Is any prime HW unbeatable?

I scored it 9 - 6 to Norton (And I'm a massive Ali fan) but a lot of the rounds were close

 

Every great fighter has "a day off' when he feels he isn't himself. And no fighter is
"unbeatable" against every other fighter of his weight including heavyweights.
Having said that I earnestly feel that the Joe Louis of circa Max Baer fight would have
most likely beat anybody in heavyweight history that night...Witness the tiger like
triple left hooks on Baer's granite chin, and fast explosive combinations unsurpassed by any other fighter who ever lived...It might be heresy on this site, but Clay /Ali had
nothing in their arsenal to hold back THIS Joe Louis IMO...Louis did not have the gift
of BS, Ali had, but his punches had the kick of the proverbial mule...
Boxing is styles, and the 2 men I feel who had the best chance to stop Louis are the
two FAST explosive punchers as Jack Dempsey and the early Mike Tyson, all at their bests. They hit with fast powerful punches as Louis did...But of course my man Joe Louis had the greatest career as champion for a GOOD reason...

 

Better question.Who looked unbeatable without unlucky circumstances?
1. Eighties Tyson.
2. I don't like him but Vitali klitschko in his prime.
3. Holyfield against Tyson.
4. Valuev to his first loss.
5. Foreman to his Ali loss.

I think Ali never was unbeatable by his performance or carrier.The total bum Banks could knock him down in the first round in his prime.

 

Any fighter is beatable.

Indeed the difference between a great fighter like Ali, and a fringe contender is a bit of a conjuring trick.

They don’t so much find it easy beating them, and make it look easy.

 

Sullivan 82-85

 

I don't remember the name but one writer gave a good example in answering this question. He claimed that if you looked at each great champion as a team like baseball instead of an individual and had them fight a "season" if you will, no fighter/team would be undefeated at the end of the season....but Ali would be in first place. A little crazy but accurate I think. No fighter is absolutely unbeatable but I think Ali at his best would be the least beatable, followed closely by Joe Louis in second place.

 

Ali would not be in first place.

Sullivan from 1882-1885, Waldo from 2008-2012, Louis from 1937-1940, Tyson from 1986-1989… I would put them all ahead.

 

I think Ali vs. Williams is an overrated joke. Cleveland was slow, stiff, uncoordinated, gun-shy, and had a bullet in his gut. Ali worshippers make way too much of this fight. The following fighters would have done the EXACT SAME THING to Cleveland Williams that night:

Mike Tyson
George Foreman
Lennox Lewis,
Riddick Bowe
Vlad Klitschko
Vital Klitschko
Joe Frazier

Ken Norton probably would have, too. Hell, Shannon Briggs wouldl have. I'm so tired of this fight being held up as the most impressive performance ever. It's ridiculous.

 

God damn wisdom on parade here, folks. Read it twice or thrice till it sinks into your cranium.

 

Agreed. For me no other heavyweight comes close to the combination of skills and speed that Ali displayed during his prime years.

 

Terrell was ruined by the Ali fight, but even so I doubt Mando Ramos would have beaten him.

 

The 20 year old Cassius Clay who'd been a pro for only two years was hardly a PRIME Clay/Ali.

 

Ali
Tunney
Tyson

 

The fighter with the best chance to steamroll all competitors is prime Sonny Liston.