Muhammad Ali vs Lennox Lewis

Complete fantasy on your part. Most heavyweights today are poorly conditioned as going 12 rounds MAX they don’t need to be. Speed kills and Ali would make today’s heavyweights appear in slow motion. Ali’s blows were rapier like and would cut these easy targets to ribbons.

 

Running for me is trying to stay out of harms way whilst not trying to score any meaningful punches.

An example of this is Bernard Taylor vs Eusebio Pedroza which was a terrible fight.

Ali in his prime used lateral movement but at the same time he was still scoring meaningful punches. He would occasionally stand his ground and let rip with fast effective combinations.

That's why he scored 8 stoppages in 10 of his world fights in the 1960s.

You don't do that if you're running.

I'd also like to mention Holyfield who was a bit past his prime and was slightly shorter than Ali but had an almost identical reach and weight to Ali.

Gave a peak Lewis a close competitive fight and Lewis looked noticeably tired in the 2nd half of the fight.

So I don't necessarily think in this case that size automatically wins the day for Lewis.

Ali would be the fastest most mobile boxer Lewis has fought by quite some distance.

And likewise Lewis would be the most skillful big Heavyweight he's fought by quite some distance.

That's why it's a fascinating match up with no right or wrong answers.

 

Usyk proves none of this is true lol

 

Usyk is an outlier but he has only 12 rounds to worry about. Ali could fight 15 very fast rounds and not exhaust himself. Ali is rated as the greatest of all heavyweight champions for undeniable reasons. He was a fancy Dan boxer with blows thrown quicker than Ray Robinson with the toughness and will to win of a Jeffries.

 

He looked pretty exhausted against Chuvalo and Terrell lol

 

I haven't seen either in while so you may be right but can't remember Ali looking exhausted at all.

 

Exhausted against Terrell -.lol.

When he was standing still and slipping punches or when he had Terrell covering up in between shouting "What's my name?"

Chuvalo was a comfortable win where he openly allowed George to punch to his body - whenever he chose to step it up, he was clearly superior.

Ali never danced for an entire 15 rounds but he's not the prime fighter that we want to insinuate has stamina or heart issues.

 

And he didn't press the action and finish him because? He just let him of? Even the commentators were talking about it. And Ali later said "After the eighth round I laid it on him but I found myself tiring."

He just let someone pound his body for free to the point he had to go to the hospital? You really believe that?

I'm not insinuating he has heart or stamina issues. My source of contention is simply that it's a myth he could dances for 15 rounds straight without stopping in his prime. He clearly couldn't. Something we seem to agree on.

 

Prior to the fight, Ali was thought to be a soft touch. There's moments where he's simply letting George tee off on him and shaking his head - Chuvalo was a strong fighter and Ali wasn't stupid. He's not trying to defend himself or is he trying to avoid the punches - sometimes, just sometimes, fighters take liberties in the ring to make a statement.

I'm not saying every single punch was Ali letting George get off - but a fair amount of what George landed was due to Ali not even trying to put up a defensive or offensive effort in the moment and yet, he still won the fight comfortably.

The Terrell fight - he was lighting up Terrell for most of the fight - he might have found himself tiring, but he didn't look pretty exhausted, not when he's the one throwing the majority of the meaningful punches and dominating the opponent.

And yes, we are agreed - Ali didn't dance for 15 rounds, he showed as early as Liston I that he mixed his dancing with conventional, fight off the jab and pivot footwork.

 

Sure I'm not denying he won the fight comfortably. But i also don't think he let someone pound on him so much that he went to the hospital just to make a statement. Did he do the same against Frazier in the FOTC? Didn't work out so well then did it. Seems to suggest it was an actual weakness of Ali’s rather then simply theatrics

Then why didn't he step on the gas and finish him? Instead just peppering him with fast but not particularly powerful combinations.

Right but it does show he had real weaknesses even at his best that people often downplay or excuse.

 

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As I've said multiple times, with the passage of time, Ali has become more myth than man.
Lewis tears him apart.

 

I am not describing Ali's style as running, I am saying that is all he'll be able to do in a fight vs Lewis.

 

88 Tyson is no 1 H2H.
1960 Liston and 98 Lewis make up the top 3.

 

Ali stopped Bonavena and Foreman cause they were exhausted, not cause he hit hard.

 

Cause he fought slow sluggers with no head movement and very little skill.
Liston is the only exception, but he was old and unprepared.

No he won't, Lewis beats him to a pulp.

First of all, it would only be 12 rounds.

You're delusional. Ali will barely land anything significant.