After beating Joe Frazier and George Foreman in 74, Ali fought Chuck Wepner

[arizashakes]

Lol the amount Floyd fans are reaching.

[b00g13man]

Great thread. You'd think ATGs never fought fighters way worse than Berto the way people carry on.

[Boxfan83]

Who had a record of 30-9-2 and Ali was a 10 to 1 betting favorite over. The fight was a joke in every way imaginable BUT Ali just beat the guy who beat him before in Frazier and then TKO's the undefeated killer that everyone thought would knockout Ali in Foreman. So he took a soft touch after. Big deal. No one cares now. No one remembers Ali for taking a couple soft touches between big fights, which he did from time to time.

Berto is essentially Mayweather's Chuck Wepner. Floyd finally beat the guy that so many said would beat him, in the richest fight this sport has ever seen against Pacquiao and now he's taking a softy. I'm not paying $74.95 for it, but I'm not mad about it either.

Fighting a Marine is never a soft touch, Ali always had problems fighting Marines. Ooh-Rah!

[elfag]

Everybody does this.

Pac fought Algeri

Cotto has fought a good collection of cab drivers recently.

GGG talks big game but also fights cab drivers.

Khan, the one who is *****ing the most, his resume is horrific.

berto is the first fighter in like 5 years that mayweather didnt fight coming off a big win, minus pacquiao. IDK what the big deal is about mayweather wanting berto so bad for the last few years, maybe theyre friends and he wants to get him paid. Its a **** fight but dont act like everyone else hasnt done it.

[mrdogtown1975]

Ali would have fought Paquiao in the Philippines, in an 18ft ring, with no demands, five years ago. End Thread!

[Canelo Phresh]

That's a different subject though, whether it's PPV material or not. I think most people will agree this is not PPV worthy. Like I said I sure as hell am not ordering it. My whole point is just the selection of opponent. Berto isn't a good opponent, but this isn't uncommon at all in boxing. And regardless Ali, if he could have got away with having the Wepner fight in PPV it would have been, Ali was extremely money motivated but in 1975 there wasn't PPV around and boxing was one of the most popular sports on primetime TV, finances worked differently then.

Damnitt! I respect your communist ass! After this clarificafion, I concede.

[b00g13man]

Ali would have fought Paquiao in the Philippines, in an 18ft ring, with no demands, five years ago. End Thread!

He probably wouldn't have run away from random drug testing back then.

[The Noose]

Amazing how "boxing fans" are trying to justify a fight which they themselves believe to be a terrible matchup.

I can only assume its Floyd fans defending him at all costs.

Otherwise i dont understand this comparison. People in this thread have already pointed out the difference in Ali and Floyds careers.

Does Floyd need a soft fight after Pac? Was it a tough fight for him? No.
Has floyd taken punishment for years and been in wars overcoming huge odds? No.
Is Floyd an exciting fighter to watch no matter who he faces? No.
Does Floyd not have any other options at WW? No.

[M Bison]

Ali would have fought Paquiao in the Philippines, in an 18ft ring, with no demands, five years ago. End Thread!

Exactly!
Ali made the fights the fans wanted to see happen when they should have happened this is why Floyd will never be took seriously in that ATG ranking.
Only Floyd gobblers will think otherwise, "durrrrr yall dksab but my dumbass does because I'm unemployed and start Internet fights."

[soul_survivor]

I am surprised 40 years of inflation on 1.5 million only amounts to that (there were some years with huge inflation in the 70's and 80's), but I don't feel like doing that math.

Who cares that isn't the comparison and Ali is considered greater than Floyd for that reason, but that does not mean they don't have some similar situations they were involved in.

It's not a similar situation, fighting once or twice a year with a year and a half gap in the last 10 years is not the same as fighting a touch schedule of 15 fights in 3 years with at least 5 HOFers as your opponents...if you can't see how different it is to want a light touch after a run like that, compared to one of 3 light touches that Mayweather has had in less than 5 years, then there's no point in carrying this on.

Edit: What makes me laugh is that people are actually trying to justify this fight by comparing it to something Ali did some 40 years ago. SMH.