Actually you do know Ken Norton and Jimmy Young boxed in Ali's era and in the case of Ken Norton I think he is/was only 1 year younger than Ali. Doug Jones is older than Ali. So if you think Ali was this incredible fighter who couldn't be beat then clearly you did watch too much ESPN. So my point stands. Ali wasn't close to being the most skilled heavyweight boxer. Ali's best wins in his career came against a old overrated Sonny Liston and he got lucky against George Foreman and refused the rematch. Ali's other "big" wins were questionable. Ken Norton beat him all 3 times. Ali beat Joe Frazier only after Foreman beat the tar out of Frazier first. The Ali vs Ron Lyle fight got stopped much quicker than it should have. Ali was overrated and could be out boxed by numerous fighters.
Lol you actually think 5'10 180 pound Rocky Marciano could beat Ali but not the close to 6'5 230 pound Lennox Lewis? Yeah I think I will have to put you on block now.
Lol man this is nice. I can ignore so many people so I don't have to see their stupid comments. Another one of these clueless boxing fans who still think a 5'10 180 pound Rocky Marciano could beat a modern sized heavyweight. Then he mentions Jack Johnson. Johnson is so unskilled by modern boxing standards that I would actually pick female boxers to out box him.
When it comes to 60s Ali...to me that was like SRR, pre-Duran SRL, or lightweight Duran...a boxing Miracle. Nobody except FOTC Frazier could have beat him imo. And yeah, I'm definitely saying the FOTC Frazier would have beaten the Cleveland Willians-annihilating Ali, folks.
Unfortunately, we've had this type of discussion on here a thousand times. Guys like 60's Ali get talked about so often that the conversation becomes stagnant and boring. And opinions never change either. I've long suspected a Larry Holmes would be one of the few to possibly be able to outbox Ali at his best. The list is exceedingly short. But Holmes was intelligent, had a beautiful, fast, hard jab and had the guts to try to outbox Ali, which most wouldn't even attempt. His good qualities match up well with Ali's. You need speed though. At least, be fast enough, which most weren't. Liston was well-schooled and a very decent boxer, but he never had the outright handspeed to be in the conversation. Wlad has good technical skills, certainly the intelligence, a lovely poleaxe jab, and good sense of timing and distance. Yet, he couldn't find Haye with a handful of rice when they fought. Just saying. Food for thought. Lennox...I dunno. There isn't many. Maybe a real slick, awkward cagey fighter like Walcott might have a say. Perhaps his sheer caginess might give him a window here, or Ali might figure him out and make Walcott look pedestrian. So hard to say.
You know my friend, this type of thread has been done over and over, like Mike Tyson vs Ali. All these types of threads do is cause dissention among us posters, especially the younger new comers who accuse us of watching ESPN, I cannot afford cable, I am on social security.. Debates are for politicians, not us intelligent posters. But to me all opinions are relevant, when done in mature good taste. It is time to let this thread sail into the sunset.