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What if Ali didn't get banned from boxing? Or, alternatively, what if Ali didn't get drafted at all? How would things have been different?
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Impossible to measure. He lost a lot of prime fighting years???? I don't know? -
I think he would have never lost to Frazier. Taking nothing away from Joe , I just think Ali would have been sharper and more elusive. The exile/ban definitely effected Ali negatively IMO.Originally posted by VG_Addict View PostComment
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Yeah, probably would've been at least mid '70s before taking a loss, maybe later. Would probably have about 3 career losses, all avenged, like if he hadn't fought Holmes and Berbick.Comment
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I think no one could have touched him. He would have been training consistently and never lost his leg speed. I mean, I get that some of it was him getting older, but it couldn't have been by that much. I feel like it really took him a long time to get a lot of it back, even after he started fighting again.
Foreman might have been a problem for him, if Ali hadn't taken the time to look at his power. After Ali saw what he did to Frazier, he came up with his rope a dope strategy. But what if we saw a fight where Ali had better legs still, maybe even better timing with it, and tried to stop Foreman from cutting off the ring on him. Foreman was an expert at cutting off the ring. It would have been fun to watch, to say the least!Comment
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That's a good point. Foreman's jab was devastating, and that's what he would have been using had Ali have had the legs to meet him in the centre of the ring. I doubt Foreman would have gassed himself had the fight not have gone to the ropes. Now that sounds a little paradoxical but It was the tension created by the anticipation of the knockout that sapped him more than any lack of conditioning.Originally posted by MMartialArtist View Post
The precursor to that was in Foreman's bout with Luis Pires in '71. After taking a serious poleaxing from Big George's jab in the first round and having a spirited fightback in the second Pires found himself with his back on the ropes for most of the third. Foreman abandoned his jab and went for the stoppage winging in swooping hooks.
He looked awful. Most of his shots hit arms or thin air. In the forth he looked like a lion that had forgotten how to finish off a buffalo. "Once a man goes to the ropes he's through" he stated later. He hadn't finished his man. Without coming in behind his jab he didn't seem to know how and over eager for the stopage he'd tired himself. He looked confused. The ref stopped the fight as Pires was on his stool preparing to go into the fifth.
It would have been interesting to see how long it would have gone on had the ref not have stopped it. If I remember rightly Ali was at ringside that night.
Apologies for the link, I can't embedded from my tablet: https://*************/watch?v=zUZhuRdp8p4Comment
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I think he would have had a great run. I'd pick him over 1967 Frazier and all the 'tournament contenders'......Ellis, Patterson, Martin, Quarry, Bonavena etc for the rest of the 60s.
Then he'd have cleaned up very much how he actually did after losing to Frazier in 1971. Mathis, Foster, Blin etc.
I think he would have eventually run into motivation issues though. If a comeback Ali had problems preparing for Ken Norton; then I think this is where his first loss would arrive. It was always a nasty style match up for Ali........to be honest Norton was a very nasty style matchup for anyone who didn't have the firepower to knock him out. Even in 77/78 he beat Young and was a very narrow loser to Holmes.
From that point on I think we'd see a similar mid 70s career. Though those extra three years of wear and tear might catch up with him around the Shavers fight!Comment
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I think if we do not include maybe motivation issues or anything like that, and just look at how fights and style match ups would turn out. Ali got exiled i think when he was 25, and came back at 28, obviously not as fast or sharp as he once was. Which caused him losses against Frazier and Norton. He would of definitely stayed champ till maybe late 70s, and prob beat Louis's record for longest reign. And maybe he could of beat Marciano record of 49 and 0 undefeated. he would of beat Frazier in 1971, cuz he would of been around 28-29 in his complete prime since he would not have exiled. Would of been a good fight still but Ali would of been a beast no one has ever witnessed before, Prob been hands down the greatest of all time boxer and not been a debate with SRR. He would of taken less punishment but by the time he would of fought foreman, he would of slowed down a bit, so he would of maybe still done the rope a dope. Norton is a factor that is iffy. The Ali of young or in prime would of beat Norton for sure. But norton has a awkward style, and Ali may have not taken him seriously the first fight, but Ali wouldof still edged out a win, and rematched him and would of beat him convincingly. He would of prob not know when to quit and eventually fought a young boxer to give him his first loss in the late 70s. I think he would of not lost to Spinks, but he may have fought a young Holmes, and may have gotten a close loss.Comment
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I can't envision Ali remaining undeafeted myself. With or without the exile he was always going to stick around too long. I'd also put forward the suggestion that his style was too unorthodox to be considered the greatest boxer of all time. But I guess that comes down to a definitial process.Originally posted by muslimer12 View PostComment
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He would have had a run in with a prime Frazier by 1970 if not sooner and as Foreman stated when asked if Ali vs Frazier in the 60's would have different out come hee said no ,he would have picked Frazier to win with relentless left hook that Cooper dropped him with . He also pointed out that Ali wasnt as durable in the 1960's so the odds would favor Frazier around 1968 . Stylistically Ali would have always struggled with Frazier and a prime Frazier would have been a handful ,just watch the Chuvalo or Mildenberger fights if you think Frazier wouldn't catch Ali . I do think 1974 Ali would defeat a 1960's Frazier .
Its quite possible Alis exile prolonged his career and gave him an undefeated 1960's era ,we will never know !Comment
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