you can say that Lewis never fought anyone like Ali and vise versa.. and you can say that Ali used his size advantage evn though he did fight some taller guys. Lewis never really fought anyone taller then him besides vitali. Ali fought terrell, holmes, wepner, bugner, and foreman was a little taller. Ali just fought the better competetion and had the better skills... end thread.
I don't even know about that one tbh. the 74 version of Ali hit harder then the original version, and he was smarter. plus he still had decent speed and stamina at this point.
The 74 Ali was already sluggish and took giant chunks of time off. I see a quite easy beatdown for Lewis in this one. And I am not convinced Ali's game in 66 would be enough for the very best version of Lewis.
I'm old enough to have watch both of them fight, and in no way is this a walk over for Ali. He'd be the favourite, but a prime agressive Lewis could give Ali fits. Best guess would be 9-6 for Ali. But I do think Lewis is faster than either Liston and Foreman, and is certainly a better boxer than Foreman. And a prime Lewis is significantly better than the Liston Ali fought.
van u give the reasons Lennox would take Ali!!! Ali never fought anyone like LL. LL just too big crafty 4 a ny verson cLAy OR ALI:hey
It didn't turn out that way against a Holyfield nearing 40. Surely, the Ali who beat Frazier and Foreman was quite a bit a tougher proposition than the version of Holyfield that Lewis fought. Personally, even though the Ali of '74 may well lose to other fighters, I don't think anyone ever would give him "a quite easy beatdown" on the nights he beat Frazier and Foreman. This Ali would be the best opponent Lewis ever fought.
Nobody gives a prime ali a beat down... that's such bull****. the 74' version also hit harder and probably had a better chin. he was also pretty smart. and 74' Ali still has speed advantages over prime Lewis.. IMO no fighter gives a beat down to either 66' or 74' Ali.
This I don't agree with, though, and neither did Ali. In an interview not long after the Foreman fight he said that he didn't agree with people telling him he was much sturdier when he fought Foreman than when he fought Liston. He stated that he was 213 against Foreman and 210 against Liston, and the only real differeence was that he was faster when he met Liston and would never have been cornered by Foreman with that speed.
Tell your friend to go back and do his homework. When I saw that last sentence ,"Ali never learned the fundamentals of boxing" I almost spit my coffee on my girlfriend's laptop. Ali knows the fundamentals. He learned 'em from Archie Moore, before Ol' Mongoose sent him home for not doing his chores.
I won't try a prediction but just to break down each fighters advantages: Lewis: His advantages are size, strength and power. And he combines this well with good skills for a man his size, better than anyone Ali ever fought. Since Ali mainly was troubled by left hooking swarmers (Frazier and to a lesser degree Chuvalo and perhaps Cooper) and awkward fighters that were hard to find rythm against (Norton and to a lesser degree Bonavena and Mildenberger), I don't see any real stylistical advantages for Lewis. Orthodox fighters that fought tall didn't seem to pose that many stylistical issues for him. Ali: His advantages are speed (hand, foot and reflexes), skill, ring generalship and workrate/stamina. Lewis never fought anyone who's even on the same playing field when it comes to these attributes. Stylistically Lewis seem to be most vulnerable to straight punches, both jabs and rights. This since he kept his hands quite low, didn't move his head much and was prone to retreat in straight lines. Mercer and Bruno outjabbed him and Rahman, McCall and Vitaly tagged him badly with rights. This is bad news when facing Ali. Although he didn't have the power of these men; the speed, timing and accuracy of his straight punches are second to none in HW history. He was very, very good at countering with his right over a jab, as well.
maybe he had the same chin as before, but I think 74' Ali at least hit a bit harder then 66' Ali. even if the 66' Ali is faster. anyway, if were comparing a faded Ali to a prime Lewis, why can't Lewis be faded?