controversy re the smelling salts, they were actually prohibited in the UK but not the US and apparently the policing in the UK wasn’t balls to the wall - if caught just a warning not to do it again.

Apparently Cooper himself said he didn’t begrudge the administering of salts to Ali adding that his corner would’ve done same.

I wonder how much they did give Ali. At least a few vials I’d guess.

You can see one being given and then his corner close in tight to shield their actions otherwise - which we know included Dundee (by his own admission) worsening an existing tear in the glove.

The minutes rest between rds 4 and 5, a scant 4 secs longer, probably the grace/error margin at the least in a lot of fights anyway.

I love the stories of Cooper jogging along the street, being boosted by his fans as he passed by:-

“Knock that Big Loud Mouth OUT, ‘Enry!”.

LOL, he almost did. An iconic moment in boxing. If I were a Brit I’d be very proud.

 

He did adjust on the fly, see "When we Were Kings".
Although he practiced the rope-a-dope for when he might need it.

There is some truth to you saying Foreman had those flaws-but your positions are too extreme.
Frazier even then & Norton-you act like they were club fighters instead of among the best in the world.
Nobody took them out like that, when Shavers did later Norton was past it, & Norton fought on pretty even terms with Holmes when a bit past prime.

Many fighters would need to endure surprise lead rights from

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, most perhaps.
Foreman was not "very inexperienced" when he won the title, that is waaaaay overstated.
Less than 200 rounds before he won the title? This is not unusual.
Many had less.
Tyson & Frazier had 215 & 212: in their whole

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.

Foreman was HW Olympic champion & 40-0 with 37 KOs when he fought Ali.
Ali was semi-conscious, out on his feet during the fight as he volunteered.
It took all his toughness, savvy & psychological warfare-& holding & puling George with all his weight behind the neck-to ensure victory.

 

I think Ali took the most punishment in the FOTC.

The Holmes fight was his most one-sided defeat because he had absolutely nothing to offer and lost every round.