What do you think about Muhammad Ali's boxing fundamentals?

I'll have to check out the Manila fight again.
I'm thinking Ali stood there soaking up a savage body beating on the inside, and toughed it out with pure rugged courage - rather than showed any skills of in-fighting.
But maybe I'm wrong.

 

He was blocking and parrying alot of the shots and countering(in a conservative manner) with uppercuts and straights. He was doing the cleaner work in there. But ofcourse wherever Foreman lands its doing damage

 

You mean Frazier ?

 

Great thread, Keep it coming.

 

you would think that, but larrys jab causes him more problems than it solves againt some people ie norton/tyson i know he was passed it for tyson, but when he loads up on the jab it means he is moving towards you if he misses with the jab he is right in front of you with a half guard, loved larry holmes but there are certain things most boxers with a small amount probly 0.0001% all have flaws.

 

Muhammad was pretty unorthodox as far as TEXTBOOK boxing went. The old timers claimed that he that he did a lot of things wrong. His natural gifts which were speed and timing made him a great fighter. Also he had a cast iron jaw could adapt to different challenges in a fight.

Jose Torres put it perfectly when he mentioned that Ali was n't as good,technically,as many champions in heavyweight history,but he could n't see any of them actually beating Muhammad.

 

He has a good guard and stance, and is disciplined and sharp with his counters. Also, I like his movement in the early rounds. Much more textbook and economical than his trademark "dancing".

 

Agree for the most part. Ali was unorthodox, but he was so quick and fast he got away with it more often than not, except when he fought skilled jabbers in Jones, Norton, Young, and Lyle...then he looked very beatable.


Later in his career, Ali became a very good technical clincher, and a pretty good counter puncher.

 

Ali's fundamentals are generally sound aside from leaning back with his hands down. That's the main error he makes, although few could punish him for it, especially in his prime. Also he'd punch while on his tip toes - which makes you harder to hit but gives up power.

Aside from that his footwork, punches and head movement were technically excellent

 

But perhaps more than anyone I've ever seen (especially HWs) he had the ability to get set and plant his feet in the middle of a movement and deliver a hard blow. Like the rights he felled Williams and Mildenberger with.

 

Agreed :good In some ways watching Ali in the Berbick fight hurts almost as much as his beating in the Larry Holmes one,but considering how ill he already was,it was quite remarkable how he could still be competitive against a limited yet strong top contender.

 

No and no. Everyone who knows just a bit about Ali, know that he was extremely tough. Haven't heard anyone say otherwise, so I can't see how it's undderrated.

And his ring generalship is absolutely not overrated, even though it's very highly rated by most. A superb ring general. One of the best.

 

Explain.....Why would I think that?

 

Yea that's true, especially good at this against slower footed fighters like Liston and Foreman too