Is Ali still the best ever?

I would think Ali might have difficulty with heavyweights of some of the later eras. Guys like Wladimir and Fury dwarf the fighters of Ali's day. What reason is there to think Ali would thrive in an era in which he is at a big size disadvantage against most of his opponents?

 

Moreover guys like Patterson, Quarry, and Ellis would be cruiserweights today.

 

Ali would have run rings around any version of Louis. Tell me which fighters Ali loses to if he he had Louis's career?

 

At heavyweight, I don't think anyone better has come along since Ali. Larry Holmes at his best came close, but the rest were clearly inferior.

Heavyweights can beat all other weights, so they are the best.
"Pound for pound" is for smaller fighters who simply cannot hang with the full heavyweights.

I prefer Joe Louis to Muhammad Ali in many ways, just based on technical skills and textbook punching technique, but perhaps Ali was better because I believe he might have been the more adaptable fighter generally.

 

No, p4p means if EVERY fighter was the same size. :good

 

YES .... and that suits who ?
It favours the smaller fighters. Heavyweights don't need the fantasy of 'p4p' because they can beat the middles and welters etc. all day every day.

Heavyweight champ is KING OF BOXING. :good

 

Ali-Liston 2 IMO was a fix, but Ali-Liston 1 wasn't a fix, and Ali was dancing around Liston. Liston was getting broken down. Great performance by the half blind Ali.

 

I'm thinking the same thing!

I believe Ali would probably have defeated any heavyweight champ that came before him. But how about a bigger, accomplished boxer with a punch... like, for example, Lennox Lewis? I don't think it's a given, that Ali could have beaten him. Wlad would also be a difficult opponent, imo.

 

Ali would have danced around and stopped the small cruiserweight Louis. Not an easy fight for Louis at all.

 

I hate to say it but I agree. Ali would be my pick, though I wouldn't be very comfortable.

 

The only terrible thing is that an idiot like you can post here

 

I have always believed Lennox Lewis would be a 60 - 40 favourite to beat POST exile Ali, but PRE exile Ali forget it. Not a hope in hell. The same goes for every Heavyweight before or since. Heavies simply weren't bred to have that movement coupled with those reflexes.

 

i can't believe people are downgrading ali here, little by little, over the years. he was a very strong heavyweight with welterweight reflexes. what's so hard to understand about that? of course he could beat joe louis. hmm.. is joe going to knock him out?

he was robbed of his prime.. 3 1/2 years of it. everything after that was downhill, skill-wise, yet look what he still accomplished.

 

And plenty of "lesser"men than Joe Louis hurt Clay/Ali too. It works both ways. My choice of Joe louis to whip Ali, both men at their respective bests, is based on not degrading either man's record, but
what the murderous coil spring punching Joe louis of the Max Baer circa fight brought to the table...With respect to Ali, he NEVER met the type of super fast, laser like explosive puncher as Joe Louis was at his best.
The joe louis of the Billy Conn fight was a lot past his peak era of the man that almost beheaded Max Baer and Max Schmeling. And by the way, Eddie Futch who saw young Joe Louis chose the Brown Bomber as the best heavyweight he had ever seen, and so do I...I am in good company....

 

I think some people are still hung up over the whole draft thing tbh, so they resort to posting the same old stuff in an attempt to demean Ali.
Muhammad Ali, in his prime would have slapped Joe Louis all round the ring....deal with it.