If johnson had not been killed in that car crash and lived out his day s to a ripe old age, what does he make of the marciano and early ali years iyo? Does he support ali or perhaps say ali would never have beaten him, even with his hands tied behind his back!? What does he think of marciano, crude and beatable or the greatest heavy he ever saw?. Try and put yourself in jacks mind and what u would think of Ali and rock.
I think he probably would have thought he could have taken care of Rocky no problem, probably thinking he was too crude. Ali, he may have identified with as a character, and with his movement in the ring, he may simply have dismissed him as a runner and easily beaten!
Johnson was critical of some fighters and praised others,he was ambivalent about Louis , negative on one hand ,positive on the other. Johnson boosted his sparring partner but was not a big fan of Harry Wills. He liked Dempsey's aggression and ferocity but called him basically a 4 round fighter,saying if you could weather the early storm it subsided. I don't think he would have thought too much of Marciano from a technical aspect , but would probably have recognized his drive ,self belief and champions mindset,and he would certainly have acknowledged his,courage, power ,and stamina. Johnson once said he won all of his fight's by going backwards that," defence always beats offence ,if its good enough." He would have seen the technical flaws in Ali, but appreciated that none could exploit them because of his speed.I have a hunch he would have liked him ,but with a champions ego believed he would have taken him.
For Marciano, I think Johnson would have been mostly critical of him, mixed with some complimentary things to say. He would look at Marciano's reign as sign of deteriorating skill in the sport. I think him and Ali would have found a mutually beneficial partnership, and they would be together often. Johnson would see Ali as a throwback to him Ali would see Johnson as a pioneer and a role model as a boxer.
Great answer s fellas. I would love to have seen johnson and ali together. The old master with the young Prince. How they would have interacted with each other. What johnson would have made of liston as well. I think he would probably have had a respect for sonny and seen a lot of himself in him.
Can believe he would have thought that of beating ali. He and ali were alike in so many ways but Jack would have gone in to detail how he would defeat him. Seeing him dropped by Cooper and banks and taken all the way by doug Jones, he would have remarked on his flaws. Johnson could possibly have returned to the public gaze by using Ali's name. This would have resulted in ali in a playful war of word s between the two. The egos clash!
In Marciano he would have seen the general type fighter he liked to fight. A brawler who he could coolly control and gradually beat down. With Ali he would exclaim why does he need to run about the ring wasting energy like he does? Although at the same time he would see allot of himself in Ali with their bombastic personalities.
Marciano would have reminded Jack of a smaller Jim Jeffries and,of course,claimed that he would have beaten him as easy,if not easier,then he did The Boilermaker. Johnson and Ali would have become quite a double act. Both admiring the other but a little cross-generational rivalry just under the surface. I agree with McVey's point re Jack pointing out Ali's flaws but seeing nobody on the current scene of the times being able to exploit them because of Muhammad's talent. I visualise Jack joining the Ali camp in preparation for the first Liston fight and advising the contender. Their friendship would grow at pace had Jack still being around at the time of Ali's exile. He would have seen a lot of himself in the younger man. In interviews Johnson would claim that he would have beaten all of the heavyweight champions who succeeded him but saying that Ali would have given him the toughest fight out of them all.
I think he would of admired the rocks power; stamina and vicious will to win at all cost whilst saying he could of beaten him using his skills.With Ali iam not so sure that they would of got on ?.I dont think Johnson would of thought much to Alis cocky attitude and would want to put him in his place.
I guarantee that he would have been scathing about Marciano. He didn’t rate offensive fighters generally, and this was especially true of swarmer’s, whose style he saw as wasteful and inelegant. As for Ali, it could have gone one of two ways. He would probably have admired his conduct outside the ring, and his perhaps performance inside it, but he would have been critical of his technical flaws. I think that Johnson honestly believed that his style was the perfection of the boxing art, and that it was what all other champions should be measured against!
Depends on how stupid people were in Johnson`s day, I think him and Ali would have words about him sleeping with white women though.
Jack Johnson was known as the "Galveston Giant", but in reality he was only 6'-1/2", with a 74" reach and weighed in the 195lb-208lb, range in his prime. Jersey Joe Walcott had the same height & reach, and was only 8 lbs smaller worst case. Johnson may have given the Rock more respect possibly.
Not sure post-Liston Ali's black Muslim associates would have approved of Johnson hanging around with Ali. It would have interesting to, to find out Jack's view on them too.
