re: Joe Louis: How I would have clobbered Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali)

quote:

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If you let a Louis or, God help you, Marciano back you into the ropes and work you over nothing good will come from it.

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Ali would not have cooperated and just let himself be trapped on the ropes or in a corner. And when he was, Ali was a master of getting off the ropes when he wanted to. He could also just garb and hold to get the ref to separate the fighters as a means to get off the ropes. I just don't think any flaws Ali had with respect to being on the ropes, or in a corner, were sufficient for Louis, or Marciano, to have knocked out Ali.

Do you think Ali had the punching power to hurt Louis or Marciano? My opinion is that Ali didn't really have great knock out power when he was dancing about on his toes, but when he planted his heels he had better than average knock out power. It was his ability to transition from one to the other that made Ali unique among heavyweights. I think Ali would have beaten either Louis or Marciano in the same way that the young Roy Jones, Jr. beat his opponents. He would have just overwhelmed them with the speed and variety of his attack.