Does Ali need Leon Spinks?

[BoxingFan2]

Ali's best three and a half years were taken from him. Second Liston fight, fix or no fix Liston didn't have a chance, so why bringing this fight. Frazier lost two against Ali clean, and in the one he won he took more punishment than Ali which in turn almost caused him death, being in hospital for two weeks after the fight and he never returned to that form ever agian IMO. Ali lost to Norton fighting with broken jaw. Watch the fight and see in how much pain Ali was, especially in last few rounds. And that was split desicion loss.
I can't say nothing about Ali - Young fight because I have never seen it, but Norton - Ali III the most Norton could get was a draw, fight was rightfully given to champion.

[brownpimp88]

Ali's best three and a half years were taken from him. Second Liston fight, fix or no fix Liston didn't have a chance, so why bringing this fight. Frazier lost two against Ali clean, and in the one he won he took more punishment than Ali which in turn almost caused him death, being in hospital for two weeks after the fight and he never returned to that form ever agian IMO. Ali lost to Norton fighting with broken jaw. Watch the fight and see in how much pain Ali was, especially in last few rounds. And that was split desicion loss.
I can't say nothing about Ali - Young fight because I have never seen it, but Norton - Ali III the most Norton could get was a draw, fight was rightfully given to champion.

Yeah that's why norton-ali 3 is the 4th most disputed title fight ever among the boxing historians. Stop protecting ali like a god, he's great but admit it if he gets a couple of gifts.

[SABBATH]

Yeah that's why norton-ali 3 is the 4th most disputed title fight ever among the boxing historians. Stop protecting ali like a god, he's great but admit it if he gets a couple of gifts.

The press had Ringside were split. 11 scored for Ali, 11 for Norton. Arthur Mercante and Harold Lederman who judged the fight were very experienced and respected and both scored the fight for Ali, which were the only votes that mattered.

[brownpimp88]

The press had Ringside were split. 11 scored for Ali, 11 for Norton. Arthur Mercante and Harold Lederman who judged the fight were very experienced and respected and both scored the fight for Ali, which were the only votes that mattered.

You have to admit that his record on paper doesnt truly reveal how the fights went down. I mean look at his fights with jimmy young and shavers, he didnt look too impressive. Could the boxing media allow a bum like jimmy young to have both ali and foreman on his wins list, no way!

[butterfly1964]

Ali and Louis are on top cuz they accomplished the most. Then I have larry holmes at #3 cuz hes better than johnson, dempsey and marciano and i think he accomplished more than all 3. My top 10 looks something like this.

ali
louis
holmes
marciano- cuz hes undefeated, thats the only reason i put him here
lewis
foreman
frazier
holyfield
tyson
liston

That list is a mixture of accomplishments and head to head matchups. Jack Johnson doesnt deserve to be in it. If rid**** bowe was a ranked fighter for 3 more years and beat solid opponents, he would have made it.

Ali is lucky cuz he fought in the golden era, personally i think larry holmes is better than him. His jab is better and hes physically stronger, the only reason people say ali would beat him is cuz he's more popular. Larry is a bad matchup for Ali and everyone knows it.

Holmes is definetely not physically stronger. Even in their fight in '80, Ali was able to push him off of his whenever he wanted.

[RockyMarcianofan00]

Holmes is definetely not physically stronger. Even in their fight in '80, Ali was able to push him off of his whenever he wanted.

I'd also make the argument (Prime to Prime) Ali was faster, and had better chin and stamina...

however on that note
Holmes IMO hit harder, and put more of a push into his jab....

[Southpaw Stinger]

I'd also make the argument (Prime to Prime) Ali was faster, and had better chin and stamina...

however on that note
Holmes IMO hit harder, and put more of a push into his jab....

Ali was stronger than Holmes, faster than Holmes, had the better chin and mid section and most importantly was more ring adaptable. Holmes hit a bit harder but still was not a KO puncher and I'd also say Holmes had the better jab although both guys could throw that left with great accuracy. I'd definatly favour Ali to win a decision.
Holmes would get tagged by Ali's right hand all night and Holmes might get drawn into the wrong sort of fight. I'd say Ali win 9 rounds to 6. An awkward bout but one that Ali would win comfortably.

[SABBATH]

You have to admit that his record on paper doesnt truly reveal how the fights went down. I mean look at his fights with jimmy young and shavers, he didnt look too impressive. Could the boxing media allow a bum like jimmy young to have both ali and foreman on his wins list, no way!

Ali came into the Young fight overweight, overconfident, undertrained and looked awful. I don't have an issue with anyone's opinion who thinks Young deserved the fight.

The problem I have with giving Young the title is that not only did he fight a mainly passive fight, on 6 different occasions he stuck his head through the ropes to avoid being punched, an illegal tactic that Young should have been deducted points or outright disqualified.

Sticking your head through the ropes to avoid an opponent's punches is in my view an act of surrender and no different to me than a fighter wilfully taking a knee and a mandatory 8 count, which would have been the approximate amount of breathing room Young was afforded each time the referee had to intervene between the fighters so Young could free himself from the ropes. It was an illegal tactic that was used for the sole purpose of avoiding engaging. Unfortunately it was a tactic not seen before in a heavyweight title fight and the referee didn't know how to deal with it. While the referee didn't penalize Young for his passive tactics, obviously the judges did.

If you think Ali getting the decision holds some controversy today, I can assure you that had the judges awarded the 17-4-2 Young the most prestigious title in sports while utilizing those tactics the controversy at the time would have been ten times worse.

[butterfly1964]

Ali was stronger than Holmes, faster than Holmes, had the better chin and mid section and most importantly was more ring adaptable. Holmes hit a bit harder but still was not a KO puncher and I'd also say Holmes had the better jab although both guys could throw that left with great accuracy. I'd definatly favour Ali to win a decision.
Holmes would get tagged by Ali's right hand all night and Holmes might get drawn into the wrong sort of fight. I'd say Ali win 9 rounds to 6. An awkward bout but one that Ali would win comfortably.

Plus IMO, Ali was a better puncher than Holmes. His right hand was harder, and the speed he got on his punches would be able to hurt a fighter more than Holmes punches did.

[K-DOGG]

Leon spinks was just 6-0-1, why did Ali had to fought him, is leon, the olympic gold medalists that so special, I find it unusual for a man who's legacy is secured and widely considered the greatest HW of all time, took on a guy starting as a pro, well, I mean larry holmes was ready for a title shot, and if ken norton gave larry his toughest fights, would Ali fared better vs holmes in 78' than he did in 1980. i think those 30 rounds with leon spinks plus his last fight with berbick also contributed to the sad state that Ali's health is in right now with parkinsons disease.

Spinks was meant to be a warm up for Norton IV, nothing more. The fact that the 1976 Olympic Team did so well helped him get the shot at the belt. That, and I imagine his handlers knew it would be better to get him the match before someone beat him....capitalize on that "Spirit of '76" fame before it faded and all.

Ali already had Parkinsons by this point. Ali-Holmes wouldn't have taken place IMO, because Norton would have beaten Ali in their fourth encounter.