The 60's Ali. Could he get away with a low guard today?

Yes

Every day of the week including Sunday.

His reflexes were god given and most of these big oafs today would be in no danger of hitting him cleanly. Whether you had a reach advantage or not he could judge distences so well that he only had to pull back to make you miss by an inch.

 

Concur.

 

Yes he could 95% of the time. But I supect if he began his career in 1988, by now he would of had at least one defeat due to the tactic.

Lewis, Bowe and Holyfield in the time period all had enough speed and power to potentially make Ali pay at least once in any potential match-ups

 

Absolutely

 

With his mobility and head movement, yes. Bugner and Terrell weren't slow, yet were decisoned pretty handily by Ali. He never had any particular trouble dealing with taller opponents than himself.

Bugner didn't have tremendous power, but he was a tall, skilled and well-schooled boxer in the European mold, with good speed. If Muhammad had a fast surface to dance on, with decent ring size to maneuver in, it would be extremely difficult for a power puncher to get sufficiently set to launch bombs against him. Such a hitter might dislocate his shoulder trying to reach him (as Liston did).

The right which Lewis took out Rachman with was devastating, but Hasim straightened up, and virtually gave himself up to LL just before that punch connected, something Ali never would have done at his peak.

Larry Holmes would have always given Muhammad headaches, but Larry had the best heavyweight jab of all time, and great ring intelligence to boot, as well as Eddie Futch in his corner for some of his peak performances.

 

Albeit Ali did fight rangy opponents the size of today's heavyweights, I think I get and agree with what you are suggesting. He would have more trouble with more accurate, more sizable opponents.

Only what you have as yet failed to consider is that Ali did not use the low guard because of a flaw in his style. When Ali used the low guard it was not some irrational miscalculation or a particular defficiency in fundamental skills, but a form of strategy. In fact it can be argued that he would not have won the fights he won, or any imaginary match-up you or I can think of, if not for the employment of his famous dance routine.

Ali would struggle against more accurate, more sizable opponents, but then again, very few others would not. Holmes, Lewis, Bowe, and Klitschko are very good fighters- all four belong around the top echelons of heavyweight boxing- but they are not a product of the 'modern era', and only Holmes and Lewis belong in the ring with Ali.

 

So, yeah. Ali could still get away with it; and with relative ease also.

Plus, Lennox and Larry aren't even around today.

 

I think Ali dislocated the bully part of his brain actually.

 

You forgot to include Tyson. But I otherwise agree with your post.

I think Ali kept his hand low because it catered to his style so perfectly that fighting out of a more conventional stance would have compromised his reflexes slightly. Ali did a fine job of measuring distance and his opponents and I'm under the impression that if he were in with a guy who he felt could exploit it I'm certain he would have adjusted accordingly.

 

You bring up an interesting point Chris. He certainly did dislocate the bully part of Liston's brain, but I've read conflicting accounts of what an X-ray of Sonny's shoulder revealed after that bout. Some claims state that a shoulder separation was indeed revealed, while other reports assert that no such injury was diagnosed. If such an X-ray was taken, it would be very interesting to see what it looked like. (Ditto for Ali's jaw fracture inflicted by Norton, which I understand to have been auctioned off to a private bidder.)

Along the same lines, any formal medical test results establishing Jess Willard's true physical condition after Dempsey dethroned him ought to make for some intriguing viewing. Did Willard truly sustain the devastating multitude of fractures in Toledo commonly described, or was this mere sensationalism? Counter allegations are surfacing that Jess only suffered some lacerations and a severe bruising, but no lost teeth, broken bones, or a dislocated jaw. It would be satisfying to know for sure, one way or the other.

 

Yes.
The 60s Ali could get away with this move in any era including this bad era for hwt boxing.

As Ali said after defeating foreman... `I have a radar built inside me & I know how to judge punches.`



Class.

 

Indeed. I have seen an article from Monte Cox that provided evidence that Willard's damage wasn't as bad as it is known to be. He was still beaten up badly of course, which is viewable on film.

I think we'll never know whether or not Liston had truely dislocated his shoulder. To me it sounds like a smarter choice than "stomach cramps", but nothing more than just that: a "smarter choice".