"The Made Up Prime Ali"

Yes, you correctly note the constant training and frequency of those fights. I think this is key.

I don't think it is coincidental that the best two heavyweights on film (Ali and Joe Louis) were both fighting at a frequency of such a high level when recording such impressive performances. It is no wonder their contenders look to be of a lower level, nobody else was landing such good opponents and consistently in top training camps.

 

I've always felt that keeping a champion busy and active is one of the keys to his or her success. im fine with Ali's 1960's opponents and his performances against them. Whilst it's true that he fought a few better men in the seventies, I don't necessarily think it's proof that he was "better." Remember he had to fight damn hard to barely win some of those fights and sometimes he even ended up on the losing end.. His collosal upset win over George Foreman was the only case that qualified for an other worldly accomplishment in the 70s and tremendous one it was. But again I don't think it was an indication of improvement, and in truth Ali fought that match with a different approach that was atypical of his usual self. To draw a comparison, Bernard Hopkins acquired some of his better wins when he was over 40 years of age and in a higher weight class than his traditional one.. I don't necessarily think this made him "better."

 

The term "Prime Ali" gets thrown around as he would be unbeatable. Which I think people misuse that term a bunch basing it off the Cleveland Williams fight.

I think we seen a good bit of "Prime Ali."

I know one thing, Ali was NEVER knocked out. He beat Liston twice, not by luck. He beat Foreman, not by luck. He had him beat by the 2nd round. That's what makes Ali great. He had his flaws but made up for them.

I challenge you to name a fighter besides Frazier that would have beat Ali from 68-71!

 

The way to look at Ali's career is NOT trying to prove that he could stop performing for 4 years and then be as good as he was .....this is a fools argument. The way to look at this that Ali was such a great fighter that even after not fighting for so long and being in his post peak years he STILL was great enough to beat most every contender he faced. This does not mean however that he was a better athlete or fighter post exile than before.....this is simply not true.

 

When was Liston's prime?

When did Frazier get blinded?

Why was it the ego that beat _
Foreman?are you a fanboy making excuses?

Across the two parts of his career he knocked out 3 top 15 fighters and beat a top 15 fighter on points.make of that what you will.

 

If Ali never came back he would have remained an unbeaten champion of a fairly good era. He would not have been as high regarded as he is now because there was far less to go on than there is now. He doesn't have to be better because his career lasted longer but he sure as hell ticked more boxes because he continued...just like Foreman did when he restarted his career. Longevity goes a long way. You might not like Ali but it is difficult to place him outside a top 3. It's difficult to place him outside of a top two!

 

Compared to who else???

 

Foremans fought Jerry Judge during his 5 opponent exhibition which were all real fights....just against stumblebums. Judge rocked George several times during the short bout.

 

And you call people on this forum stupid? You ask who did Ali fight from 68-71? Just check when his licence was revoked.

Speaking of stupid, try and work out the difference between 'of' and 'have'. Would have fought him again.

Which heavies do you rate over Ali? Give us a list and we'll of loads of fun picking holes in each and every one.

 

Big Killer George got rocked in that exhibition bout by a carpenter, he was nothing but a bum like you.....

 

Being an all-time great heavyweight is not a glamorous business, it is usually fairly pedestrian!

It is unlikely that one great heavyweight will share an era with another, anywhere close to their respective primes.

The heavyweight greats all built their legacies on a consistent body of work, against fighters who were not in danger of being great, but were among the best in the division at the time.

Ali is great even without his fights against Liston, Frazier and Foreman!

 

Sounds like the old miserable circular boxing logic to "prove" that everyone who has ever fought is a "hype job".
Unless someone never lost but then in that case just point to fights that never happened as "ducks".
If you really hate boxing that much go watch ****ing table tennis.