Tommy Morrison vs. Muhammad Ali

Yes Morrison could hurt just about anyone he hits with that lefthook{Except Ray Mercer}. No dispute there. At the same time it wouldnt take Ali more than a few rounds of peppering Tommy that he would give it up and find a reason to go down.

Frazier was much tougher than Tommy Morrision and he was able to break Ali down with power, precision and pressure and one helluva chin. Besides his chin Tommy Morrision had poor stamina.

No stamina + No chin= not much of a chance vs Ali.

 

You make an interesting point here.

185 lb Henry Cooper was able to drop and hurt Ali, while Foreman wasn’t.

The same Foreman was able to carry his power up against the heavyweights of the 90s when he was pushing 50.

Ali was able to stop Foreman and Jimmy Young was able to drop him, while the giants of the 90s couldn’t even hurt him when he was practically of pension age.

What does all this point to?

• Technique and delivery are far more important than size and physical strength in terms of knocking an opponent out.
• The big heavyweights of the 90s are simply not the destroyers that you assume them to be.

 

In reality you dont have to KO a guy with one or two big punches. In Ali`s case he peppered his opponents with combinations round after round. Ali did hit hard enough to buzz his oppponents.

Morrison`s chin would give it up after a few rounds. Carl "The Truth" Williams had Tommy Morrison on the canvas a couple of times.

 

I'm not even sure Morrison would have beaten the 1981 Bahamas' version of Ali. LOL

 

That's just silly.

Morrison lost a mere 3 times. He had elite power, boxed well and could move a bit. A prime Ali could exploit his lack of stamina and rather low level ring intelligence. But post-Foreman, it gets real dicey.

 

Morrison did not have the skills or durability to come close to beating someone like Ali circa 1975. The fighter who stopped Frazier would have destroyed the chinny Tommy inside of 6 rounds....Tommy was too easy to hit on that glass chin and Ali was hitting harder than he did in his career during that time.

 

Frazier was a shell at that point, absolutely shot, never to win a fight again.

I'm not saying I would bet on Morrison but he was a live body. Ali had reverted to laying on the ropes, cheating, clowning and playing it up to the refs. It would have been a stern test. Morrison was no more chinny than Shavers, a better boxer and probably hit just as hard... and Earnie gave Ali all he could handle.

 

Ali would cut him to pieces then knock him out.

Morrison had a left hook ....but come on!

Mac Foster was a better fighter than Morrison... and so were a lot of others.

 

I can't see the Duke doing much in this matchup, post Manila or not.

 

A 60's Ali blows Morrison out of the water... A lvery lucky lefthook notwithstanding.

Morrison would still need luck with a latter 70's Ali, tho the closer to the Spinks fights the more Morrison could be favored.

 

Anyone that thinks that Tommy Morrison would beat the 60's version of Ali. Or any version before the Spinks fight, needs to go back to posting on Stormfront.

 

Frazier was not a shot fighter when he fought Ali in 75. A shot fighter does not fight the way he fought in that fight....coming very close to rewining the championship in a give and take fight over the first 12 rounds. For both fighters it was their last great fight....perhaps Alis greatest. It was this fight that definitively showed boxing historians that Ali was as tough as any past all time great hwt champion.

 

There are 15 who voted for Morrison, LOL!

 

Was just about to recount this anecdote.

 

15 losers