The Greatest heavyweight Champion ever: Period.

Yes indeed. And Patterson looks better in the clip I posted.

 

Frankly, I don't see a great deal of difference between the Patterson who fought Archie Moore and the one who faced Ali the first time around, except that he looks a tad faster against a much slower opponent in the Moore fight... That was my point.

 

Louis.

 

This about champion. This means the only thing that counts are the reign(s). And thus some of Ali´s best fights/wins can´t be included but some of his worse are, Spinks I is in it, Spinks II not for example.

 

I've looked at the two films, and frankly there is nothing that jumps off the screen at me, which suggests that he looked significantly different in either of those showings.. He might well have been a bit faster against Moore and still possesing a tad more athleticism, but not to the extent where I'm looking at two totally different fighters..

 

.....

 

Ali outboxes Louis, and I would not be surprised if he scored a knockdown along the way.

 

Ability: Tyson
H2H: Ali
Accomplishments: Louis
Competition: Ali
Record: Marciano

Ability alone doesn't cut it at the most elite level, where intangibles such as psychology, sheer toughness, strategy, self-control, desire to win, survival skills and overcoming adversity weigh heaviest.

So Tyson is out. Though, with his nonpareil combination of speed and power he could conceivably kayo any man ever, he wouldn't, for the reasons above. It's just a matter of which of the truly top fighters holds together enough to turn the tables on Mike and exposes his soft underside, whether at the cusp or lower part of the all-time top ten.

Marciano never lost. And he refused to lose. But his declining and otherwise less-then-great competition must be factored in when elevating a 5'10", 185 pounder, who was floored in Round 1 and pushed near the limits for 13 championship rounds by a 196-pound, 38-year-old title holder. The Rock's relative lack of longevity (6 defenses) is closely tied to his proudest achievement of retiring undefeated. And he is by no means the most skilled slugger the division has seen.

Louis has the most defenses of the crown with 25; the longest reign ever at 11 years, 10 months; this includes an almost 3 year hiatus while serving his country in World War II. He proved himself beyond doubt the best fighter of his time, defeating men of every style, size and persuasion, capping off with a knockout of the great Jersey Joe Walcott. And, quite possibly, he still is -as he was anointed in his prime- simply the greatest fighting machine ever. He could box, he was tough, cool, had stamina. He could punch with the precision and rat-a-tat destructiveness of machine-gun fire. And, deep inside, in the ring he had the instinct of a killer.

And what hasn't already been said about Ali?

As stated here before, a coin flip to decide between Louis and Ali might actually not be such a bad idea. They are that much ahead of the pack.

It is quite something for our very own Mr. Bienstock to have seen Ali at FOTC and unflinchingly choose Louis to kayo him.

Burt is not alone. Louis, verbatim: "He [Ali] can't punch; he can't hurt you...I would have whipped him. He doesn't know a thing about fighting on the ropes, which is where he would be with me. I would go in to outpunch him rather than try to outbox him. He'd be hit into those ropes as near a corner as I could get him. I'd press him, bang him around, claw him, clobber him with all I got, cut down his speed, belt him around the ribs. I'd punish the body, where the pain comes real bad. [He] would have welts on his body. He would ache. His mouth would shut tight against the pain, and there would be tears burning his eyes."

So, tommygun, take your pick.

 

I'll go with Ali. I could be wrong.

 

I like Ali at number one.

Louis is my number two though and I think both are a step above the rest. Ali 64-67 was simply amazing h2h and his 3 wins over top ten Heavyweights put him number one in my book.

 

I'll go with Louis. I could be wrong!

 

I think you both might be wrong!