The flaws in Ali's game

ain't that a surprise - all the haters and dicks talking about ali v young. yeah that was the real ali. what a fukin joke. watch 60s ali. ali came forward and demolished london, he came forward in round 3 and demolished williams. he came forward in round 3 against liston and gave him hell. he came forward and finished cooper in round 5. that ali could fight coming forward if he wanted. he was a counter fighter so he didn't do it as often. lets talk about 60s ali - the real one. not the past it rope-a-dope version.

 

Ali's main flaws were keeping his hands low in mid-riff and he didn't have technically the best jab. He flicked it and didn't fully extend the punch when he threw it, moreso in the early part of his career because he used his feet a lot more to escape danger. His right uppercut wasn't technically perfect either. In fact I'd argue that his uppercut is one of the poorest because he never used his legs to get lower in order to generate power, thus throwing the punch properly. Ali's uppercut was more of a circular arm swing that looked like a reverse roundhouse body shot.

Ali's style overall is perhaps the worst aspect of his influence on younger fighters because no other fighter in boxing history had his speed, timing and especially his reflexes. Maybe Jones Jr, and possibly Meldrick Taylor and Mayweather can match Ali in terms of speed. I've seen more fighters get their assess knocked out trying to emulate Ali's style, simply because they don't have all his tools.

 

He beat Quarry, Ellis, MacFoster, Buster Mathis, Al Lewis, Bugner, Patterson (old but still quite good) and Chuvalo (aging but still very tough). They were all decent ranging to really good fighters and he beat them all easily.

After Manilla it was a different story, though. But then he didn't have any snap left to his punches and his stamina, timing and reflexes had all detoriated badly. And even then he still was competitive with the best out there.

 

Gardner was given a peerage for services to sport.

 

Willard won rounds two and three? HOW?

 

He beat Patterson easy? You must have been watching a different fight to most people then? Probably the same one as the joker (Mercante?) that had it 6-1. Both of you watching with your "Ali Goggles" on.

 

:|

 

Don't worry man.

It's testament to how good Ali was that the only way they can detract from his greatness is by bringing up his fights when he was past his prime. :good

 

Not really. That second reign more than helped his all-time standing.

 

when he threw the left hook with mean intention it was a very good punch, and could double it up well imo, but he could tend to slap with it at times...

 

No, I wouldn't give it 6-1 to Ali, but the score isn't as important as the fact that he did what he wanted in this fight. I would probably have about a similar score in this one as in Ali's win over Folley.

He played around for the first 4-5 rounds (perhaps splitting them with Floyd), then he went to work and stopped Patterson soon after. Patterson landed a couple of decent shots, but Ali wasn't in any way marked or tired after the fight and more or less did as he pleased during it. For me that's quite an easy win.

 

Alis "boring second reign "saw him defend against,these softies,
Evangelista Ring rated no8
Wepner no8
Young no2
Norton no 1
Lyle no 3
Bugner no5
Frazier no 2
Unranked Fighters? two, Dunn and Coopman's
Add his defence against Shavers,yes really easy tickets.

 

U know it :good They know it but hate to admit it

 

What hurt Ali was the same thing that made him great: his ego, his belief that he could walk on water, talk trash to Norton and get his jaw busted for it, lay on the ropes against Foreman, trade with Frazier, who the hell did he think he was? The Greatest, the Greatest of all Time? Yeah, I think that's exactly what he thought, and that's why he was able to do the things that by all rights, he shouldn't have been able to do, and that's why he's so out of it today. ****! I hate to see greatness, heroics, reduced to human vulnerability. Heart, is what he had, it's what all the greats had, but the body can't keep up with that.

Hang in there Muhummad. There's got to be a special place for people like you who do that to themselves, as a validation, a celebration, of the superpowers within the human spirit!

 

Thats not detracting his greatness. His whole career needs to be discussed. It would be boring if we all exclusively mentioned the fights when he was in his prime. He was past his prime for the Foreman fight. I bet that wouldn't be a problem with you discussing that fight, simply because he won.

Take the rough with the smooth.