Could Muhammad Ali have beaten fighters like Lennox Lewis, Usyk, the Klitschko brothers, Tyson Fury, Mike Tyson, or Holyfield? The honest answer is ?...We don’t know. Let’s take it further: could Ali have defeated the gatekeepers of any era? Fighters like Chisora, Brewster, Povetkin, Tua, Byrd, Ibragimov, Rahman, or Maskaev, to name a few? We might laugh and dismiss these comparisons as insulting, but let’s be real for a moment.
Ali nearly lost to a fighter 22 pounds lighter...Henry Cooper, standing 6'1" and weighing just 185 pounds. Then there’s Foreman, often cited as a counterpoint, but Foreman himself lost to Jimmy Young. Are we supposed to believe that Henry Cooper or Jimmy Young would dominate today’s heavyweight division?
I know these are extreme examples, but they illustrate the point: every era has flaws and vulnerabilities, and every legend’s myth can be questioned. Every reputation is open to scrutiny.
How about Dempsey ? "The Giant Killer." another legendary boxer but again, is it reasonable to compare Jess Willard to a Tyson Fury or even a mummy like Valuev ? Have you guys seen the tapes ?
Ali nearly lost to a fighter 22 pounds lighter...Henry Cooper, standing 6'1" and weighing just 185 pounds. Then there’s Foreman, often cited as a counterpoint, but Foreman himself lost to Jimmy Young. Are we supposed to believe that Henry Cooper or Jimmy Young would dominate today’s heavyweight division?
I know these are extreme examples, but they illustrate the point: every era has flaws and vulnerabilities, and every legend’s myth can be questioned. Every reputation is open to scrutiny.
How about Dempsey ? "The Giant Killer." another legendary boxer but again, is it reasonable to compare Jess Willard to a Tyson Fury or even a mummy like Valuev ? Have you guys seen the tapes ?
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