Muhammad Ali Vs. Lennox Lewis

I feel he'd always pose problems for Ali. I never saw anyone who was so good at stalking him without taking any significant damage. Of course, in the 60's Ali would move enough to keep him safe for longer periods than in the 70's, but Norton would corner him at times and he was very good at making the most of those occassions.

Futch was important. He gave Norton cohesion with his fundamental but very effective game plan, and that seemed to instill him with great confidence.

So would I, if it came before Manilla. He was so wrecked afterwards. All he had left was his psyche jobs, his ring smartness and his iron will (well, perhaps the judges's benevolence as well ).

 

I agree. That beatification also overlooks the things that make him so interesting. He showed great courage and great kindness at times, but he also showed stupidity and weakness in his affiliation with the Black Muslims. His treatment of Malcolm X was nothing short of disgraceful and his treatment of Frazier wasn't nice either.

But to be fair to the "liberal media", I do think that Mann's movie on him exposes these shortcomings to a large degree.

 

Well, Ali in my opinion "traded with his talents", however imperfectly, as opposed to burying them, and he was blessed for this efforts.

I truly doubt Ali is by and large considered anything close to a "saint". He simply has an otherworldly charisma and magnetism that inspires even those who know zero about boxing. Here is a man who in mainstream culture is considered to have been the greatest fighter of all time, yet exudes something like, "Hey, there! I'm just your brother." This unique combination, in a world of egotistical celebrities and superstar athletes can only endear him to that same world.

But the foundation for this amazing admiration is courage. Sure, who doesn't dream of standing up to havoc-wreaking dragons and vanquishing them? But Ali happened to be right about racial equality and a terrible mistake of a war. That a mere boxer can trade with these concepts can only result in the station attained by no other but Muhammad Ali.

 

In truth,some of the "funny" things he said you couldn't ever see a "gorilla", like Frazier, ever getting away with.

'If a white man goes out with a black woman kill them both' or him going on David Frost's chat show and pounding on on how, black does not go with white as white does not go with black.Like the lion does not run with a zebra,dogs do not go with cats and the hawk is no friend of the sparrow...

Correct me if I'm wrong,I don't think they go out of their way to replay those sort of quotes on ESPN Classics.

 

No my friend, Ali was possibly the greatest Heavyweight ever but he was absolutly clueless about racial equality or any war , period.

As a man he sucks, he is /was a racist to boot and whenever he opend his mouth it was strictly done for self promotion. As a matter of fact ,I believe most of the time he did not even know what he was talking about, simply repeating what , especially the Nation, like a true puppet, scripted him to say.

Me, myself and I are his MO.............and todays lefties conviniently edit his past ............

Women rights and Ali ? LOL

Now to the fight,

Lewis biggest asset was , besides his size/power and born skill his ability to impose his will and make the other fighter fight his fight at his pace. He struggled greatly when he was unable to completly execute , see the Mercer or Bruno fights. IMO he was also never a conditioning wonder over 12 rounds and over 15 he would pace himself to a point where he would be in the hole from the get go against the proven 15 round fighter Ali.

Ali also wins the battle of the imposing will, no doubt about it in my book. The chance of Lewis "blitzing" Ali early are remote, whenever Lewis faced ,what he considered a serious threat ,he became very cautious. I also find that Ali would Lewis never really get "set" to be in position to do major damage.

IMO , Ali wide UD. As far as a stoppage is concerned, well, I believe if Ali sits down on his shots (especially in the latter part of a 15 rounder) he punches as hard as Rahman, who besides the Lewis one shot ko has never, to the best of my knowledge ,stopped a quality opponent with one whack. So that is definitly a possibility.

 

Fair enough.

I'd go even further --Futch was critical. He usually is.

 

I didn't see it. I can't get past the Fresh Prince and "Parents Just Don't Understand" and all that. And Ali, Liston, and Foreman are just too familiar for me to watch without criticizing every make pretend move in the ring. However, if you're right about Mann, then salutations and commendations to him for objectivity.

 

Okay, but if you suspend literalism, and indulge my description of Ali as an "American Saint" then your post is actually a fair promotion of that image. You emphasize Ali's better angels, but do not mention his serious personal shortcomings. Ali turned his back on Malcolm X. I call that betrayal. Ali was a race-baiter. He was a devotee of that mangled version of Islam that Elijah Muhammad invented where Caucasions are the invention of an evil black scientist. Ali wouldn't go to Vietnam for religious reasons but that devotion didn't extend to the marriage bed now did it... and then we have his lamentable treatment of Joe Frazier who I'd argue was more of a noble character back then. I'd bet that Joe would at least have been strong enough to resist being the pawn of a corrupt cult.

Please don't misunderstand. I appreciate the man Ali has become -an ambassador of peace and goodwill on the world stage, a man of grace who truly appears to love his fellow travellers. I don't believe that he is nefariously active in his own PR campaign, but I have no doubt many from his generation, particularly those in the media, consider him something glorious and perfect, even as they edit the record and recast him in their own image.

 

back to the original question then! nothing new as im agreeing with the very high majority of people but i think with lewis's suspect chin, ali's accumulation punching would have ko'ed lewis somewhere after the 12 round.

with his speed advantage ali would simply have been 1st to the punch all night long

 

Another question then: could Marciano have carried you?

 

Lewis would win on a shocking cut in round 9.

No doubt about it.

 

after a fifteen round fight i dont think he'd want too, i can think of better things he cud have done with his time that wouldnt have damaged his already wonky and damaged nose/ nostrils half as much haha

 

Ali by decision.

 

Men like Lennox Lewis did not exist back in Ali's day. Heavyweights where smaller, and the so called big heavyweights where clumsey and stupid not to mention small by todays standards. Lennox Lewis would have been a monster, here is a man that would have made Liston and Foreman look small. Lewis is - one of - if not the most powerful heavyweight of all time. Anyone that says Forman or Shavers needs to apply some common sense, they where powerful in their day because they where fighting smaller men. Lewis was one of the most intelligent heavyweights in terms of ring craft of all time. He had quick hands and was immensely strong - has there ever been a stronger heavyweight - I doubt it, also Lewis has all the size & reach advantages.

When you look at this fight in the cold light of day Lewis has all the advantages with the exception of speed, and this wil be hard to take for some blinkered Ali fans (of which there are many), but this could be an enormous mismatch Ali could have been smoked by Lewis within 2-3 rounds. I'd pick Lewis by KO around round 7 and I think I am being some what kind to little Ali.

 

Well, if you look at Lennox Lewis handspeed it wasn´t that remarkable. He wasn´t fast in his movements and to put up a guy against the fastest heavyweight of all time would be a missmatch... for Lennox. I think Ali would destroy him. Lennox never fought a guy as fast as Ali. In boxing fastness is VERY important, doesn´t matter if you hit hard if you can´t hit anything.
Ali wins probably in round 5-8. Lennox would be cut to pieces.
All the best
The Predator