Zaire Ali

i think he was prett beatable h ejust faced a perfect foil in foreman.

in reality Ali's seemingly old frailler body was prolly a reason george swung him self out...im not pulling out the belif that ali was getting beaten up for th ewhole fight. it was clear george had one plan only and it didnt include the scorecards.
tho it was clear he did have the stunning handspeed and still some of that movement.

 

Ken Norton. But he lose a split-decision.

 

Very few HWTs in history would beat Ali on this night & anyone that did would have to be at their peak.

 

Ditto what Bill said. A lot of people are obsessed with the idea that Ali only had the rope-a-dope left at this point, despite the fact that he took care of Frazier by dancing around the ring earlier in that same year. Ali just chose to employ the rope-a-dope rather than try another tactic, (most likely because of the heat and humidity in the ring) and he only did that after attacking Foreman pretty hard in the first round.

He was still on form, fighting with a good mix of physical ability and ring craftiness. Whoever was going to beat him that night would have to be on their game.

 

Foreman made 2 mistakes...allowing the fight to happen in Zaire when he could have chosen Houston, and going all-out with no thought of pacing himself.

The only heavies that might have beaten Ali in Zaire are those that can't get intimidated under any circumstances.....Marciano, Louis, Dempsey, Tyson at his best, & Larry Holmes.

 

Peak Holmes would be a tough match for that version of Ali, very tough.

 

Any version of Ali from 1965 to 1975, bar the "retirement" years, beats a prime Marciano IMHO.

 

I think people get too hung up on his rope-a-dope tactics in this particular fight. Those tactics were due to the special conditions that night, but this was essentially the same Ali as in the rematches with Norton and Frazier. A year later he would beat a version of Frazier who in my opinion only was very marginally removed from his absolutely best.

 

Not many, this was a good version of Ali, with near the best ring smarts, well trained because he was facing Foreman, still the blistering hand speed. ALi went downhill after this fight however

I'd say no pre-Ali fighter beats this version, Marciano would be too slow and open, Louis too predictable although may have had the best shot, Johnson not quite as good, Dempsey too open to counters......

 

Holmes is a tough match for any version of Ali, I'ms ure you'll agree mate. Peak Peanut Head beat the Zaire one- quite convincingly too.




Bit of trivia: 'Peanut Head' nickname invention of Earnie Shavers by the way.

 

Which elite heavies did Holmes have an easy time with though?

 

He had an easier time with Norton than Ali did.