Ray Mercer vs 1974 Muhammad Ali

He replaces Foreman in Kinshasha and he's holding the belt Muhammad Ali made his raison d'etre to get back. He gets his ---- pushed in. If Grandpa Holmes could beat him fighting off the ropes imagine what an 80% Ali would do to him.

 

I'd say Ali by UD, though the best version of Mercer pushes '74 Ali. Mercer had very good power, but Ali was always able to come through everything thrown at him, and he'd do the same with Mercer. Ali was still an accurate puncher, and Mercer's defense wasn't the best. Mercer would go hard in spurts here and there, but Ali would pot-shot enough (and hold behind the head, of course) in between to get the job done. Can't see either guy getting stopped, and it's hard to imagine Mercer getting a decision.

FWIW, I see this being a more difficult task for Ali than Foreman was. No way does Mercer gas out and get stopped the way Foreman did, and I think his jab would have been more of a factor than George's was.

 

Ali's urologist might argue that George was indeed a difficult task.

 

Yeah, Mercer was absolutely listless sometimes. Holmes was definitely one of those. Same against Jesse Ferguson in their first fight, and Marion Wilson as well. I thought he gave far better efforts against Lewis and Witherspoon. He really pushed Lewis to the limit. He dropped a SD there, but some cards had him winning. The AP had Merceir 97-93 in that fight. He had the chin and the punch be competitive when he wanted to work.

 

Not saying George wasn't difficult, but he was showing signs of fatigue as early as the 4th, and looked totally gassed by the end of the 6th. He missed with an awful lot of wide, somewhat slow-looking punches throughout. His jab was mostly useless on the few occasions he remembered to throw it. I thought Ali made him look amateurish. Foreman didn't appear anywhere near as difficult as Frazier & Norton were for Ali.

Mercer at his best would at least make Ali work for 15 rounds. I think he has a shot at outlasting George as well and stopping him in a great fight.

 

Mercer is still there at the end of 15 rounds but is soundly outpointed. Ali still too fast and clever.

 

Mercer kind of sucked. Mercer went life and death with Bert Cooper. He lost to an ancient fat Holmes. He nearly lost to Morrison who gassed out and got caught by a big shot after making Mercer look horrible. He lost to Holyfield. He lost to journeyman Jesse Ferguson. People make a huge deal out of his competitive fight with Lewis, but always fail to mention he lost. Every ATG has some close fights with guys that aren't on their level.

If Mercer didn't have such a sturdy chin, he'd have like 3-4 more losses. He relied on it and his "okay" power to bail himself out after trailing on the scorecards on multiple occasions.

Ali wouldn't remotely struggle with Mercer, not even in 74. Ali would make him look stupid and would probably even be showboating.

 

I’m fairly confident that if a 42 year old Larry Holmes on the comeback trail could comfortably decision Ray Mercer then a 1974 Ali could easily do the same.

 

He could not defeat a 42 year old Larry Holmes in his next fight ... Ali by clean decision

 

It’s mind boggling that it wouid even be a question

 

Mercer may have a chance to outwork Ali in 1979 or 1980.
1974????
Ali clowns him if he's in shape and focused .
If he isn't in the best of shape. He'd still win.

 

Ray Mercer would be a bit overmatched. A better fight would’ve been Jimmy Ellis who came out very hot headed, brave and more vulnerable.

 

A repeat of the Holmes/Mercer fight Holmes basically copied Ali's rope a dope style to beat Mercer handily. I think the fighter who made that style famous aka Ali could easily replicate what Holmes did, and i would also say a 1974 version of Ali is better than a 1992 version of Holmes.

 

It would be target practice for Ali, easy win.