Sugar Ray Leonard and Muhammad Ali were both showboaters. Which of them was the better fighter?

It's Chuvalo. Never the quickest or the most versatile fighter. And he landed hard shots to Ali's body quite often in the clinches, though it looked like Ali was getting him do it, to prove his toughness.

Honestly, if Ali had met Joe in the late 60's, I doubt things would have been any different.
Ali could never keep Joe off him for long, and in my mind they'd always end up having the fights they did.
Frazier was able to apply the sort of effective pressure that the likes of Foley, Chuvalo et al. couldn't.

 

I think it would be different, but still a tough fight for Ali.

 

Wow, never knew this. I've never heard Leonard talk about it.

 

I think you are exaggerating a bit.

 

Surely you understand that it is not the same for all fighters .. technically Ali did it all wrong especially pulling his head straight back which he mostly got away with when he was young and did not as he got older ..the thread is comparing him to Leonard and I feel Leonard was much more polished, had the same skills but also utilized more defensive skills .. A fighter more like Ali in the relying on natural gifts was a Roy Jones and as they deteriorated he came down to earth fast ..

 

Leonard was a battleship, Ali was a star destroyer.

 

FOTC proves two things .. the first was that Ali was not ready after the exile and two rushed comeback fights to battle a prime Frazier .. it also 100% proves that Ali did not have polished boxing skills defensively and when his reflexes began to go he became much easier to hit ..

 

Ali was not as ready as he could have been yes, he should have taken maybe 2 more Tune Up fights.
Except for the rare, usually huge & World Class figher (just one of these things would not be enough, except likely for Tyson due to his speed) who might overwhelm Frazier with offensive power, nobody was escaping Frazier & the left hook.

Part of it was his right was active also, & he while Ali & others spoke about how tough he was to hit-Chuvalo said he was the *best* defensive fighter...He was also tough & brave enough to take tremendous punishment as necessary.

Ali landed more shots in FOTC, it is just that Frazier's endurance was even greater.

 

I agree with you that Leonard was more complete technically as I have written in previous posts, but saying All did it all wrong technically because he had some flaws is taking it waaaaaaaayyyyyyy to far. It's plain wrong, to be more exact.

He did plenty of things right technically. Great form when punched, put his punches together very well, had a great pull counter and rode punches very well. That he pulled his head back straight and never went to the body except for with jabs doesn't negate the things he did well.

And he beat Frazier at the age Leonard was beaten up by Norris, so I wouldn't say he aged worse than Leonard. Actually if you look at the fight in Manilla you'll see that Ali fought very well from a standpoint of fundamentals.

 

I disagree. He tried to stand on the ropes for a while and let Chuvalo punch himself out, but saw that it didn't work and went back on his toes.

 

True. Same with Ken Norton.

 

Ray disclosed it in his autobiography. A very good read as it reveals the real guy behind the mask.

 

He wasn't slapped around by Hearns. It was a close fight.