Muhammad Ali vs Floyd Mayweather Jr, Who Is The Greater Fighter?

[Junito-Rulez]

Mayweather's best win is Corrales. His competition was: Baldomir, JMM, Castillo, DLH, Hatton, Judah, G.Hernandez, Manfredy.
Ali's best win is Foreman. Ali fought Norton, Frazier, Liston, Foreman, Patterson, Young, Earnie Chavers, Chuvalo, Bonavena.

And TS dares to say Floyd had the tougher competition.


Nuff said

[RightCross94]

Skillwise- Floyd

Intelligence, adjusting ability, versatility- You could say Floyd, but Ali adjusted and pulled off gameplans vs ATG's like Frazier, Foreman and Liston, so i might give it to Ali or call it even, but without a doubt intelligent fighters

Resume and accomplishments- Floyd has done great and hasnt cherrypicked as much as some of you would like to think, but Ali takes this comfortably

So, Ali is the greater fighter

[Verstyle]

I cant beleive you guys even respond to these joke accounts, bigmacfoster is just a big****ingidiot. Ali of the 60s and 70s was a better fighter period, better resume by far.

Shut the hell up.

[PAC-BOY]

Mayweather is by far the superior fighter,he just doesn't have a pair of balls.

One can only respect Muhammad Ali for fighting every legitimate contender in a great era of heavyweight boxing but we are talking about skills here and for that Mayweather is the greater fighter,he just doesn't want to prove it against the best.




No their not, Mayweather is far more skilled than Ali ever was.This really isn't up for debate.


Cassius Clay was a special heavyweight but not a special fighter,give his skills to any lightweight or welterweight and they are limited to journeyman status.

Muhammad Ali,the fat slob of the 1970's was a really tough guy and nothing else really.

hahahahahahahaha.... you are serious a patient!!!!

[sleazyfellow]

Shut the hell up.

Whatever, go eat some more of Macho Camachos Knockout sausage.

[Obama]

Floyd isn't Ali, yet. Floyd will have to fight until he's over the hill while continuing to win to accomplish that kind of greatness.

[them_apples]

And obviously we're talking about Ali in his prime (late 60's) because the Ali in the 70's obviously couldnt hold a candle to Money Mayweather.

Tough one for me, but i'd have to say Floyd is the greater fighter. His defense is better, punches are sharper, and reflexes are quicker. Not to mention he's been taking on tougher competition (without a single loss on his record).

Who do you guys think is the greater of these 2 legendary fighters?

Ali's resume crushes FMJ's

[Mr. President]

It's a shame how Floyd's boisterous personality gets under certain peoples skin so much that they flat out deny his skills. I'm an Ali fan and all, but i don't think even he would agree with the results of this poll.

[mickey malone]

This debate should be put on hold until Floyd has fought Mosley, Cotto, Pac & Valero.. Problem is Ali would of fought em all in the space of 18 months, where as Floyd can't be bothered.. That's why he's now calling himself 'Money'..

So thus far on the merit of 'Greatness', Ali takes it by a country mile.. But I have to admit to believing that Mayweather has the superior technical ability..

[BennyST]

It's a shame how Floyd's boisterous personality gets under certain peoples skin so much that they flat out deny his skills. I'm an Ali fan and all, but i don't think even he would agree with the results of this poll.

I'm quite certain that you'll find not one single person denies Mayweather's incredible boxing skill, but like Bigmac said, he doesn't fight the necessary big fights. He is as skilled, and fundamentally probably more so than Ali. But, you have to take into account that if you put the relative skills of Ali into a lightweight/WW/MW he would still be so much quicker than his opposition, still have that great jab and still be able to move brilliantly for fifteen rounds. He would have be like Jones Jr if he were in a lower division.

P4P skills are relative to the division. If a HW is way faster than his peers, then he would be way faster than all the lightweights, if he were put against lightweights.... in the P4P sense.

The big problem with these debates is one thing. The thread starter might disagree with Ali being better but, Ali proved his skills by beating many of the greatest HW's, period. He actually proved that he could handle any style he was one of the greatest ever fighters by fighting the greatest opposition in an incredible era and winning time and time again. Mayweather hasn't yet done that. His skill is purely mythical in comparison t Ali because he hasn't proven anything in comparison to the great opposition that Ali had.

If Mayweather had moved up to WW in the eighties and fought through that lot and won I would say he is among the greatest ever. Top ten, but he didn't and he hasn't even faced the best of this generation sadly. His skills are truly great. No one can deny that and no one here would deny that. You still have to look at it in perspective though. A fighters skill does not mean a thing unless they are tested against truly great opposition. Fighting fights that are always winnable, and being the favourite in every fight, against fighters that are suited to your style doesn't prove anything. Ali was often the underdog and was tested against styles that were meant to destroy him and he came out on top.

Also, if you think Ali didn't fight the supposed 'best' and that his opposition was also highly overrated, why don't you explain to us why Foreman and Frazier were so overrated? I, for one, would very much like to hear how?

I also think one thing most people overlook in these type of debates is that physical skill isn't the be all and end all of boxing. An important skill that is even more important is will, determination and the need to prove yourself the best by taking the greatest risks. This is especially where Ali beats Floyd and it is just as big a 'skill' as having a good counter punch is, but much more overlooked because it is intangible, as such things go.

Nonetheless, it is there and can be compared. Just look at Mayweather's last fight. Juan M. Marquez is quite possibly this era's greatest risk taker, willing to take truly impossible odds and do the impossible to show he is the best. Obviously it was much too great of a task to do at his age against a prime fighter of Mayweather's size and capabilities, but what he did goes a long way to proving something, and Mayweather still hasn't done that. He is also probably Mayweather's biggest name, along with Oscar and yet it still didn't go to proving much at all for him.

One thing I will say in Mayweather's favour though. I really don't think the skill level overall for this era is very high. If he was fighting in another era he would have proven much more already I think, but the simple fact remains that there are just not that many fighters today of great skill. In past eras there had often been many fighters in many divisions that had the skills of Mayweather, and fighters of all different styles with a much higher skill-set than what is found today. That is just my opinion though. Unfortunately he doesn't have many greats to choose to fight and show his true ability. No matter who he fought, realistically, he could never become much higher than 25-50 ATG, imo.

Edit: Just to clarify something as well: Floyd doesn't have a 'boisterous' personality. He is utterly fake and it shows. He is also not particularly smart or witty. The problem with doing the typical try-hard gangsta thing with all the attitude is that you have to do it well. Mayweather doesn't, and he also comes off as immature and very 'wannabee'. Since Ali, many fighters have gone for that trash talking thing but very few have had the brains and wit to pull it off, and Floyd certainly doesn't. If he had just stuck with the more laid back guy but done all the same promotion, I personally think he would be even bigger than he is now. His gangsta image just doesn't wash. He should have stuck with the next 'Golden Boy' in the form of 'Pretty Boy'.