Muhammad Ali vs Wilt Chamberlain 1971

Wilt was still 7'1 270 so Ali wouldn't have beat him as easy as you people make it seem. Not one time in Ali's career did he face a modern size heavyweight and win easy. Foreman beat himself, Norton was robbed in 2 of the bouts, Ali only beat Frazier because he was blind in 1 eye.

 

In a street fight where Wilt could grab Ali with his catchers mitt sized hands and utilize his great strength, Wilt would have the advantage. But in the ring where Wilt could only punch, Ali would've eat him up alive.

 

Wilt Chamberlain wouldve made one helluva Defensive End. That wouldve been scary. Not a boxer though.

 

Wilt would still lose in a street fight.

 

And very badly too, a guy who since he was 12 years old has been doing nothing but learning how to fight and fighting people who know how to fight against a tall stringbean with no knowledge or experience on how to fight.

 

He might have a better chance against Ken Rosewell or Jack Nicklaus.

 

Remember Ed "Too Tall" Jones? A great football player who tried to turn pro boxer. Ed was close to Wilt in size. He went about 6'9" and 250 but he turned out to be pretty lame as a fighter. He beat some tomato cans and looked lousy doing it, then wisely turned back to football.

Wilt probably would have had a similar experience. Great skills in one sport don't often translate into success in another sport.

 

exactly.Though I wouldn't have minded seeing a fight between Wilt Chamberlain and Ernie Ladd.

 

I was with you until you called Wilt Chamberlain a stringbean. He was 300lbs of muscle. Ali definitley has the advantage because of boxing skills as long as Wilt doesnt grab his ass. Then Ali might be in trouble. Cant say for sure. Never saw Chamberain fight.

Growing up in Philadephia heard so many stories of Wilt`s legendary strength and power. I would never dismiss an athlete like that with the size, strength and coordination he had.

So many variables in a street fight. Sometimes a streetfight starts with no distance at all between the two parties. Wilt grabs him or slams him and its over. Ali didnt really have a street fighting mentality and actually neither did Wilt.

 

Sonny Liston was massive.

 

And so was Foreman, who couldn't hurt Ali, try as he might.

If Foreman can't make Ali succumb to punishment like that, the odds are not great for any other man who ever lived to do the same.

Muhammad Ali is your worst nightmare in the ring; Smart, fast, sneaky, and damn near impossible to kill.

As Smokin' Joe said, "Y'all were surprised he went down, I was more surprised he got up."

 

Ummm he basically could have chosen any sport. He had ridiculous strength, amazing athleticism and speed and was supremely talented. He excelled at track and field, broke records that will never be broken in NBA and then became a great volleyball player after his nba retirement.

If he had chosen boxing as his chosen sport then he would have crushed all comers, I can't see how anyone could match up to him physically( and that includes today, he wold CRUSH the Klitchko bro's physically) and it would have been a sight to behold.

The only thing I see holding him back is he did at times have a lack of killer instinct. Trust me this guy was stronger and more athletic than any NBA player today including LeBron James. His strength, speed and vertical leap are off the charts. If he got the technique down from an early age then he could have been dominant.

By 1971 however Wilt was in his mid 30's and although extremely athletic he would of course probably been butchered by Ali you would imagine. Could Ali have knocked him out though? A man of Wilts size???

 

Easily.

I've knocked out men close to Wilt's size (Haven't broken the 7 foot barrier, but I've gotten em in the high sixes).

Size and weight don't define punch resistance worth ****. All he's gotta do is lose his composure after getting cracked and eat a right to the chin dead on. Done. The bigger they are is not a wives' tale. The thud is rather satisfying.

 

Thats fine but we don't even know what Wilts chin was like. You non Bball fans don't understand what a physical specimen this man was. Who knows how he would have gone.

 

Rondo could KO Wilt ffs, we don't even know what his chin is like