Why is Ali showered with the term " The Greatest"

Ali NEVER danced completely against anyone for fifteen rounds, besides the fact that he couldn't dance for an entire 15 round fight. He sat down on his punches more post exile, but it's not as if he didn't sit down on his punches during his first title reign.

 

#1- Who would have been at the receiving end of these 'Cleveland Williams performances'? Williams, sorry to say, was his peak. You can argue he totally dominated Zora Folley, but I think true logic shows us that he was dipping. Besides, Williams was shot, remember? And besides, when taking on guys like Spencer, pre prime Ellis and Mathis and Martin, aged old Liston, its a given he would run through those men.

#2- No the exile didn't help him, but there is such a thing as being defined from a loss. A great fighter is someone who can lose, then adapt and recover and dominate the next go around. Ali had to lose, to become more of a solid fighter, thus a better one because of it. All I'm saying is, pre exile Ali, had a few things to work on, and had a few things to learn.

I mean, can you imagine the pre-exile Ali being able to take Foreman and Shavers punches, when before Liston he was downed by Cooper? I can't for one good reason: without Frazier and Norton's bruising battles, he wouldnt have learned to adapt and dig down deep. Mind you, without Angelo Dundee in Ali's corner in the first Liston fight, encouraging him and making him go out the next round after being blinded, its more than plausible Ali would have had a less experienced cornerman throw in the towel.

These things he had to learn, had to experience. Its his losses, not so much his wins, that defined and molded him into the fighter he is now known today.

 

Ali was a great fighter top 3 but Joe Louis to me is the greatest. I think Ali had a good style to beat most of the types of fighters but he had trouble with pressure and stamina...Ali was a master showman though

 

Indeed... ali used to call himself the greatest. :hop & the name stuck...

 

Pavlov's response ...

 

The younger Ali would've definitely won. I know that cases for Holmes can be made on a head to head basis,but look at two things. Ali's longevity,especially coming back after over three years exile,and his resume. That's part of the reason,imo,why he is The Greatest.

 

If a guy has wins over Sonny Liston (x2), George Foreman, Joe Frazier (x2), Earnie Shavers, Ken Norton (x2), Jerry Quarry (x2), Bob Foster et al. he's somewhere in the vicenity of being the greatest.

 

correct :good

 

Alis standing as the Greatest isnt just based on his in ring performances.
If one wants to argue he is the greatest heavyweight H2H one can justifiably do so, as with any sport there are others who could be placed along side him but few you could say confidently could beat him
If one wants to compare his resume with others again there are few if any that can be considered his equal
What more do you need from him to not understand why people consider him to be the greatest?
As a boxer he may very well be the best HW of all time, one of the very best lb4lb ever.

As a personality he is peerless in the sport.
He was a genuine WORLD CHAMPION. He was and still is loved and feted the world over. Fought in Africa, Asia, Europe, America taking the title to places never before contemplated.
I suspect every boxing fan has watched footage of him, and many non fans also. I know staunch football fans who breathe the sport who havent seen greats like George Weah or Socrates and Basketball fans who dont know who George Mikan is or Oscar Robertson
Ali was reissued a gold medal in the middle of the Olympic basketball final. A final that had the most talked about team in olympic history playing, and the man who most often is talked about as Alis biggest challenge as the GREATEST SPORTSMAN of all time, yet Ali became the focal point.

 

You're obviously very shortsighted and have no idea of what you're talking about. Ali a fraud? The man faced the toughest generation of fighters in heavyweight history, monsters like liston, frazier, and foreman and came out on top, most impressively against frazier. Frazier, someone that you almost needed a baseball bat to beat, pushed ali to the limit and ali survived and won (imo he won all 3 fights).

All others except foreman (the only other man to beat him) wilted under fraziers pressure. You could not be a fraud and beat frazier, foreman or liston, that is ridiculous.

 

I tend to think the 60's-70's heavies are way, way overrated. Frazier wasn't up to modern standards sizewise. He would have excelled in any era for a time, but his career would have always been short. Foreman must go down in history as the most protected prospect. He fought only 5 elite fighters during this first career (Frazier, Ali, Norton, Lyle, Young), lost to two of them and went life and death with a third. In the process, we discovered he had no stamina and he retired. He overcame a used up Frazier and a chinny Norton. Big deal. Ali was certainly not a fraud. However, much of his 70' reign was a fraud, questionable decisions, horrible opponents, a seemingly lax application of the rules to his rope grabbing, holding, clinching, neck-grabbing, grabbing and punching... the guy got away with any and every maneuvor due to his marketability. I find most of his 70's fights entirely boring. Still, in stating that Ali is over-rated, I still rank him #2 All Time Heavyweight given the length of his tenure and the accumulation of decent opponents. I simply refuse to deify him.