The Greatest heavyweight Champion ever: Period.

Ali did not have better footwork than Walcott. That's for sure. In fact, no one did.

 

1. No he wasn't. He was up at the count of 3.
2. He faced Floyd Patterson. A fast, powerful combination puncher.
3. It's not the most likely, no. The most likely result is it goes to the cards.

 

I agree. But Ali was faster on his feet.

Patterson is no Joe Louis when it comes to combination punching and finishing his opponent.

 

Frankly, I can't see anyone who Louis fought that was even remotely on the level of a Muhammad Ali, and no amount of spinning, repackaging or finaggling of the facts is going to make me think differently.... If Louis had faced Ali, he'd be up against an opponent who was both faster and a better boxer than Billy Conn, craftier than Joe Walcott, more durable than Arturo Godoy and bigger than Lou Nova... That's a nasty cocktail for Louis who struggled mightily with a fair number of these men ( and others. )

Some people will no doubt scream in outrage over this next comment, but personally I think this is a mismatch, and for more reasons than I even care to go into.. While I believe in analyzing hypothetical match-ups thoroughly before drawing a conclusion, this is a rare case where commone sense can save pages and pages of lengthy posts...

 

I never said he was, but he was a powerful, fast combination puncher. That cannot be argued against.

 

Patterson was nowhere near his best when he fought Ali. Patterson's back was badly injured. he shouldn't have been allowed in the ring. I dont think he threw one combination that night.


Ali never beat THIS patterson

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCUkqyfUjTU[/ame]

 

Craftier than Walcott? I don't think that is possble. Walcott invented moves that 99% of boxers are not good enough to replicate/

 

Obviously he wasn't, but I thought the back injury was in his second fight with Ali.

 

It was actually in his first fight with Ali, that he fought with a back injury.

 

Muhammad Ali.
In accomplishments and head to head, I believe Muhammad Ali was the best, greatest, call it what you will.

 

But, he could have.

 

What is Patterson doing differently in your clip as oppossed to what he looks like against Ali below?

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDHRYHedMec[/ame]

 

Ali adjusted and adapted his style on a multitude of occasions to meet that of his opponent's.. Just as one example, he was a totally different fighter from his usual self when he recaptured the title from Foreman... That to me, spells the word crafty...

 

Patterson actually put up a better effort in his rematch against Ali despite being older. He landed several combinations although he lacked the explosiveness he had in his youth. Patterson just didn't look himself in the first fight but Ali looked very good.