Would Ali be too small for today's heavyweight division?

I'm repeating what Muhammad Ali himself said about his own height. What crime am I committing here? LOL.

Also, when comparing Ali to other legit 6'3" guys, he was shorter. Joe Bugner was 6'4"; watch his fight against Ali and tell me there was only 1" difference between the two.

We can argue over 1" all day long (not that it matters), but no sense in elevating a guy to a fictitious height.

But hey, if you want to say Ali was 6'3", that's fine with me.

And Foreman was the biggest, baddest, strongest guy to ever walk the face of the earth -- nobody was ever bigger, taller, stronger, or tougher than 'Big' Bad George Foreman!

Ok, fantasy still in good shape?

 

speed kills / especially with movement

 

what did corrie sanders straight left hand do to wlad ? now picture alis straight hand that he used in the 1st rd against foreman against wlad ??? come on man :deal

 

Ali was 6'0 and bugner 6'4 you right

 

thank you

 

Ali wouldn’t even be that small for today’s heavyweight division.

When you add actual ability, the modern guys are in trouble.

 

Would Tyson be too small today? He

 

Only stating the truth. He was the perfect specimen of a man, like he said.

 

Ali wasn't a southpaw and he wasn't a puncher. I don't envision him destroying Wlad like that. I think he'd do better against Vitaly than Sanders did, though.

 

As the poster said watch Ali's right hand in the 1st round of the Foreman fight. It certainly stopped George dead in his tracks. And we all know Foreman's chin was a country mile better than Vlad's.

Also that version of Ali couldn't hold a candle to the pre exile one.

 

I must have watched that round literally hunders of times. Ali is the one who got me interested in boxing and he might still be my favorite fighter.

He had good pop in that right and he would certainly get Wlad's respect if he landed that cleanly. But he didn't walk through opponents the way Sanders walked through Wlad. The closest would be the Liston rematch and the destruction of Williams. But hardly anyone takes the Liston KO at face value and Williams was way past his best at that time.

Even though Wlad doesn't have the best of chins and has little in the way of a real defence (he either keeps opponents at range or ties them up in close) I don't think Ali would do to him what he did to an over the hill Williams.

With that said, though, Ali really enjoyed facing straight backed fighters even when they had the longer reach. Terrell, Lewis and Bugner presented few problems for him. He also landed on Lyle just about every time he opened up and, as you said, could hardly miss Foreman with his lead right. Dunn was another straight backed opponent with little head movement that Ali hit at will.

But Ali wasn't an aggressive puncher, so I don't think he'd walk through Wlad like Sanders did. Wlad also seemed to have huge problems with the fact that Sanders was a southpaw, which Ali of course wasn't.

On the other hand, Ali's counter punching against taller opponents is underrated, perhaps his most underrated characteristic actually. Just watch the first Bugner fight. If Ali managed to get the timing right like that, Wlad would feel the effect of those punches after a couple of rounds and we might be looking at a late or even mid rounds KO. But I have a hard time seeing him bulldozing Wlad like Sanders did.

 

Ali would not have stopped Wlad early. It would have been a gradual beat down with Wlad unable to cope with Ali's speed. Wlad would have not won a round against the best Ali. After 7-9 rounds a combination culminating in a hard right hand puts Wlad down in sections. The ref or Wlads corner stop the bout soon after. Wlads a mess. Ali unmarked.

 

If a spent Folley or Mildenberger could win rounds...

 

The enlarged part in bold is the pertinent point here.

I don't think Ali would bulldoze Vlad either but the speed and timing of that right would certainly make Klitch think twice. I agree about the Liston debacle, but I firmly believe that punch stung him, again just because of the speed and timing of it.

 

Could Ali cope with Wald's speed and skills?

Clinching for Ali would not work as Wlad would lean on him.

While Wlad has a suspect chin vs. punchers did Ali ever hurt Norton in any of the three fights? I think not.

For this fight, Ali would have tp press the action. Not his forte as he preferred people to come to him having the advantages of height and reach in most of his fights.

Not an easy for for Ali at all.