What version of Ali can Joe Joyce beat

He’s a shell of himself now. Zhang ruined him.

 

Yeah that Parker performance was very impressive. Parker wasn't quite at his best but he wasn't bad at all. Joyce was like a tank and walking through everything Parker did.

 

The version that lost to Leon Spinks.

 

Joyce was a flash in the pan, who got into the professional game far too late, but there was a very brief period where he was a force to be reckoned with.

 

The Trevor Berbick version

 

Joyce had a very high workrate and a good chin and Ali was not exactly the most active Heavyweight in regards to workrate between 1976-1981. He often slept walk through fights and sat on the ropes for large periods not doing much.

The earliest version of Ali I could see a prime Joyce losing to is definitely the 1976 version of Ali who was awful vs Young. But anytime during that period I think Joyce could win even the version of Ali who fought Shavers and virtually did nothing for 9 or 10 rounds.

 

This whole “only version of Ali that would lose to Joyce is ‘80-‘81” is non-sense.

 

Yeah it is TBH I think you could even go back a bit earlier and even say the 1975 version of Ali could lose to Joyce remember the Ali who fought Lyle ? He basically slept walk through the fight and gave away a majority of the rounds until Ali finally stepped it up in the 11th round. But that's pretty much the only notable thing Ali did in the entire fight.

I think people are forgetting how lackluster Ali looked in alot of his fights in the last few years of his career. There was times where he did absolutely nothing in fights for large periods.

 

Definitely the Ali who “fought” Holmes and Berbick. Likely the Ali who fought Spinks the first time. Possibly the Ali who fought Lyle, and only really won off getting lucky and hurting Lyle, then capitalizing on it.

 

Young made him look awful because Young has an annoying defensive style and Ali underestimated him. Ali didn't know how to take the aggressive initiative throughout a fight and the clash of styles was awkward.

It wasn't that Young was so vastly superior and Ali completely fell off. Obviously he wasn't as good as he looked earlier in the 70's and his speed had declined, but Young's style had a lot do with why he looked bad. Young made everyone look bad even when he lost. This isn't evidence Joyce could win because Joyce is literally the opposite of Young in both style and abilities.

 

A motivated and alert Ali. Anything past SuperDome Ali. No amount of motivation and alertness could have saved that Ali.

 

Yes some of it was a stylistic issue but Ali was also in terrible shape for the fight and weighed 230 pounds which was his highest recorded weight of his career outside of the Berbick fight.

A sloppy overweight 230 pound Ali is not beating Joyce at his peak.

Ali was not convincing in any of his notable fights during this period majority had him losing to Young, Norton 3. He slept walk vs Lyle for 10 rounds losing nigh on near enough every round until he scored a late TKO out of nowhere, Ali also went life and death with limited slugger Shavers in another fight Ali easily could've lost on points.

Joyce is likely to do better vs the Ali who no longer had his movement anymore who fought in spurts and doesn't have the power to stop him coming forward.

 

Ali didn't like to lead. But early 70s Ali who completely ignored Young's power as an old man would have ignored it as a young man would have eventually caught him or won a wide decision.

 

A sloppy overweight Ali still beat Earnie Shavers in a 15 round war. You're gonna have to convince me Joyce was better than a Prime Shavers.

Joyce can come forward all night and get slapped in the face by arguably the fastest and most accurate jab in history. Blocking with your face and coming forward is not a good recipe for winning a decision against any version of Ali who'd be landing twice as many clean shots as Joyce every round. Ali also still had his pull counter right hand, flurries, and a decent guard when he bothered to put it up. Joyce would have zero chance of winning by KO or stoppage.