Jack Johnson in the 1970's...?

cant really see anyone except george giving him problems tbh mate

 

He would have turned the era on its head one way or another.

 

no not really mate i just keep playing jacks fight footage over and over in my head and i just cant see ali winning ,possibly at a push frazier would make it a half decent fight but hey thats just my view man

 

Possibly Frazier would have been a latter day Sam McVey, even down to the big left hook ,Johnson allways handled Sam relatively easily.
Ali's movement and speed ,allied with his size, and durability would be a steep hill to ascend.

 

man im thinking about the stanley ketchel fight now,that right hand that knocked ketchell out was something special wasnt it!

 

Johnson could be out hustled, and Frazier was considerably stronger than Burns. Ali's speed, height and reach would also pose problems. Jack would make life miserable for Foreman though.

 

Would Frazier be considerably stronger than a 203lbs Mcvey though?

 

The era's are probably too far apart to really say IMHO. But at a quick guess..... it'd be interesting to see how Johnson handled Foreman's brute strength, because I could see him giving George a fair bit of grief if he COULD handle it. Frazier could outwork him but would have use his wits up close. And the 70's Ali......well, the 60's Ali would outdo Johnson IMO. The early to mid 70's version though might have use his considerable ringcraft so as to compensate for the diminished leg speed, especially on the inside. The handspeed might be the difference in a considerably ugly one.

Although Ali did tow on the odd occasion against clever operators like Young and Jones.

 

Johnson by the verry nature of his style would have walked all over 98% of the fighters of any era you put him in.

The only question is, who are the other 2% and what can they achieve?

 

Joe looked strong enough against anybody not named Foreman. At one point during the FOTC, he grabbed Ali's forearms with both gloves, and yanked him off the ropes. In close quarters during the rematch with Quarry, he was pushing Jerry off with quick shoves of his own forearms, setting JQ up for his hook. And even in his final match, bodybuilder Jumbo Cummings failed to overpower him physically. Ali, Cummings and Quarry were all known to be very strong men. Foreman was a complete freak of nature. Aside from those instances, Smoke's functional strength was excellent.

 

Nothing in his record or on film suggests he would be overly-special. He would have to fight real heavyweights, with extensive amateur backgrounds, trained in the sweet science, not Battle Royale vets, old has-beens and middleweights... all of who gave him enough trouble as it was...