Will there be a 160 pound man in the next 3 decades who could beat Ali head to head?

Why are we using a 230 pound 34 year woefully out of shape Ali as an analogue for him at anything closely near prime? It reminds me of the Leonard hater on this board uses the Leonard of the Norris fight as an analogue for the best of Sugar Ray.

 

By whom?

 

Joe Frazier had a skill set to match his body type and made the most out of it.

 

Why are we using Joe Frazier and Kenny Norton as analogues for 160 pound fighters? Thank you in advance.

 

There's an inevitable limit to what modern training and technique can achieve and it's more likely this 170 pound athlete becomes 200 pounds with no loss of speed or reflex time. The 140 pound athlete becomes the 170 pound one.

 

Water rises to its level or reversion to the mean.

 

Sure. Each generation is larger than the one that preceded it but there are limits.

 

Here's the youtube. He's owning Ellis. Notice the size difference. Jimmy was 189 pounds, not 160. And to those who say it was all reflexes with Ali go to the 1.20 mark and see the beautiful shoulder rolls. That was the fight when the great Harry Wiley, trainer of Sugar Ray Robinson, was in his corner because Angelo Dundee was in Jimmy's because he was contractually obligated to him.

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And to avoid charges of cherry picking here's the whole fight:

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