Prime Muhammad Ali-Invincible?

[RedRum]

Ali was a great showman, a great fighter, BUT he wasn't the best heavyweight.

[angelo_dundee]

So who is?

*sheesh*

[Brassangel]

Frazier would have been a great opponent for Ali, no matter when they would have locked up. If you go back to 1967, his vision would have been healthier, making it much more difficult for Ali to tag him. It would have been a fast moving, action-packed fight for 15 rounds. Like a Rocky movie, only with good defensive tactics. Likewise, I think that Norton would have given Ali trouble at any time, given the poor style matchup. Chances are, Ali would have won 2 (cleanly) instead of having the refs gift him two matches.

Make no mistakes. When Tyson was 20, and Ali/Clay was 20, Tyson would have demolished him. That was why he had more potential than any heavyweight in history; he peaked at such a young age and could have reigned for 10 years. When Tyson turned 23, however, when he still should have been in his prime, he started to look bored and unprepared. While Ali, on the other hand, at 23, had some of his best moments and was as fluid as any fighter in history. At this age and every age after, Ali wins. It's a shame that both suffered layoffs, and had to encounter at least some form of BS involving Don King. What makes Ali better was the fact that he made something great for himself when he returned.

There was always a chance of a bad style matchup for Ali, physical prime or not. Since his physical prime lasted for such a short span we never got to witness such a case. All of these factors make it very difficult to truthfully gauge how great his prime coulda, woulda, shoulda been.

[Heckler]

Above, you are correct. Norton and Frazier would always trouble Ali to an extent, difference is in his prime he had the physical gifts that allowed him to get away with fundemental flaws.

[QueensburyRules]

=========i believe no fighter could take out the cleveland williams Ali 3/5 times.==========

** Cleveland Williams was KOed by lots of fighters. Moreover Williams was very damaged goods when Ali fought him. I'm sure you believe in pie in the sky too.

Ali was as close to invincible as any fighter ever. I'd say a peak Tyson exceeds him though, and a peak Dempsey comes close.

- -At his best with his physical attributes, yeah, but plenty of times even when winning he was terribly off.

R.I.P.

[JAB5239]

- -At his best with his physical attributes, yeah, but plenty of times even when winning he was terribly off.

R.I.P.

I find the old threads you e been bumping lately interesting. But why on Earth are you talking to your old account?

[BKM-]

This section used to have so many knowledgable posters. Despite their bias, together it was such a wealth of information. And there was I, as a 16yo teen arguing with them

I find the old threads you e been bumping lately interesting. But why on Earth are you talking to your old account?

Is that who he was? I can see it, LondonRingrules did sound a lot like him('by buggery' and all that) but I will say, no offense to Queen, London was a lot less gimmicky and sounded more knowledgable, I was consistently impressed by him back then.

[QueensburyRules]

I find the old threads you e been bumping lately interesting. But why on Earth are you talking to your old account?

- -Maybe U ain't noticed thru U obtuse fog, but I've brought up other accounts also to demonstrate that discussion in early BS days.

[PRINCEKOOL]

I don't think any fighter is invincible entirely but? Certain fighters have the ability to grow stronger or improve from loses 'Muhammad Ali was probably one of those type of fighters. The odds are if you beat Ali over 12 rounds, he will most likely beat you in the rematch. Nobody really witnessed how far Ali could go at his peak, because MOST of his credit was gained during the second half of his career when 'He was not at his peak'.

Muhammad Ali always fought to the level of his competition or sometimes in my opinion? He just fought within himself most of the time, accept for when a opponent induced some fear within him 'Which very rarely happened, there where pretty much only three fighters who really fired him up in the 70's and those where? Ken Norton, Joe Frazier & George Foreman.

Note: Even Larry Holmes stated that Muhammad Ali could of trained even harder for George Foreman 'He mentioned this on the champions forever documentary'. Which highlights how good he was, because he demoralized and beat up George Foreman.

[JAB5239]

- -Maybe U ain't noticed thru U obtuse fog, but I've brought up other accounts also to demonstrate that discussion in early BS days.

always with the insults! 😆

That's fantastic, but why did you feel the need to talk to your own account and agree? Seems a bit desperate to me, or at the very least...weird. But to each his own.