Joe Louis in the 70s

Joe Louis fights Fraizer, Ali, Foreman, Norton, Lyle, Shavers, Bugner, Quarry, Ellis and All the rest of the top contenders of 1970 to 1976. How does he do?

IMO, he still would have had a championship reign. In watching the FOC in 1971, Frazier was a beast, but he got hit too much and wasn't hard for a fast, accurate puncher to land combinations on. That's why I believe Louis would have stopped Frazier before he could start smoking.

Ali wouldn't have made it standing toe to toe. Sure, it would have made for an entertaining fight, but eventually, Louis would have gotten to him. This could have been that one glaring KO loss on Ali's record.

Foreman would be the most dangerous opponent as we can be sure that on their way to the ring, at least one man would be walking to his destruction . On the other hand, big punchers easy to counter were guys that a prime Louis hunted for sport. I believe Louis may have taken a knockdown, but it would have been a festival, a smorgasbord of explosive counter punching that would have seen Foreman stopped in the mid rounds. Rumor has it that Foreman didn't like Quarry's counter punching in sparring.

Louis could possibly have had a highlight reel KO over Norton. But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say Norton goes into the middle rounds before he's stopped.

Earnie Shavers would also be a dangerous opponent, but I honestly see a repeat of Louis/ Buddy Baer 2.

Louis vs Lyle could go something like Louis and Abe Simon with Lyle being mercilessly counter punched and beaten to the punch .

And there were the others but I'll leave those to the imagination for now.

How do you think a prime Joe Louis does in the 70- 76 era?

 

How do you think Ali would do it? I would think he'd have needed his mid 60s movement.

 

But none of the punchers were as skilled or fast or sharp with their punches as a prime Louis. Not to mention throwing in combinations .

 

This may be a bit off topic, but I grew up in the Detroit area. And Joe Louis lived in Detroit during his championship reign. But he and Sugar Ray Robinson were neighbors at one point. Both lived on the east side of Detroit a few houses apart from one another.

And Joe Louis had a sister who was a teacher and principal for the Detroit Public School system until she retired. She actually passed away back in 2008 I think. She was 93 or 95 years old, she had Alzheimer's disease. Joe Louis put her through college as she was studying to be a teacher during the time he was champion. And Eddie Futch was also from Detroit. He and Joe Louis sparred together as amateurs, but Futch was a lightweight and Louis a light heavyweight as amateurs.