What if Joe Louis had to rely solely on his boxing skill?

He is one of the few punchers who might actualy have held the title at some point without his power.

 

Wouldn't have been a great fighter, but would still have been really good if he had Holmes'esque power.

With mediocre or less power..... the level of someone like Davila, Kalule, Richie Kates or Alfonso Lopez to mention some of the better fighters without power or top-end durability that were highly technically sound and skilled in a textbook box-fighter sense.

that said being a heavy it would probably impact him more.

 

I guess that we have to allow that he would have made some modifications to his approach based on common sense.

He would have tried to use his mobility more and apply a more safety first approach, if the average puncher could afford to engage him.

How effectively he would have assimilated these changes is hard to say.

 

It's a silly modification because we know if him as the best HW finisher ever. You're not going to get that killer instinct and finishing ability without that punching ability and confidence. He wouldn't have been nearly as great, obviously.

 

Ali's power means he has Ali's speed. He could do it :yep

 

Actualy even with Holmes level power, he would be prety dangerous with that punching form.

 

STill a solid fighter.. probably even a champion... but not a all time great

 

Joe Louis wouldn't lose his power to any steep drop off, because in his prime, he was a perfect combination puncher. The leverage, the speed, the snap, the placement, the timing. That's what creates the knockouts and the knockdowns.

Take one of those things away, he'd still be an absolutely lethal finishing threat.

Make him slower, make his hands smaller, take away the skills that made him a puncher, and you take away Joe Louis. He's just not the same guy any more. Wouldn't even contend, he'd be somebody else.

 

Perfect combination puncher.

Not a master boxer. Did NOT have all the tools, and he did make some big mistakes.

As an offensive knockout machine, he might be the best ever outside of SRR.

 

Louis was a decent boxer, though there was no doubt that his power played a major part in his success. A Louis without that power edge changes the dynamic of his fights, since his opponents would no longer fear coming forward. Louis might even find himself needing to fight on the backfoot himself. That would have required a different stance, and a different set of tactics to the ones he was used to, with who knows what results.

Most likely he would have lost to Walcott and Conn.

 

Yeah, I'll go with this. He was very good in ATG terms, but not special. He lacked some tools, and I think his Ring IQ was behind his abilities. He was the most fine-tuned seek & destroyer for his style arguably at any weight.

 

I'm not to sure, but I'd certainly wager he'd do better than Ali if Muhammad had to rely soley on his boxing skills and had Foreman like speed

 

Ali with Foreman speed becomes Tony Thompson.