Cassius Clinch...........

[Tom Cruise]

Actually i would say early 70's was Alis best years he set down on his punches more and was a bit stronger ,Ali himself right after the Quarry fight in 71 states he felt smarter and stronger .

I think the Ali/Clay from Sonny Liston up to the layoff was the best HW in history.

He was still great after that, but he had much less mobility, which led to him needing to clinch more as (some)fighters were able to close the distance on him. Against fighters who he was clearly superior too, like the faded Floyd Patterson, he didnt need to clinch. Whereas WK clinches constantly in every fight, often against opponents who he shouldnt need to be clinching against.

[slimshandy69]

We arent comparing across eras though are we Elroy. Frazier was one of the dominant fighters in his era. Ali was past prime, anyone who watches boxing knows this. Some of his best wins came later because that just happens to be when he fought a lot of his best opponents.

Klitschko clinched in the middle of his prime fighting Alex Lepai

****ing tragic.

lmao Klitscko hardly clinched against Lepai

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zs2LqdI214

Horrible example

[LacedUp]

He has a fair point. People moan so much about Vlad, when champs of the past did the exact same. Ali was quite a clincher in his later years.

Lol there's no comparison to Wlad at all. And btw, Ali held a little in fights he was an underdog in. Wlad held against guys 40 lbs lighter and 5 inches shorter - 10 times a round.

Incomparable and just another excuse Wlad apologists use.

[FrankieBruno]

i dont mind the clinching so much

thats not my real issue with Wlad, its the fact he doesnt put together punches and is reluctant to engage...its frustrating to watch

[Tom Cruise]

lmao Klitscko hardly clinched against Lepai

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zs2LqdI214

Horrible example

im 40 seconds in and hes clinched/ pushed down on the back of Lepai's head twice already

[-PBP-]

Clinching is a part of boxing like it or not. I know this is a fan forum and fans think more of entertainment value but its taught in every gym I've been to.

[Ryn0]

He has a fair point. People moan so much about Vlad, when champs of the past did the exact same. Ali was quite a clincher in his later years.

It comes from the complete lack of inside game by both fighters, the difference is Ali's punch variety and movement was more exciting when outside.

Also Frazier is a much much much better Heavyweight than Jennings would ever be.

[SalimShady1212]

Alex Leapai is 240lbs, massive chin, massive power and strength and crude or not, bum rushed Wlad trying to take his head off cause it was his only real shot.

Of course Wlad is gonna have to clinch him!

Enter Thomson, Wach, Pulev or another tall fighter.. Funny enough, not a lot of clinching really.

If you want to deduce anything, he clinches the shorter opponents because they are the ones that try to get in close the only place they CAN work!

Obviously Wlad wants to keep them on the outside and if he can spoil instead of risky infighting behaviour, well it is what it is.

You might not like it, but it's pretty bloody smart and key to success.

I disagree entirely with Ali being better at all in the 60's. No boxer is better in his 20s than his 30's, even in those days!

He was much stronger and had a far higher boxing IQ and generalship in the 70's imo.

If you wanna see Ali today, look to Tyson Fury, he's just a really big white version complete with an even bigger mouth. LOL

Are you joking about Leapai? He got outboxed by Kevin ****ING Johnson, end of topic. You ridiculously overrate that clown who just got shut out by Malik Scott

[juggernaut666]

It comes from the complete lack of inside game by both fighters, the difference is Ali's punch variety and movement was more exciting when outside.

Also Frazier is a much much much better Heavyweight than Jennings would ever be.

The differance is Alis opponents were able to hit him frequently and Ali keeping them in the fight because he lacked HW k.o power then and wouldn't faze the bigger HW's now ,Klitchko not only boxes better his k.o percentage is by far better then Alis ,its all smoke and mirrors if Wlad was a u.s fighter he would be highly praised .

[Ryn0]

The differance is Alis opponents were able to hit him frequently and Ali keeping them in the fight because he lacked HW k.o power then and wouldn't faze the bigger HW's now ,Klitchko not only boxes better his k.o percentage is by far better then Alis ,its all smoke and mirrors if Wlad was a u.s fighter he would be highly praised .

The quality of Alis opponents is far and away higher. I didn't not say Wlad was not a great Heavyweight, when he retires he will go down as one of the ATG heavies no doubt.

But he can be a very dull Heavyweight, his KO's come from his sledgehammer jab weaing people down for most of the fight and dropping his right hand or left hook when it is safe to do so.