Who was the best: Ali or Louis?

[TheGreatA]

LOL, you claiming Frazier beat Ali in their second fight is as ridiculous as if I were to claim Ali won the first fight.

Ali is all hype and overrated? He beat every single top contender and titlist of his era, every single one, which is something noone else in any weight class, ever can lay claim to. His resume is easily better than any top HW of all time, including Louis.

Louis lost to lesser fighters and was hurt by lesser fighters than Ali. And what the hell do you mean he never lost in his prime? He was surely in his prime when he lost to Schmeling by FIRST ROUND KO, or did you forget that one? Or are you gonna say his prime started after that?

Either way, Ali was banned from boxing for 3 and a half years, came back rusty, and managed, with deteriorating physical ability, to continue to clean out the HW division and beat all comers.

Ali outranks Louis based on superior opposition beat and head to head ability. He was never KO'd in one round like Louis was either, and never truly KO'd period.

You could say the same for Louis, because in his prime he didn't duck anyone
(atleast anyone I've ever heard of) but the boxers he beat were not as good the boxers Ali beat.

I would say both lost when they were world class but avenged those losses in rematches. They never lost at their absolute best but Louis was undefeated (a little green) when he lost to Schmeling (it wasn't a first round KO btw) and Ali was undefeated (a little rusty) when he lost to Frazier.

Remember Louis was also out of boxing for some years because of the world war so he lost some years too. When he returned he was never the same but didn't lose until 1950 to Ezzard Charles.

Just straightening some facts but I agree it's ****** to say Ali was just hype.

[hunkysoupbone]

Muhammad Ali did better with fighters with Joe Louis's style than Joe Louis did with fighters of Ali's style. What I mean is Ali could outbox those hard hitters (Cleveland Williams, Sonny Liston, Earnie Shavers, Ken Norton, Ron Lyle) easier it seemed than Joe Louis fought boxers (Schmeling, Billy Conn).
I pick Ali.