Is Muhammad Ali the GOAT inside the ring?

I think he was a poltical novice and a patsy. A puppet to those more adept than he. Even a victim, but not in the way that he supposed.

In the ring? I don't know any better. Yes.

 

He has the most wins vs top 10 contenders at HW, 34. He was a force at HW from 1964-1968 and 1971-1979, with his first three losses avenged, and three of them being deeply out of his prime. He also beat many HoFers including Liston, Frazier, Foreman, Patterson, Norton (though just a HoFer for beating Ali) and an older Moore. He probably has the best resume in HW history. He's for sure at least the second greatest of the big men, and many, many, legitimately knowledgeable historians rate him as the greatest heavyweight of all time.

 

Perhaps the best way to put Muhammad Ali's greatness into perspective is this simple fact. Below are lists of the end-of-year Ring Magazine top ten heavyweights for 1963 and 1974. Ali beat nine of the ten men on the 1963 list and he defeated all ten men on the 1974 list. Simply said, Ali fought and beat everyone and he did it over a long period of time. That's why Ali is, indeed, the greatest.

1963

Sonny Liston, Champion
Cassius Clay
Doug Jones
Ernie Terrell
Cleveland Williams
Zora Folley
Eddie Machen
Floyd Patterson
Karl Mildenberger
George Chuvalo
Brian London

1974

George Foreman, Champion

Muhammad Ali
Joe Frazier
Ken Norton
Jerry Quarry
Ron Lyle
Earnie Shavers
Oscar Bonavena
Joe Bugner
Jimmy Ellis
Chuck Wepner

 

One or them

 

Pretty much has the be the GOAT

 

Best heavyweight but not the best boxer ever

 

He was as skilled any any heavyweight ever, but he had mongrel and a will to win. I reckon best heavyweight ever. imagine if he was taking whatever steroids fury takes.

 

My uncle said he built up so many losses that he changed his name so that the official records would restart, so I don't think his "undefeated" streak before coming back was that impressive in that case. I mean, how many losses would he have had if he never changed his name?

 

Not. I don't know about the others, but I share Ali's behavior outside and in the ring. And while I can view Ali as the GOAT heavyweight, I can't view him as the GOAT boxer.

 

But a pfp weight jumper, like Jones, Mayweather, PAC, et al, can hardly do that, as, well, they’ve gone up into a weight class with totally different personnel in the division, so hardly like-for-like.

 

One of for sure. His resume is ridiculous.

 

I agree with this.

In his youth he was just regurgitating the crap the Nation of Islam cult preachers were saying. Highly racist themselves and Ali was just a pawn for them.

Where Ali excelled was in the ring. Mentally and physically tough as they come. Was he technically the greatest. No. He never threw a body punch in his life. But he was calm, knew how & where to fight his fight over the distance and was tough as nails. In his youth in the 60's sure he had the gift of speed and agility then his feet slowed down but he gained toughness to replace that.

 

Ali was no pawn. He might have been young and impressionable, but his thoughts and responses were very nuanced, even at a young age.

This content is protected

This content is protected

People can tell you how to think, but they can't teach you how to intelligently respond to challenges to those thoughts; that comes only from deep reflection.

... And why would it have been wrong for him to be distrusting of whites in the 1960s and 70s?

 

Should have been distrusting of people especially pedophile cult leaders.

& that bird rhetoric is again regurgitated rubbish he's heard from his cult leaders. I'm pretty sure you can find videos of them elders preaching that nonsense.