Ali said the entire time he was going to dance circles around Foreman, so all Foreman did was train to cut the ring and hit Ali with shot after shot of murderous power punches. Instead, after round 1, Ali could see that the strategy wouldn't work, so he changed things up in Round 2 by taking the punishment, infuriating Foreman with his language in the ring ("The punches don't hurt Foreman" or "I thought you hit a lot harder, I'm disappointed") and like clockwork Foreman took the bait, and was gassed by the time Ali knocked him out. Ali played mind games with his opponent much like some of the best fighters in the sport, if not THE best strategist in boxing. You talk about a "drugged' Foreman, that Liston "threw" the fight, or that they "loosened" the rope, OR that a "younger" Foreman would be more formidable. I don't see any factual evidence for any of that. Zero. Zip. Nada. The only fact, is that Ali was a fighter that, after a long break from boxing, destroyed the heavyweight champion of the world after a comeback when he was clearly beyond his prime, something only a handful of people have ever done. But hell, that was a post-prime Ali, if we start talking about a Prime Ali, he would dominate the Klitschko brothers in their prime all year long.
ali wins every round maybe loses one out of 15/12. Not enough power to knock out the iron chinned vitali k, but might stop him on cuts
:deal I know what you mean, and all you get is the realists who realise peak Ali would be to classy for either brother and the Klitschko fans saying "well said" or "best post on the thread" if someone gives reasons why either brother woud win. Although this is a different fight than against Vitali, i still see Ali having too much for Wlad. Whereas i can see Vitali seeing the final bell if he doe'snt get cut to pieces by Ali, i see Wladimir getting stopped mid to late fight in this one. Yes Wladimir has an excellent jab that is obvious, but it looks even better when men are willing to stand at the end of it all night. Ali would'nt be willing to do that and would show Wlad footwork and speed like he has never seen. That is not living in the past that is just the realisation of how good a peak Ali is. Silencer mentions the Wlad/Chris Byrd fight has a comparison which i find laughable. It's wrong to look at Byrd and think because he is a small heavy who is quick on his feet and fast of hand that he in someway compares to Ali. Ali was bigger and better in every way has a h/weight than Byrd. Wlad is a quality heavy who like the silencer say's will possibly be looked back on more fondly when he is gone. But he will never be remembered has great has an Ali, Lewis or Tyson, because the simple fact of the matter is that he is'nt has great as these men.