MODERN DAY SUPER HEAVY S THAT DEFEAT ALI OF 66?

Liston had only fought 3 rounds in 3 years, and was considered by many to be much older than his listed age. Terrell always claimed he was thumbed in the eye early in the fight. And of course, under-sized Doug Jones gave Ali a very tough fight. But as Joe Frazier said in the late 60's, when Ali was belittling Joe's opponents: "Clay, I can only fight the guys of my era, just like you fought the guys of your era." Ali, in reality, came unto the scene in the early 60's at the perfect time...opponent wise.

 

Nobody's suggest Williams was anything other than past prime.
Ali gets credit simply for what he displayed that night.
It was a display of athleticism, speed and skill the likes which has never been seen from any other heavyweight, of course others would or could have taken Williams out, but not in that manner.
Also after being shot Williams won 4 fights in a row before facing Ali and the next 5 or 6 in a row after.
He wasn't exactly an invalid in there.

 

I agree with the notion that Ali had mostly weak opposition in the 1960s, and I'm not convinced that prime version Ali of that time would have fared much better in the 1970s than he did in actuality.

But the likes of Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe and Wladimir Klitschko would be just too slow, too basic or too robotic to beat Ali.

 

Williams wouldn't have lasted one round with Joe Louis if Louis had cared to take him out.
That kinda puts the Ali - Williams exhibition in proper perspective.

 

Of the "modern super heavyweights" it could actually be Tyson Fury who'd give prime Ali the most difficult fight.
Fury was awkward with a great ring IQ in his own right, can fight well off the back foot and he's at least 4 or 5 inches taller than Ali, and very fast for his size.
But still Ali would beat him with speed.

 

That wasn't the point.

 

Fury is an amateur. I have never seen a worse fighter win the heavyweight championship. The bout was a laugh riot of three stooges proportions.

 

fury? crikey. that clown would get stopped inside 3 rounds.

 

Liston was a bit light on for activity but it's hardly his fault people couldn't past the 1st round with him including the world champion x 2 times. Yes he was rumoured to be older than he was and had probably seen better years but the fact is young Clay was just too fast and skilled. There's certainly no guarantee any version of Liston beats that Clay let alone a more experienced one closer to exile.

Terrell, he can say what he likes. He barely won a round and was massively outclassed and battered. If i had a dollar for everytime a losing fighter thrust forth an excuse i'd retire tomorrow.

Jones giving Clay a tough fight is one of those things all boxers go thru. Clay was on a rapid up and up and most certainly improved a lot in the four years before exile. The 21yo Clay of the early 63 Jones fight isn't comparable to the man of 1967 going into exile.

I disagree he came in at the perfect time in the early 60's as he had Liston there. Many would say it was a terrible time to be chasing the Heavyweight title as Liston was regarded by many to be invincible and Clay was a huge underdog. Just because Clay beat Liston doesn't mean he was suddenly an easybeat or 50 years old. Clay was already turning into something very special and that much is obvious on film.

If Liston and Frazier were same era he might struggle to get the strap and i'd back peak (latter) pre exile Ali to beat both. One could almost say Frazier was somewhat lucky to have come along when he did tho he would always give Ali a good fight.

They can't all come along at once tho the post exile Ali certainly run into two of them.

 

???? wtf