Why is Ali showered with the term " The Greatest"

Frazier at that point was still better than95% of the division and norton at least 85%. Do you think that foreman was a big deal?

 

IMO, the 1960's and 1970's were among the best eras for HW's, only the 1990's comes behind them, every other era seemed to have its low points, including the current HW scene. Why do I come to this conclusion? Simple hypothetical H2H match ups. What HW today can you say is a sure fire favorite over the likes of Norton, Frazier, Ali, Foreman, Shavers, Young, Lyle, etc?

Hell, Foreman and Holmes managed to pull off major upsets in the 1990's and they were from that time frame, so it does make you wonder just how great the 1970's really was, when the 1990's was probably the best decade of the last three [80's, 90's, Current].

Of course, Holmes and Foreman are the exceptions, not necessarily the rule, but, on the other hand, Ali, Norton, Lyle, and other great HW's either fought too long and burnt out, while Foreman and Holmes had long periods of inactivity, so its hard to tell what their career aspects would have been had they made come backs, rather than fought into the early 1980's.

 

Frazier is better than 100% of the division, and Norton is better than 90%.

 

Ali beat a dominant champion in Sonny Liston in '64 and a whole decade later he beat another dominant champion in George Foreman in '74 .. Nobody in the heavyweight division has ever done that, nobody in the heavyweight division has got the resume that Ali has got, he fought everybody .. Plus he too on the US government on Vietnam and he was a main inspiration in the civil rights movement ....

I like Larry Holmes also but his career and life dont stack up to Ali .. He is rightly called the Greatest, even he says Robinson was better than him, but as a life, Robinson doesnt compare .. Ali opened up avenues for black people that werent there before, before Ali, most Baseball and Basketball teams were full of white guys, after Ali they became mostly black .... Ali did that !!

Ali is going down as one of the most important human beings that has ever lived, thats a fact ..

 

I still don't buy it. I don't thing Frazier or Norton would have a winning record over today's top 5.

But such is nostalgia. Y'all enjoy spinning your tall yarns in the ol' folks home bout those 206 lb heavyweight who could whip 'em all! It will save your chidrens so much effort trying to give ya comfort in yer elder years.

 

Yes because Valuev and Chageuv would be whooping all the 205-220 Frazier's to Norton's. Seriously, Chageuv offense is just a 1-2. That's all he has got. A 46 year old product of the 90's that Holmes gave a tough fight to when he was in his 40's when this man was young gave the 300+ pound title holder Valuev a much disputed decision (That he really won). Face it, the current heavies are a complete joke. I don't get how people really can defend them.

 

You might have a point about the Klitschko brothers but have you checked out the other fighters who are rated top 5?

Alexander Povetkin
Eddie Chambers
Ruslan Chagaev
Nikolai Valuev

Can't see any of them beating Frazier or Norton, personally. It's not like they're big guys either, aside from Valuev who is too big.

 

Seamus, I do see your point, but ask yourself. Who in the past 25 years as a heavyweight illustrated more head movement, more endurance, and more punch output overall (not just one fight)?

I can't think of one heavyweight that even comes close to the output of Frazier's style besides Mike Tyson, who used nowhere near as much head movement as Frazier.

Your support of the Klitschkos I often find confusing because seeing what featherdusting Chris Byrd did to one brother and almost did to the other with respect to what Frazier would do to both of them is laughable. Where Chris Byrd, Samuel Peter, Chagaev picked off their jabs, Frazier would make them miss and look silly with his head movement. Now, I'll give both Klitschko Brothers the athlete's respect that they have and they might even hurt Joe early. I highly doubt that either Klitschko survives 12 rounds with a prime Frazier, probably both quitting before round ten due to the body attack they'd absorb.

Ali is considered the greatest because he fought a lot of tough men, some of the biggest names and punchers in the sport. I don't necessarily agree with all of the victories on his record. Norton beat him ALL THREE TIMES, Jimmy Young beat him, he lucked out against Ron Lyle, and even though a lot will quickly disagree with me, the second fight with Frazier was a close, yet arguably controversial win for Ali.

I feel sorry for the Klitschko's primarily because they will always be scrutinized for their lack of competition. There's no way in the history of heavyweight boxing do the resumes of both Klitschkos combined compare with Ali.