Are We Sure Ali Was Better Than Louis?

[Vadrigar.]

He's certainly greater if not better.

[The Iron Man]

Judging two great fighters will always come down to personal opinion in the end, no right or wrong answer. As fighters I prefer Louis but in terms of greatness Ali edges it for me (at the moment).

[SBleeder]

Ike Ibeabuchi was better than both of them combined.

[Suckmedry]

So we're willing to consider that Clay might not have been as good as 1930's Louis but cannot get our heads around him maybe not being as great as Lewis or a Klitschko?? Hmmm. Strange world.

I wonder if Mike Tyson would have been able to handle himself against Jack Broughton of the 1700's?? Surely Tyson could never put em together with such a devastating opponent as old Jack?? LOL

Broughton TKO 8

[SthPaw]

I have Louis 1 and Ali 2 but have no argument with anyone ranking them in the reverse.

I am likewise but in reverse. Ali at 1, Louis at 2. However if anyone was to tell me otherwise in terms of me needing to switch them up and have Louis at 1 I would have no argument at all.

A prime Louis vs a prime Ali would be a fight we would all be very interested in indeed.

[fight_professor]

H2H, I have Ali winning. As relates to impact, Louis crossed that color barrier in terms of public love, held the belt for so long and cut a political course later fighters benefited from.

Better fighter - Ali.
Greater fighter - up for debate.

[soul_survivor]

Ali, every day, all day, no other heavyweight fighter even comes close to Ali, in terms of skills, speed, athleticism, impact on the sport and society and resume.

Hell Ali missed almost 3 years of his prime and still ended up with one of the greatest careers in boxing history, who knows what would have happened is his prime hadn't been so tragically cut short. He may well have reigned undefeated till the mid 70s.

Joe Louis was great no doubt, he had exceptional power but a dodgy chin, plus when you watch him fight you see him robotic as hell and open for the right hand all day and night. Ali had one of the greatest right hands ever. Ali would jab, move, hit him with the right and repeat for 15 rounds, maybe even dropping Louis in the process. I just cam't see a comparison, especially head to head.

Louis gets ranked so high because he was the first black champion widely accepted by white America, and for that he will always be remembered but his resume is good but not great, his destruction at the hands of Schmelling quite disgraceful as Schmeling wouldn't even survive in the modern era.

I don't mean to be hard but H2H, Louis loses to a lot of heavies post 1930 but I'll probably continue to rate him at number 2 for his impact on the title and the length of his title reign but I can't see a prime Louis beating a prime Frazier or Foreman or Holmes or Tyson or Vitali, maybe not even Shavers or Wlad as their power would trouble Louis all night and he'd be too small. Lewis would beat Louis 3 out of 3 times and I think a prime Bowe beats him too.

I think Louis does have the beating of Marciano (primed) and Patterson, probably Norton and some of the "champions" of the 80s too. It's good that ranking fighters isn't all down to H2Hs, if i twas Louis may be at the bottom of the top 10 or maybe not even there.

[Japanese Boxing]

I've always said Joe Louis was a better fighter and boxer.

Ali, every day, all day, no other heavyweight fighter even comes close to Ali, in terms of skills, speed, athleticism, impact on the sport and society and resume.

Hell Ali missed almost 3 years of his prime and still ended up with one of the greatest careers in boxing history, who knows what would have happened is his prime hadn't been so tragically cut short. He may well have reigned undefeated till the mid 70s.

Joe Louis was great no doubt, he had exceptional power but a dodgy chin, plus when you watch him fight you see him robotic as hell and open for the right hand all day and night. Ali had one of the greatest right hands ever. Ali would jab, move, hit him with the right and repeat for 15 rounds, maybe even dropping Louis in the process. I just cam't see a comparison, especially head to head.

Louis gets ranked so high because he was the first black champion widely accepted by white America, and for that he will always be remembered but his resume is good but not great, his destruction at the hands of Schmelling quite disgraceful as Schmeling wouldn't even survive in the modern era.

I don't mean to be hard but H2H, Louis loses to a lot of heavies post 1930 but I'll probably continue to rate him at number 2 for his impact on the title and the length of his title reign but I can't see a prime Louis beating a prime Frazier or Foreman or Holmes or Tyson or Vitali, maybe not even Shavers or Wlad as their power would trouble Louis all night and he'd be too small. Lewis would beat Louis 3 out of 3 times and I think a prime Bowe beats him too.

I think Louis does have the beating of Marciano (primed) and Patterson, probably Norton and some of the "champions" of the 80s too. It's good that ranking fighters isn't all down to H2Hs, if i twas Louis may be at the bottom of the top 10 or maybe not even there.

Okay bro, stop right there. All you said is either opinion or just plain ****ing WRONG. Ali had almost no real left hook. His combinations were nowhere near as solid or fluid as Louis' nor was his footwork any better. Ali's foot speed was his saving grace more than his tactical movement. Amazing footwork, but technically it did have its faults. He did maximize his strengths better than Louis and therefore made his weaknesses seem much less than what they were. Joe Louis is a textbook on boxing. He is as close to perfection of boxing as we can get.

Resume is whatever. It's all opinion. Impact on the sport? Again, opinion. Joe Louis' impact as tremendous. The guys he beat, the streak, the respect he gained, all ridiculous feats. As for impact on society? We're talking two entirely different era's.

[Cyberspace]

I have Ali a little better. Both were great though.

[soul_survivor]

I've always said Joe Louis was a better fighter and boxer.



Okay bro, stop right there. All you said is either opinion or just plain ****ing WRONG. Ali had almost no real left hook. His combinations were nowhere near as solid or fluid as Louis' nor was his footwork any better. Ali's foot speed was his saving grace more than his tactical movement. Amazing footwork, but technically it did have its faults. He did maximize his strengths better than Louis and therefore made his weaknesses seem much less than what they were. Joe Louis is a textbook on boxing. He is as close to perfection of boxing as we can get.

Resume is whatever. It's all opinion. Impact on the sport? Again, opinion. Joe Louis' impact as tremendous. The guys he beat, the streak, the respect he gained, all ridiculous feats. As for impact on society? We're talking two entirely different era's.

what you're saying is opinion, mine is not. Ali's footwork was so good, that even in later life, when he was losing his prime, he was barely hit by top guys and managed to stay on his feet, whereas a prime Louis was stopped in a fight eh was supposed to win and was hurt against guys who were middle or super middleweights.

Ali's hand speed was clearly in a different league and had the fastest combinations I've seen except possibly a prime Patterson or Tyson, Louis was not faster in those terms, you know it, please stop arguing the opposite.

And in terms of impact of sport, of course Ali was bigger...do I really have to explain why? LOL

Just say your a Louis fan and have lost all objectivity.