Lennox Lewis vs Muhammad Ali, but Ali trained for a different opponent

Down goes Lewis!

 

I like both of them. It would probably be a boring fight with Ali winning a decision.

 

Lewis gets a split decision win.

 

Does Lennox know Ali won't know anything about him? Because boy could he pull some tricks if that's the case. Take advantage of the fact he doesn't fight how he looks. 6'5, 250, thickly muscled. Looks like he'd be a brute who just slugs away.

Go crazy with cardio during training. Spend the first 4-5 rounds fighting as a slugger, all out barrage young Foreman style. Ali buys it because Lennox does have the power. Ali tries the rope a dope. Only this time, Ali is the dope, taking a ton of damage to the body and arms, waiting for Lennox to punch himself out...

Only for Lennox to come out in round 6 with his actual style, and now Ali's all banged up trying to fight a whole new fight.

 

Love Ali, but you're preparing for a 5'10 189 pound bull dozer and you end up with a 6'5 250 pound boxing giant.

Lewis UD.

 

Ali would have serious trouble with LL the first five rounds, but then he starts figuring him out. Stops him in 11. FWIW I predict the same with Holmes winning, only Larry gets knocked down along the way.

 

I think the factor is Lewis is going to prepare to counter every single one of Ali's techniques.

 

When did Ali ever fight a taller fighter that knew how to use their reach? Not one, let alone one that outweighs him by like 30lbs

 

Lewis would've destroyed Ali. Lewis TKO.

 

Nice one.

Focuses in on how important training (and possibly specific conditioning) for a specific opponent may or may not be - such tailored prep might also vary from one fighter to another - in so far as some fighters might not do a lot different in their prep from one opponent to another. Not that it’s about him, but as an example, Monzon strikes me as guy that stuck to a core prep, little variance, - but then Ali applied himself in the ring in far more complicated ways.

Firstly, it would be apt to isolate (if any) any training, conditioning and strategies that might be might be common in the face of fighting Lewis or Marciano - or any useful training etc. that Ali would employ anyway, opponent notwithstanding.

Also, does Ali have all his 60s fights in tow? - specifically ensuring that he has at least already faced a very tall opponent in Terrell? Whatever prep employed and experienced gained from that fight, Ali could call on if necessary, even if he didn’t specifically prep for same.

Also, Ali was extremely adaptable - although a completely different, conversely well informed and high quality opponent (Lewis) is a very tough obstacle - but if anyone could immediately adapt to unforeseen logistics, - it would be Ali - who looked to combat all manner of scenarios in training.

How much did Ali tailor himself to the opponent? For the tougher opp. it seems at least, Ali might’ve pointedly lost or gained weight for certain purposes - very very light for the Cooper rematch - but one fight prior to that came in at a to date career heavy for rough, tough and strong Chuvalo.

What weight would Ali elect for Rocky? Light , average or a bit heavier? It all depends on how mobile he wants to be and how much strength and punch pop he is looking for.

Of course Marciano is a far different prospect to Lewis in terms of dimensions and style but Ali’s prep for same possibly might not take him as far away - in terms of viability - from an informed and specifically prepared for match v Lewis as we might assume.

Then again, maybe I’m just pumping Ali’s chances up but he was famous for always “finding a way”.

 

Just an obvious thought, given some some similarities though many would calculate that Marciano hit that much harder, the Ali that physically presented for Chuvalo and the style in which he fought George might approximate the closest to what he would bring to the table in a match with Rocky - though Ali might’ve fought that little bit more wary.

Not sure what you can extrapolate from that platform, but I personally think Ali could, using all his 60s experience, modify his preset strategy and still get over the top of Lennox via UD using his naturally versatile skills/assets and boxing IQ. No easy fight though.