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

Joe Louis was 181 for his pro debut. He weighed 26 pounds more less than 8 years later. I don't see how Ali was much different.

 

I have always said this, and along with George Foreman, we have never seen them in their respective primes.

 

The Ron Lyle fight is a good example of why Ali would likely beat everyone today. Past his prime against a capable brute and everything changes on one quick right. He just knew how to butter up those moments, look poor for a string of rounds, laze, frustrate and then lash out when the waters were calm. Wladimir could be giving Muhammad all kinds of trouble, for a time. While David Haye's telegraphed, strained one-twos invariably failed, Muhammad's sneaky straights would pierce Wladimir's defences and rattle him to his boots. Muhammad's intuition would take away his size.

 

He took drugs to control a medical condition ,he did not take PED's.

 

No, he would not be too small today. However Ali's best weight was around 212-215 pounds. Ali in almost all fights had a size advantage at this weight. Ali at 220+ pounds became a little too heavy, and his performance suffered a bit.

I think its fair to say he's struggle a at times, particularly vs. much bigger men who had a jab. The division is in transition. The 2016 super heavyweight Olympic class is loaded.

 

True, but when you consider that Steve cunningham who is in his late 30's and nowhere near the fighter Ali was and yet gave some pretty good fights to some of the top heavy's ( arguably robbed against Glaskov ), one can't help but think a young Ali could have done quite a bit better.

 

Well two of the higher ranked fighters of this era were Haye and Adamek,both former LHW and CW, so to think a proper heavyweight like Ali would struggle or lose to these bums is laughable.

Wlad would be a test. That's it, the rest are a joke.

 

Alexander Povetkin is hands down the second best heavyweight in the division right now. Ask yourself, could a 25 year old Ali outbox a 35 year old Povetkin to a comfortable decision? If your answer is "yes", then the answer to the thread is "no".

 

PED's were not as easily available to athletes back then and most of the athletes who DID use them weren't boxers. They were primarily employed by body builders, powerlifters and people of the sort. The time frame you listed was close to 4 years during which point Ali was between 18-22 years of age - a time when a young man does quite a bit of maturing let alone a professional athlete who is training at the world class level. I went from 135 to 155 between those very same years and while I was lifting weights, eating generously and doing a fair amount of manual labor, I was hardly a world class athlete or a man with Ali's frame.

 

Magoo,

I'd pick Povetkin at age 35 to beat Ali at age 35. This was about the time when Ali lost to Leon Spinks. Just saying.

A better question is how would Ali do from 2000-2015 in the division.

Fighters that were active in this time line include Lewis, Wlad, Vitali, Byrd, Peters, Tua, Sanders, Ruiz, R. Jones, J Toney, Valuev, Chagaev, Ibragimov, Chambers, Gomez, Haye, Adamek, Pulev, Fury, Wilder, etc...

What we have here are no less then 5 sure-fire hall of fame fighters in the division. Ali did not duck anyone. If he fought the above fighters, he's losing at least two times, possibly as many as 5 if he doesn't keep in shape, which for him was at times an issue.

 

Irrelevant. The question is " would Ali be too small for today's heavyweights," and "today" Alexander Povetkin is 35 and the second best fighter at heavyweight. Taking the worst version of Ali and putting him in any era is bolstering a weak argument.

Irrelevant. And for the same reason as above. The time frame stretching from 2000-2010 isn't today's "heavyweight" division.

You just listed 18 fighters and might have saved yourself some time by omitting about 15 of them. Lewis, Wlad and Vitali are the only ones out of that group who I'd view as being an honest threat to Muhammad Ali and two of them aren't even among today's heavyweights, while the third is now 39 years old.

Wlad, Vitali and Lewis are the sure fire ones I'd list.. Byrd is a possibility but not a given. I wouldn't bet on anyone else getting in there unless their name comes up on a year where candidates are painfully sp****.

I disagree.. And your parameters still aren't covering today's heavyweights.

 

The last paragraph I think is right on. Guys have just gotten too big for much lateral movement or bob and weave torso movement, so height has become far more important than it was decades ago.

I honestly think Ali would have a better chance keeping his weight down. If he puts on a whole bunch of muscle, it might take more away from his style by slowing him down than it will add in power.

 

I disagree with this statement. Fighters are simply bigger and taller now, and height has nothing at all to do with body building. The taller you are, the more good weight you can add to your frame without becoming fat.

The last sub 205 fighter ranked as lineal champion or #1 contender was likely Mike Spinks. 30 years have passed.

 

Muhammad ali was 18 in the summer of 1960. A kid pretty literally. He you know, grew.

I mentioned Joe Louis earlier. Well he was also a light heavyweight as a teenager. Guess what he was a solid 200 pounds not much later. Sugar Ray Robinson was a bantamweight in 1938. Fours years later he was 147 pounds or nearly the same weight gain as Ali on a much smaller frame.

I guess Willie Pastrano must have been a terrible juicer. Turned pro at 125; 4 years later he was 180.

Look Ali might have used PEDs. But the an 18 year old boy grew, therefore drugs is silly. Some guys are as big as they are going to be as a teenager. Others are not.

 

Literally speaking today Ali is in his 70's. I took the question as if he went pro at the turn of the century as today.

You just can't drop someone at his best vs another guy who's 35 or 40.

Post Manilla, Ali not becoming champion today ( 2015 ). In fact he could be victim to the lesser predators of the divisions.

Would Ali be too small? No, but it would be a handicap for him in some fights. In the 60's and 70's Ali almost always had an edge in height, weight and reach vs other fighters who ranked in the top ten.