Underrated Speed

Frazier's hook was lightning quick. If you watch some footage from the FOTC, his hook is VERY clearly faster than anything Ali throws. Nothing else was real quick, but that one punch was sizzling. Which is probably part of the reason he was able to land it so often.

 

This.

Top 5 for me at Heavy.

 

Sonny Liston
George Foreman
Jack Dempsey
Joe Louis

 

Zhang’s left is crazy fast.

 

If Leonard had fought Hagler in 88 he could have gotten Olympic Gold in 100m. Neither Ben Johnson nor Carl Lewis could have caught him. Hell Usain Bolt would struggle.

 

True. Especially later in the fight with Ali's midsection sapped Frazier was able to get his shots home faster than Ali.

 

Underrated is Jake LaMotta ... he threw some beautiful combinations to the heard and body ...

 

Beterbiev. He moves like he's stuck in molasses, but the moment he gets up close he gets dangerously fast. Smith found out the hard way in round 2.

 

Suffice to say, I think there are quite a few fighters whose hand speed has been underrated - and misjudging or miscalculating that speed (by both fans and opponents alike) can lead to very different complexions and outcomes than were previously forecast.

George Chuvalo more or less said that the only way to truly appreciate the sublime nature of Ali’s hand speed was to actually fight him in the ring.

 

Yup both him and Patterson also said Ali wasn’t quite the same upon his return, though still exceptional.