Is Muhammad Ali over-rated?

you should have made this a poll.

What kind of stupid question is that? Ali is in no way, shape or form overrated. P4P I've never seen a boxer better than Ali. A 210lb man moving like a 135lb man. Imagine PBF moving like a junior flyweight, and that's how fast ali was. He made great fighters look ordinary. Look at the liston, williams, 2nd frazier, quarry, patterson, and foreman fights. They looked like 2nd tier fighters compared to Ali. Fastest hands ever by a hw. No one will ever be that big, fast, and skilled at the same time again. He also was freakishly strong. Watch the liston, bonavena, frazier, etc fights. They were very strong guys and ALi manhandled them in the clinches like they were nothing. Head and shoulders above the rest, and dominated the best era in boxing history. No other fighter comes close. i knew u were there somewhere :D

he had the speed, he had the skill,he had the heart,he was fearless,he had the chin, and most of all he had the intelligence...no he was not over-rated, and he would have killed tyson at any stage of tyson's career. u in the red for that comment :D

Butterfly you are 100% correct.Now get ready for the Tyson jock sniffers to come out!

What kind of stupid question is that? Ali is in no way, shape or form overrated. P4P I've never seen a boxer better than Ali. A 210lb man moving like a 135lb man. Imagine PBF moving like a junior flyweight, and that's how fast ali was. He made great fighters look ordinary. Look at the liston, williams, 2nd frazier, quarry, patterson, and foreman fights. They looked like 2nd tier fighters compared to Ali. Fastest hands ever by a hw. No one will ever be that big, fast, and skilled at the same time again. He also was freakishly strong. Watch the liston, bonavena, frazier, etc fights. They were very strong guys and ALi manhandled them in the clinches like they were nothing. Head and shoulders above the rest, and dominated the best era in boxing history. No other fighter comes close.

on the matter of ali being overrated, i have one question: have you seen another heavy to win the title three times? if the government didnt take away his belt the first time i honestly dont see anyone beating him until frazier in the 70's. but you can look at it from a different perspective as well. ali was there when the heavy weight title was the most valued belt (hw's peak years i think) producing the best fighters of the world. that late 60's through early eighties produced one of the finest hw's, unlike the current times (greatest contender is briggs) or tyson's time, maybe even rivaling louis' time of great hws. i didnt even want to mention tyson because his prime wouldn't have the skill to touch ali. tyson might have the audacity or those ferociously accurate right hooks but anyone that could hold off joe frazier two times out of three or outthwart a giant of a foreman, or contend with a prime norton who himself is outprimed doesn't need to be compared to mike.

RAY ROBINSON P4P GREATEST BOXER OF ALL TIME We're not talking P4P though. We're talking overall greatness which really only a heavyweight can be.

I think its a legit question. In the mainstream media, Ali is always talked about as the greatest boxer of all time. The General public doesnt know or even care much about boxing, but if you ask the average person who the greatest boxer of all time is, its almost a sure bet Ali will be hailed as the greatest. Its because thats all they know, its as if they're conditioned to think Ali was the greatest. Hell i'll bet people who have never even seen a full Ali fight from start to finish will even say he was the greatest, so ya maybe a little over-rated. RAY ROBINSON P4P GREATEST BOXER OF ALL TIME

No he was past his best because he neglected training as he used to, simple as that. Tyson beats Douglas nine times out of ten IMO and i've said before that i feel Tyson at his best is capable of beating any heavyweight in boxing history. On the original subject, anyone who even questions whether Ali is overrated or not doesn't have much of clue what they're talking about. It's a ridiculous question that doesn't even deserve an answer. Let Tyson try to get by Buster Douglas before we talk about whether or not he could beat Muhammed Ali. Oh wait, here it comes, but he didn't have Kevin Rooney in his corner!!!! He would have went his entire career undefeated if he'd kept Kevin Rooney!!!! He was past his prime because he fired Rooney!!!!

I guess I didnt really answer the question though. Is Ali over-rated? As a Person, No. As a fighter, maybe a little.

Without a doubt Ali contributed to the sport of boxing and many things outside of boxing more then any other fighter ever. Add on top his tremendous boxing skills and you can definitly make that argument. But if you look at it strickly on boxing skills and accomplishments in the ring then i'd have to go with Ray Robinson.

Mike Tyson Doesnt Stand A Chance Againts Ali Ali Is Not Overrated :) Nice post. Although we disagree with each other, we can respectfully treat each other, which is nice. I was asking a question and asking for your views on a particular matter, no need to insult me - you should know you only insult yourselves with that kind of behavior.

Mike Tyson Doesnt Stand A Chance Againts Ali Ali Is Not Overrated :)

the ali that fought sonny liston would beat any fighter that ever lived ali hit alot harder then everybody thinks. ali could fight with his hands up or down and if he didnt get parkinsons he couldve fought into his 40s just like holmes at one time he said he would be the greatest till he was 50. i just recently started apreciating ali, the more i learn about styles the more i belive he was the greatest, his hardest fight in his prime would be a prime larry holmes

This thread needs too be closed what a stupid question.. obviously you havent seen his fights... he'd be too quick for tyson

ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND??? Why would you even start a thread so fucking ignorant? Ali was one of the greatest fighters of all time. Have you ever watched a fight in your entire life? Fucking Jerkoff! And how does this make him not over-rated when he is considered the very best by many? You even prove my point without knowing it. My intention with this thread was not to take anything away from Ali or say Tyson was so much better than him. It's just that I feel no matter how good a fighter is you will always say Ali was way better.

Clearly, Ali's boxing skills were over-rated.... just like Peter McNeeley's skill-of-theft has been grossly uner-rated for years now :)

I've watched and read many of SRR fights. You can't have Ali number 1 P4P because as a heavyweight, it is EXTREMELY hard to be rated at the very top simply because on a law of averages, there are a higher number of greater fighters with greater skillsets at the lower weights. I don't think you know what P4P means. SRR fought great competition in more then 1 weightclass building up that ranking. I never discredited Ali's greatness but you can't sit here and honestly say he was the best P4P. You would be dishonoring great fighters by doing so. Monzon, Duran, Armstrong, Gebb, Pep, Sanchez, there are great many more I would rate above Ali on the P4P list. And Ali at number 1 for heavyweight fighters is not even an immortal lock. Many people will rate Joe Louis higher then Ali. Personally I think Ali possed more skills and was so much smoother add to that a great lecgacy of top fights I would give him the nod over Louis. It just makes me angry when people say things without even thinking of what they said. :soapbox: When did I ever say Ali was the number 1 p4p fighter of all time? I didnt, and wouldnt. Hes not. Read my posts before you go on annoying, lecturing tirade's please.

If Buster Douglas can beat the shit out of an out of shape and unmotivated prime Tyson, then considering how much better Ali was in all aspects compared to Buster accept maybe power, Ali would destroy Tyson on his best night.

ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND??? Why would you even start a thread so fucking ignorant? Ali was one of the greatest fighters of all time. Have you ever watched a fight in your entire life? Fucking Jerkoff!