Shannon Briggs vs Ali from Spinks 1

Briggs wins a decision, but is probably out of breath at the end. Even this version of Ali is going to make him work for it and won't just stand still getting hit.

 

The reason this one is tough is that Briggs had asthma. He was a big, hard punching, fast guy when he could breathe, when he couldn't he had to coast. Briggs could be knocked out as Darroll Wilson showed, but probably wouldn't be by Ali. Wilson was a guy who came to boxing late, was a good athlete, long arms and a big swinger, plus Briggs fought him aggressively and was there to be hit.

Briggs should be able to dominate 1978 Ali unless his asthma problems kicked in. Ali was able to hold and stall and win rounds on the judges' scorecards, if Briggs needed rest and didn't win rounds by a big margin, Ali would get the decision.

 

No way Briggs survives 15 rounds he doesn't has anywhere near the workrate or stamina Spinks had. Briggs would literally collapse if he ever attempted to go 15 rounds with any elite Heavyweight.

 

But Ali from the first Spinx fight definitely wasn't an elite HW. I do agree Briggs would struggle to go 15 regardless, but Ali didn't throw a lot of punches and was lethargic and weak in many rounds.

 

Agreed but Spinks was also a whirling dervish vs Ali with high workrate and stamina. Theres no way Briggs will have that type of energy for 15 rounds.B riggs will probably go all out early vs Ali and tire himself out by the middle rounds.

Another thing to factor into is what type of record will Briggs have in this fight ? Ali was lackluster against a 7 fight novice in Spinks. But against a more experienced Briggs with a high KO ratio, he probably would've took Briggs a bit more seriously.

 

I mean Ali took Shavers seriously and he still wasn't as sharp or explosive as he looked in other fights in the 70's. He was declining rapidly physically. He might be able to adjust to a different opponent, but Ali was basically shot at this point and his heart was no longer in boxing just going through the motions and avoiding a KO so that he could keep his title and get the benefit of the doubt from the judges.

 

Bad issue Briggs Vs. bad issue Muhammad Ali. Such topics are rarely seen. Let's not forget that Briggs beat Foreman with a robbery. On the other hand Muhammad Ali showed that (even older) he can box well against Leon Spinks.
So I'm favoring Muhammad Ali here, who would beat Briggs in a 15-round fight by a close unanimous decision.

 

Briggs hit about 3x harder than Spinks. Spinks looks like an anorexic next to Briggs. Ali was shot at that point. Briggs wins and it doesn't look pretty.\

Briggs knocking guys TF out for 8 minutes straight

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Here's Ali from Spinks 1:

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Guys - Ali looks like he's on slo mo compared to his prime versions. This fight would be nasty.

 

But I just can’t get that draw with Frans Botha out of my head

 

Frans Botha was a tough dude and no mug. I might pick him over this version of Ali too.

 

Yes I think Briggs could actually stop him early.
If he doesn't there's a chance of him puffing out later.

 

Briggs hurts Ali at times when he connects but eventually he just gets finished through sheer exhaustion. Not so much Ali tires him out like Foreman but Briggs just knackered out before 15th round. Eventually he just staggers around and it isn’t Ali’s punches that knock him down/out but they do connect. He just falls over completely ****ed. Asthmatic attack or not. He’ll need Panama Lewis and his magic bottle just to reach 13th round.

 

Yes but Briggs never stopped anyone of note early apart from tomato cans. This is the same Briggs that tried to KO Darrol Wilson early and was gassed after 3 rounds.

Ali did show he had a bit left when he beat Spinks the 2nd time around.

As I said earlier Ali underestimated a 7 pro fight novice Spinks. But would likely take a more experienced guy like Briggs who has high KO ratio more seriously.

 

I would argue that the Spinks 1 Ali was verging on tomato can. He still had the moves and the skills but he was trying to pull them off at half speed.

That version was a bit better, yes. But OP did specify the Spinks 1 version which is what I am going by.