Would a Prime Ali have beaten a prime Larry Holmes

Ali was a far greater fighter than Frazier. The main reason Ali lost to Joe is 71 was conditioning. He had not the time to get into the level of shape required to fight for 15 tough rounds. By mid fight Ali was exhausted (and so was Frazier). An Ali fighting regularly who did not have four years of inactivity would have won enough rounds to take the fight.

 

I remember Yank Durham telling a sports journalist, when asked about meeting Ali in 1967, his reply was, Joe Is Too Green For The Likes Of Clay, this I believe was after Ali's unanimous win over Ernie Terrell, on Feb 6 1967, but with a year or so of more experience, a better fight.