Zora Folley beat some good fighters...

He beat Cooper and Bonavena once each and lost to them in turn.
If you think he had any chance of beating Ali in that fight ----atsch

 

I think Folley did prove to be the better man in his two fights with Henry Cooper. The first fight was close, the second fight was no contest at all. The first Bonavena-Folley fight happened when Folley was past his prime and Bonavena was green. I watched the second Bonavena-Folley fight recently, and Folley looked well washed up, unable to deal with Bonavena's spoiling tactics.

Good fighter, but not great.

 

How much film have you got to watch of him pre 1960? I know your a film buff greatA, so I am curious. I would classify Folley as a 'very good' fighter. Elegent left jab, slick upperbody movement, good right hand, top counterpunching abilities.

 

I don't really have much. I agree with classifying him as very good. He was shy of greatness because he didn't take the best punch and sometimes folded in fights. Skill-wise he is up there.

 

He was in-line to fight Sonny Liston again, on the 12/10/68
Joe Frazier vs. Oscar Bonavena II Championship Fight.

If he beat Liston, he would have gotten a shot a Joe Frazier in the spring of 69'.

He pulled out, too little money, too high a risk.
Bad move, as in 1969, though he won, he fell from the 'challengers list'.

 

Ali is so overrated when it comes to his skills of a fighter, people always see Ali some sort supreme god who no one is near in terms of skill and thinks he is in the league of his own becuz of his dominant performance over a 92 year old Liston, 92 year old Folley, Patterson who was past his prime, 100 year old Archie Moore and Cleveland Williams who was still freshed from the gunshot incident.

When he fought guys who are actually from his era, they all gave Ali a good fight such as George Chuvalo, Doug Jones, Karl Mildenberger and Bonavena.

 

I shouldn’t bite on a response to an 11 year old thread, but… Ernie Terrell, Jerry Quarry, Jimmy Ellis, George Foreman, Joe Bugner…. Not to mention all the not quite ready for prime time guys he beat by a wide margin: Buster Mathis, Mac Foster, Brian London, etc.

The number of highly rated fighters Ali & young Clay beat is astonishing. And look at the (former, future, lt. heavy, non-lineal organizational) champions he beat at a time when there was usually one champ per division.

You may not think much of Ali’s skills. He’s not the most conventional fighter in history. But you can’t argue with the results.

 

That's not the point of what I'm trying to say. I think people's view over Ali's skills is overrated becuz of his dominant performance over the guys I mentioned above. This is true and you can't argue about that, look how many highlight reels, yt shorts, documentaries, etc of people put clips of Ali knocking out Folley, Liston and especially Williams.

I'm not trying to say that Ali is not a great fighter, He is... I'm just saying that when he fought against equal oppositions, he did not dominate all those competitors just how he did to Folley, Liston, Williams, Patterson & Moore.

 

Zora Folley was a big hero in my state, a true professional, a good family man, and a credit to the sport.