muhammad ali's staggering resume

**TyrantT316** · 10-22-2007, 09:57 PM

Can't ever say the guy ducked anyone in his eras

**AntonTheMeh** · 10-22-2007, 09:57 PM

Originally posted by Thread Stealer

was doing some boxrecing and looking at how the guys he fought were ranked at the time. yes we all know the ring mag is flawed but what system isn't?

1962: ancient archie moore was ranked at #9 and ali beat him.

1963: doug jones was a top 3 ranked hw contender, and ali beat him clearly(judging-impaired revisionists claim otherwise). henry cooper was also a top 10 ranked contender, and ali came from the deck to beat him.

1964: ali beats the heavyweight champion of the world in sonny liston.

1965: ali wins a rematch against liston, and beats #2 ranked contender floyd patterson.

1966: beats 3rd ranked contender george chuvalo, #4 ranked contender karl mildenberger, shot cleveland williams, and wins a rematch with henry cooper.

1967: beats #1 ranked contender and wba titllst ernie terrell, and #2 contender zora folley (with no accusations of illegal blinding substances, unlike liston).

1970: after a 3 year layoff, beats two top 5 ranked contenders in jerry quarry and oscar bonavena.

1971: loses to joe frazier, then beats top 10 contender jimmy ellis. also beats jurgen blin and buster mathis sr.

1972: beats top 5 contender mac foster, uses top 3 contender jerry quarry as a punch bag in a rematch, top 10 contender floyd patterson, and also beats lhw champ bob foster, as well as alvin lewis and george chuvalo.

1973: splits a pair of fights with top 10 contender ken norton, beats top 10 contender joe bugner.

1974: wins the rematch with former champ/current top contender joe frazier, and regains the title against joe frazier's daddy, george foreman.

1975: beats top 10 contender chuck wepner (and indirectly plays a large part in a legendary 6-film boxing series), top 3 contender and scary ex-con ron lyle, beats joe bugner again (who is ranked as a top 5 contender), and wins the rubber match with frazier.

1976: ali takes a couple of easy touches in richard dunn and jean coopman. he also wins controversial decisions over #2 ranked contender jimmy young and #1 contender ken norton.

the rest of his career is obviously not nearly as impressive, but still faced guys like larry holmes, trevor berbick, and earnie shavers.

wow, what a resume.

ali would have broken joe louis's title defense record had his prime not been taking by the man.

**SkillspayBills** · 10-22-2007, 10:08 PM

Just imagine if he had not gone to jail, there would be no dispute about him being the greatest.

**Sin City** · 10-22-2007, 10:14 PM

reason I dislike Ali is because he cheated during one of his early fights he was losing and his corner cut the laces on his gloves to by him time, that and the way he treated Fraizer and some of his other opponents. Fraziers kids even felt the impact of the **** talk being rediculed @ school.. but other then that he was awesome.

**Thread Stealer** · 10-22-2007, 10:19 PM

Originally posted by skilspaydabills

Just imagine if he had not gone to jail, there would be no dispute about him being the greatest.

2 be technical, ali did not go to jail for the draft thing. he went there on a driving violation but did not actually serve time for the draft.

even if ali had not been banned, i still do not know if he'd be the greatest fighter ever.

it's hard 2 compare him with guys of the past like greb, robinson and armstrong and others.

as it is, i think ali is the greatest hw ever followed by the brown bomber.

**Steak** · 10-22-2007, 10:32 PM

Originally posted by ANTONIM

ali would have broken joe louis's title defense record had his prime not been taking by the man.

I dont like it when people say that kind of stuff. theres no doubt in my mind that Ali had the best record, but that period of inactivity may have helped his career in reality.

Ali, contrary to popular belief, got hit plenty of times. if he had continued through those 3 years, whos to say that his career would have gone on as long as it did? he would have taken punishment those years, and the years he spent in the layoff let him rest his body.

also something to think about is Joe Frazier. if Ali was champion during the day, Frazier probebly would never have gotten established, and might have just been another fighter. especially if he got his title shot early and lost, Frazier would have just been considered a contender that got knocked out by Foreman. and if Frazier still beat him, it would have hurt Ali's record a little more, because Frazier was a slight favorite in their 1st fight, so it was somewhat predicted. if Ali was champion the whole time, Frazier would have been an underdog.

also, the Ali before the layoff was not necessarily 'better'. he didnt hit as hard and was not as solid around the midsection, body punishment probebly would have affected him more. he wasnt better before the layoff, wasnt better after the layoff. just a different fighter.

one more thing, if Ali was champion the whole time, he wouldnt have been an underdog in the Foreman fight. being an underdog in fights and winning dramatically does amazing things for a fighters' record.

**shawn_** · 10-22-2007, 10:33 PM

Ali cleaned out the heavyweight devision 3 times in his career.

Not only that, he defended his title on average every 3 months. He fought EVERYONE, in the golden age of the Heavyweight division, the guy fought EVERYONE and beat EVERYONE.

Without a doubt p4p the best resume in boxing history.

**shawn_** · 10-22-2007, 10:48 PM

Originally posted by blackirish137

I dont like it when people say that kind of stuff. theres no doubt in my mind that Ali had the best record, but that period of inactivity may have helped his career in reality.

Ali, contrary to popular belief, got hit plenty of times. if he had continued through those 3 years, whos to say that his career would have gone on as long as it did? he would have taken punishment those years, and the years he spent in the layoff let him rest his body.

also something to think about is Joe Frazier. if Ali was champion during the day, Frazier probebly would never have gotten established, and might have just been another fighter. especially if he got his title shot early and lost, Frazier would have just been considered a contender that got knocked out by Foreman. and if Frazier still beat him, it would have hurt Ali's record a little more, because Frazier was a slight favorite in their 1st fight, so it was somewhat predicted. if Ali was champion the whole time, Frazier would have been an underdog.

also, the Ali before the layoff was not necessarily 'better'. he didnt hit as hard and was not as solid around the midsection, body punishment probebly would have affected him more. he wasnt better before the layoff, wasnt better after the layoff. just a different fighter.

one more thing, if Ali was champion the whole time, he wouldnt have been an underdog in the Foreman fight. being an underdog in fights and winning dramatically does amazing things for a fighters' record.

If you think the prime Ali couldn't take punshiment, you are sorely mistaken. The rope-a-dope made its first appearance in Ali v Chuvalo I, not vs George Foreman.

Ali was better before the lay-off, he just showed how truly incredible he was after the lay-off.

Ali was JUST coming into his prime when he got banned from boxing. He was just maturing physically, and he was robbed of his true prime years, which is devastating to a slickster.

He just kept getting better and better... then he was banned.

**Jim Jeffries** · 10-22-2007, 10:50 PM

Originally posted by blackirish137

I dont like it when people say that kind of stuff. theres no doubt in my mind that Ali had the best record, but that period of inactivity may have helped his career in reality.

Ali, contrary to popular belief, got hit plenty of times. if he had continued through those 3 years, whos to say that his career would have gone on as long as it did? he would have taken punishment those years, and the years he spent in the layoff let him rest his body.

also something to think about is Joe Frazier. if Ali was champion during the day, Frazier probebly would never have gotten established, and might have just been another fighter. especially if he got his title shot early and lost, Frazier would have just been considered a contender that got knocked out by Foreman. and if Frazier still beat him, it would have hurt Ali's record a little more, because Frazier was a slight favorite in their 1st fight, so it was somewhat predicted. if Ali was champion the whole time, Frazier would have been an underdog.

also, the Ali before the layoff was not necessarily 'better'. he didnt hit as hard and was not as solid around the midsection, body punishment probebly would have affected him more. he wasnt better before the layoff, wasnt better after the layoff. just a different fighter.

one more thing, if Ali was champion the whole time, he wouldnt have been an underdog in the Foreman fight. being an underdog in fights and winning dramatically does amazing things for a fighters' record.

Ali got hit a lot AFTER THE THREE YEAR LAYOFF, when he seemed to have lost a step or two. Look at Ali fighting liston in the first fight, he was almost unhittable.

muhammad ali's staggering resume