Louis and Ali: would it affect their standings if neither's career was interrupted?

Probably more so in Louis's case than in Ali's. Ali was rarely hit in his prime and he never had any tough sparring sessions either, preferred to ease thorugh them. So he could probably have gone on a long time in either case.

What broke Ali in the end was the wars with Frazier (especially Manilla) and I don't think his fights with Frazier would have been so bitterly contested if he never had been out of boxing.

He probably would have taken a UD in the first fight and repeated the feat in a possible rematch a couple of years later. Probably quite tough, competitive fights, but nothing like the bloody wars they had in real life.

 

You think Frazier would have won this?

 

Who's Everton facing?

And - if Frazier beat Ali in 1969, when do you reckon the rematch would have taken place and who would have won it?

 

Well, since Liverpool lost I suppose you're a happy lad tonight.

If he had lost to Frazier in his prime that might well affect his standing. Louis had after all not quite reached his peak when he lost to Schmeling.

 

Chuvalo probably caught Ali more than anyone did before the exile, but in the end an unmarked Ali won almost every round against him.

The only time Ali really tried to dance against Frazier for a sustained period of time was in the rematch, and then he did quite well.

Even if Frazier clearly won FOTC, Ali gave him a very tough fight. Had he won 3 more rounds he would have won the match. Since many of the rounds was quite closely contested, just that little bit extra might have made the difference.

Without the exile Ali would not only have been in better physical condition in 1969 than he was in FOTC, he would also have known much better how much he could get out of his body. In FOTC he was still uncertain of just much his body had left, having only fought 18 rounds in the last four years, and that made matters more complicated in an already extremely difficult task. Don't forget that Frazier also probably was better in 1971 than in 1969.

For my money: Ali takes Frazier too lightly and runs into trouble in the middle rounds. He gets to really prove his heart and chin for the first time in his career. After a good spell for Frazier, Ali's still amazing recuparative abilities kicks in and he takes control of the fight once more, and wins a close but clear UD. They meet again perhaps two years later, but this time Ali is better prepared and takes a quite comfortable decision in a more tactical and less exciting affair.