The best 70's version of Ali v the best ever Pinklon Thomas. Pinkie was quite a formidable fighter,at his best. Like a lot of other heavies of his time though,he blew up Thomas would have his moments,but I take Ali to score a clearcut points verdict. Too fast and too tough.
I think it is a no-brainer honestly. I agree that Thomas was formidable at the time but I believe it was due to the state of the heavyweight division at that time. Thomas did have the second best jab in the division though (after Holmes). Ali in seventy-four was still good enought to beat most great heavyweights in history, if not all of them. The Ali that beat Foreman would simply out box and out class Thomas. Thomas would be lucky to win one round.
i'd take '74-'75 ali over pretty much anyone. in some ways that version is better head to head than sixties ali. the heart, chin and mental strength of ali in the mid-seventies was off the charts, even if his reflexes and footspeed had long since been on the wane.
I agree with your prediction. Peak Thomas was very good, but he would need to be facing Post-Manila Ali to win i reckon.
Ali would win fairly clearly, I would say. I don't underestimate Pink either. He was a damn good heavyweight in '84. Last I heard, he was a jail guard. A good friend of mine got into some trouble about 9 years ago and did some time down in south Florida. Pink was one of the guards. Of course, my friend didn't know who he was, but said that "Pink" talked about fighting Tyson. I think Thomas is bald now.
Nice story. :good You should add Thomas on Facebook, i did. By the way, Pink was bald even in late '88 when he fought Holy. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po3NIe5uZWY[/ame]
What would have happened if Thomas had used a similar strategy to Norton's? Pink had a superior jab than Norton's.
Pinklon by split decision . it is 1 close fight , but the jab does the job for pinklon , which foreman did , not have .
while i may not agree an intelligent, measured jab was damn effective against post zaire (and pre zaire) ali. norton, lyle (for long stretches) and others were able to win rounds while ali lacked the speed and zip of his 60s version
