Muhammad Ali 1974 v Riddick Bowe 1992

Good observation.

 

The reality is that a prime Ali doesn't rope a dope and he also doesn't dance for 3 minutes a round for 15 rounds.

A prime Ali dances for the first 90 seconds or so of the fight, getting a look at the opponent's stance, reading his speed and timing his feints to draw the lead to throw the right hand counter. The first punch is one of either jab to the body, check hook or right hand lead. Ali threw a sharp, twisting corkscrew jab that was accurate, quick and caused cuts and swelling - Bowe swelled and lost his cool. The educated footwork that Ali shows boxing off the jab, the angling and protection of his body with sharp pivots and elbow blocks, as well as his excellent radar and range negotiation means that Bowe is going to have to box his way in and move differently to how he beat Holyfield - for my money, Ali won't allow himself to be dictated to like that.

Talk about Chhvalo's success to the body is futile as at the time Ali was thought to be a flashy powder puff and he voluntarily exposed his body to Chuvalo, who was stronger than his physical dimensions, to prove a point. We saw over the course of his career that he could take body shots as well as any man that I've seen in the ring.

Ali doesn't fight with his hands low and without fundamentals against live opponents. He can be seen fighting out of a higher guard, parrying and elbow blocking shots, as he blades and pivots versus Liston, Foreman and Frazier and more importantly, he shows that he can box off the jab and pivot, dictate the pace, dance out of range and engage when he wants to as he did in the first Liston after coming off his toes and controlling ring centre.

Bowe wouldn't be able to just walk through Ali's jab just as he couldn't walk through Holyfield's double and triple jab. Ali would catch Bowe, he would hit him with the right and he wouldn't get caught in an ego slugfest like Evan Fields did. Bowe isn't functionally stronger than Foreman nor does he have Foreman's footspeed and ring cutting ability. There's enough of a lag in Bowe's footwork for Ali to potshot the right hand, duck and weave whatever comes in retaliation, angle off and evade the danger zone. Bowe also doesn't have Foreman's jab to keep Ali backing up which is important because if followed by the footspeed and drilled technique that Foreman had, Bowe's own great bodywork would give Ali immense problems.

Bowe's best bet is to manhandle Ali and break him down to the body over a continuous sustained strategy. I, personally, think that the Ali who was able to negotiate a George Foreman that lifts cows on his back and a Liston that was immensely strong does better in the physical battle than some may think.

Lewis and the Klits have a better chance than Bowe for me, as I don't see Bowe being proficient enough at the different ranges to get past Ali's superior hand and foot speed from range and without the body mechanics to get under punches and come up with his own flurry of punches ala Dempsey, Marciano, Tyson and Frazier.

In a series of 10, I'd give Bowe 3 fights max as I cannot give a man who threw a belt in the trash the intangibles that it would take to consistently best a prime Ali who demonstrated much more against superior competition time and time again. Bowe is a beast and Ali was the beast tamer. Ali just has the speed, skills, guts and testicular fortitude to take Bowe's best and raise his game another level whilst taunting him. I just don't think that guys like Bowe have the mental discipline and strength to deal with that side of the game whilst also dealing with a guy whose will and skill combined is so beastly.

 

Bowe was both past his prime and overweight when he got beat by Golota the first time.

Bowe was severely damaged by that first fight, past it, and afraid during the second fight.

The second fight especially ruined him, he was done as a fighter. He just plain took too many punches...throughout his career. Ali mostly took punches when he was in his 30s, which is why Bowe didn't last as long as a fighter.

 

Are u f..ing kidding me ? Bowe barely trained in 96.
By your stupid logic, there is no reason to think that a 71 Ali was inferior to a 67 Ali. After all, Ali was only 29 in 71.

 

I'd even take Bowe over a prime Ali, let alone a 74 Ali. You people need to examine him more carefully as a fighter and stop believing widespred fake propaganda like it's the Bible. Screaming "I am the greatest" and having people like Cosell and other sports writers advocating such nonsense, convinced a very large and casual fanbase that he was in fact "The Greatest". There were a lot of factors that led to his success and the media's love affair with Ali which helped seal his legacy.
Ali was undeniably great, but with the passage of time, he has become much more myth than man. His legend is far greater than the reality of his career.

 

I agree about Ali being overrated some. That is true but it's also true that he had enough ingredients to beat Bowe. Riddick was good but your seeing things in him that aren't real. His prime lasted about 6 minutes. He didnt have to deal with the caliper of fighter Ali did.

 

This is a Superb analyses man. More than...Meta.
Please tell us what kind of experience you have had in the boxing world.
Is it all as a fan, observational?

 

In mid to late 30s now, but have been involved in boxing, Muay Thai, Krav Maga and grappling since around 15. I train regularly with amateur and professional MMA fighters, with one of my instructors fighting for titles and my main instructor training professional fighters across boxing, lethwei and MMA. I also have friends that have boxed professionally or coach at amateur level so tend to be around the sport either through my own training or just catch up discussions.

Outside of that, I have a lot of tape and have done extensive studies of fighters whilst fine-tuning my own skills and coaching younger fighters that ask for a spar.

 

I seriously doubt Bowe was stronger than the 74 Ali, watch his fight with Foreman, Angelo Dundee even commented about how Muhammed pulled , pushed , held ,shoved and physically handled George at times which surprised him. Ali ain't losing to Bowe, Bowes left cheek will be touching his eyebrow after 15 rounds and Bowe loses a wide UD

 

Bowe would have not been happy at how hard it would be to bully Ali, and he would have some psyching working on him.

But the Bowe who beat Holyfield might have actually knocked down Ali with a hook. Ultimately Ali catches him with the sneaky right hand again and again (we all know Bowe took WAAAYYY too many shots) and wins a comfortable, UD in 15. The fifteen would be all Ali, who would show some flashes from his past dancing and playing to the crowd while Bowe misses shots and eats combinations. It would be one of those fights where the beginning and middle would be great and very competitive, but had the fight gone on for a couple of rounds more Bowe would have been stopped, taking way too many punches toward the end and looking very stumbly.