Muhammad Ali Vs. Lennox Lewis

Lewis isn't knocking Ali out obviously, and IMO neither will Ali stop Lewis, so it's going to the cards. The '67 Ali would outspeed Lewis and win a close yet clear decision over 15 rounds. The 2nd, slower version would be in real danger of losing over the distance - much more of a pick-em fight that could go either way.

 

That Cleveland WILLIAMS WAS EASY TO LOOK GOOD AGAINST ...he was totally shot and was overated in his career anyway..

 

Was Terrell shot? Ali woulda done the same to the Joe Louis that Marciano beat. Ali's speed and movement was at his peak in 67. Most would be happy to land a few punches.

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Ali wins a close but clear decision for me.

Listons reach was the same as Lewis', his jab among the best in history, yet he couldnt land it on Ali. Terrel and Foley both good with the jab but again to no avail.
Lewis' size i dont believe is as significant as people make out. Ali was around 212-215 but was very strong for his weight, very adept at chlinching and forcing breaks. The height is 2 1/2 inches.
Lewis' big punch is an overhand right, a punch Ali was rarely hit with.

Alis footspeed is the big factor in this fight for me and his ability to throw that fast sharp lead right. These keep Lennox out of rhythm enough to get the job done.

 

You an Ali fan ? :blood

 

Lets not get carried away, Earnie terrell could not be compared to even an old version of the brown bomber and I dont know if Ali would want to drop his hands on that Joe, even the old version

 

The best way to beat Lewis is to knock him out. Lewis was very hard to out box, and those who were out boxing him for a while had more power than Ali did.

Could Ali stop Lewis? Sure, but I would not bet on that.

I suppose we have to take Ali at his best in 1966-1967. While Ali danced circles around Liston, Lewis had better hand speed and was much bigger than Sonny was. While Ali was faster of hand and foot than Lewis, I believe Ali was somewhat one-dimensional on offense and fundamentally flawed on defense. Lewis would have the power, and make the fight here. And Lewis was even better at bending the rules. I don’t think Ali holds Lewis without paying for it.

Best guess is Lewis via close decision. Ali seemed to have problems with good jabbers early, midway through, and late in his career.

 

The flaw in your arguement is that Lewis never fought anybody remotely as good as Ali. Lewis had better handspeed than Liston, but he still falls short of the mark against Ali. Not a slight, Ali just may have had the fastest hands the heavyweight division has ever seen. Power is Lewis' big advantage, but one of Ali's many qualities was that he had a cast iron jaw and his recuperative powers were ridiclious. He faced Foreman, Liston, and Shavers. All bigger punches than Lewis.

I think the pre-exile Ali wins a UD against Lewis, over both 12 rounds and 15. Lewis would be the best combination of size and speed Ali would ever have faced, but Lewis didn't fight any competition as fast and mobile as a pre-exile Ali.

 

Ali would pepper Lewis move out of the way lure Lewis around the ring, come in and pepper him some more. Lewis would have his moments but Ali would swallow his shots and keep on the pressure tiring Lewis out. He'd TKO Lewis around the 11th round.

 

I think Ali takes it but it's not a one sided beating. I might go so far to see that Lennox bullies Ali a bit and maybe floors him.

 

Liston's power can't be judged against Ali. Over two fights he never hit Ali with anything clean at all. Any punches Liston threw were parcially landed blows, which says a lot about Ali's superb movement and slipping ability.

And against Foreman his punch resistance was brilliant, but mainly to the body. When Foreman went to the head, Ali leaned back against the ropes and took nothing that was flush. Again, credit to Ali's awarness and general smartness.

Overall his punch resistance was more evident against Foreman than Liston.

Ali might well have been dropped by Foreman had he stood in the centre of the ring at mid-range and arms length. Similar to how Lyle fought Foreman. And probably against Liston as well. But his chin was awesome when looking back in hindsight, and so were his recovery powers. However, if a 77 version of Ali could take bombs from Shavers all night long, who knows? Maybe Foreman and Liston don't budge him.

 

At this peak stage i think Ali would win a decision.

 

Of course post exile Ali might be a different story.

 

:deal

 

Had to pick you up on a couple of issues selfkill.

Can't agree. 'Remotely as good' suggests a huge gap and I would argue that Lewis fought several fighters that were in the same ballpark talent and achievement wise as Ali. Like Holyfield for example. The other thing to consider is that Lewis fought (and beat) all styles of fighter.

Agree with you on this point.

Again agreed with your Ali observation (which is obvious) but it's in dispute whether Foreman, Liston and Shavers were all bigger punchers than Lewis. At the very least I think it's generally agreed that Lewis's power was comparable, although it wouldn't help him that much against any version of Ali.

Pre-exile Ali wins whereas post-exile loses. I think it's that simple.