Heckler
06-03-2006, 12:32 AM
The ali of 1971 that stepped between those ropes to fight Joe Frazier vs Prime Larry Holmes. Ali wasn't quite as fast as he was pre-layoff and was fighting flatfooted but after a few tuneup fights his timing, accuracy, and judgement of range returned, although he wasn't quite as sharp as he had been. It's possible that the 74' Ali was even better. He trained harder for the Foreman fight than anyother fight post layoff and he was very well prepared. He looked just as sharp as he did in 71' and had more experience after going through the learning curves of the Frazier and Norton fights. Use the 71' or 74' example of Ali when considering this fantasy fight.
Larry Holmes was a parallel of Ali in many ways. He was a mobile boxer with good footwork who would plant his feet momentarily and flick out the jab or a quick flurry from the periphery. In terms of durability him and Ali were pretty much on par, power i would give the edge to Holmes and in regard to speed i would give the edge to Ali. Holmes was the superior technician but this is offset by Ali being more dynamic and possibly the better ring general with greater ringsmarts.
This would be a truly horrible fight to watch. They would struggle with eachothers jab's and it would be a slow, arkward fight no doubt. Both men fought much better on the backfoot and i can envison Ali luring Holmes into the role of aggressor giving Ali a significant advantage. Im certain this would go 15 rounds and im rather unsure of who's hand would be raised at the end of the fight. If i had to choose i would give the nudge to Ali based on him being a little more slicker and adaptable in the ring. Both Would look like shit and it could go eitherway.... would be a paper thin desicion.
Larry Holmes was a parallel of Ali in many ways. He was a mobile boxer with good footwork who would plant his feet momentarily and flick out the jab or a quick flurry from the periphery. In terms of durability him and Ali were pretty much on par, power i would give the edge to Holmes and in regard to speed i would give the edge to Ali. Holmes was the superior technician but this is offset by Ali being more dynamic and possibly the better ring general with greater ringsmarts.
This would be a truly horrible fight to watch. They would struggle with eachothers jab's and it would be a slow, arkward fight no doubt. Both men fought much better on the backfoot and i can envison Ali luring Holmes into the role of aggressor giving Ali a significant advantage. Im certain this would go 15 rounds and im rather unsure of who's hand would be raised at the end of the fight. If i had to choose i would give the nudge to Ali based on him being a little more slicker and adaptable in the ring. Both Would look like shit and it could go eitherway.... would be a paper thin desicion.