Joe Louis or Muhammad Ali who do you rank higher?

^ This is a very good example of what I was referring to at the start of my post.

 

Liston, Frazier, Foreman are all better wins than what Louis beat then you have Patterson, Norton, Quarry etc. Patterson is considered a weaker fighter and no real threat in Ali's era but woulda been one of Louis best opponents in his era and ofcourse he was champ in the weaker 50s era.

 

OK well lets compare George Foreman to Joe Walcott.

Foreman had a long amateur career before he turned profesional in which he won an olympic gold medal. He was managed from his profesional debut and spoon fed fighters with loosing records prety much up to his fight for the title.

Walcott had no amateur career, turned pro as a teenager, and had no manager. Through mopst of his career he was working a 9-5 job in a factory and taking fights with serious heavyweight contenders on a few days notice without even being able to train for fights. When he took the Abe Simon fight he hadnt eaten for a couple of days acording to some sources.

Now common sense should tell you that Walcott was not going to go into a title fight with a win/loss record similar to Foremans.

The reality is that Walcott only became a world class fighter when he got a manager and the financial backing to devoe himself to boxing seven days a week. He only got that chance because of the second world war. There was a shortage of fighters due to the war so promotors became less particular about taking on black fighters.

This is an extreme case of course even by the standards of the day.

 

I must apologise pal, i thought you were comparing the seventies guys with the guys of today! When of course it's an Ali v Louis comparison thread! Please forgive me,what you say is entirely correct,i'm not having one of my better days!

 

Dont wory about it.

Your input is always welcome:good

 

The best boxing analysts dont take a sh1t without qualifying it.

 

Liston, Frazier & Foreman come in many top 10 ATG heavies lists. How many of Louis opponents come in that top 10 ATG heavyweight list?

 

This is very close as always and simply boils down to personal preference. IMO neither is wrong or right whatsoever.

I go for Ali narrowly because i like his pinnacle level wins and think at his absolute peak he was the great heavyweight ever H2H.

Others will go for Joe's great longevity, numbers and consistency.

The only room for argument is people making out it's a clearcut choice on way or another.

 

WOW! Do to your avatar, I didn't even realize that this was your post at first!

 

Hahahaha, sorry

 

Ali has to rank higher based on superior talent and competition. He fought more quality opponents than louis did even though his title reign wasn't as long.

Louis fought mostly bums who would only make good sparring partners for the more recent heavies.

 

I like Ali much more but Louis is the better overall fighter. Joe was more the more versatile fighter. louis had the punch but Ali had the ability to take it better.

Based on the Norton fight I would favor Louis late. I just dont think he would let Ali off the hook.

maybe I'm wrong. I hope so.

Neither is top dog in my book tho. I have Johnson, Jeffries, Dempsey, Bowe and Larry Holmes ranked ahead of him. I can envison Larry timing Joe coming in with his lethal right. After that, he wouldnt stand a chance.

 

Don't stop there, take the version from the Shavers fight! :roll:

Yeah, Louis and Ali have nothing when it comes to Big Daddy Bowe

 

Ali beat the better fighters. Louis would beat Ali head to head IMO. I'm going with Ali by a margin.