Armstrong vs Ali - Who's greater?

[billionaire]

You can't blame Ali for not being able go down to light heavyweight to gain multiple titles. What's he going to do...move down to 147 from 215? haha.

yea and he was light heavyweight champ in the olympics....

[right_hand_lead]

yea and he was light heavyweight champ in the olympics....

There is no way in hell he could have stayed below 200lbs for even the beginning of his career.

[TheGreatA]

There is no way in hell he could have stayed below 200lbs for even the beginning of his career.

Well, he did, until his 16th fight that is. In fact even in 1966 Ali weighed 201 lbs for the second Henry Cooper fight.

Of course he couldn't have the light heavyweight limit and there was no cruiserweight division at the time.

I don't really look at all the weights Armstrong fought at and the championships he won, I look at the great competition he fought. He got more done in just a couple of years than most fighters do in their whole careers and he did achieve great results out of his prime too, even if he was not the same.

Ali could be rated above Armstrong, he had the longevity and one could prefer his style to Armstrong's. I rate Armstrong comfortably number 2 though, below only Sugar Ray Robinson.

[sleazyfellow]

He got more done in just a couple of years than most fighters do in their whole careers and he did achieve great results out of his prime too, even if he was not the same.

That. 1937, 27 fights, all but 1 by knockout. Ali had more longevity, but Armstrong like GreatA said did more in a few years than most fighters do their entire careers.

[derkaiser91]

Define Greatness???? Greatness can be assessed a number of ways....the amount of titles won, win-loss record, toughness of opposition, style, charisma, showmanship, overall impact and influence on the sport....Taking all these factors into account...Ali is the greatest boxer of all time - No one and i mean NO one had as much influence or impact on boxing as Ali.....First man to win the title 3 times....Ali was the most graceful boxer to watch...he revolusionised the sport...damn near made it an artform....Ali's win-loss record is impeccable...taking into account the majority of his lossess came when he was suffering the affects of Parkinsons...not to mention he was banned for 4 years (4 years of his prime- we probably never saw the best of ALi)...in my opinion and according to many boxing historians, Ali fought in the golden era of boxing, standing head and shoulders above the rest..Armstrong never had tougher opposition than ALi...Ali had Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Sonny Liston, Ken Norton, Henry Cooper, Floyd Patterson and many more....i don't care who Armstrong fought, his opposition was no where near the level Ali had to deal with....i could go on all day about How Ali is the best there ever was