Muhammed Ali And Joe Louis: Who's The Greatest Heavyweight?

[Spartacus Sully]

Just saying the over all damage from having your head thrown against the ceiling compared to having your stuffing knocked out id think having your stuffing affects the brain alittle more and going the distance does more damage over all.

ok so it would probably be a combo but id like to think that one hit catches him and stuns him louis takes that opening and takes him down with a sweet combo.

[Silencers]

I always try to be objective when it comes to this subject but I always come out thinking that Ali is and was the greatest heavyweight of all time.

I think his resume is better than Louis', even though Louis reigned longer and made more defenses I think Ali fought and beat the better opposition in their respective reigns.

And I also think that in a head to head mystical matchup Ali would beat Louis.

[mickey malone]

Ali had hideous problems with Norton, Frazier, Young, Shavers & Spinks.. I'd say Ali gets a bit overrated on his wins against Liston & Foreman.. I think it's safe to say that Ali was very adept at negating power, but not so good at dealing with speed.. Louis had a more complete skill set.. As I've already pointed out, Ali would often use his footwork to run onto punches..

[Sugarj]

Yea, the 70s Ali was still great but not what he was in 66/67, he had rather more problems with fighters when post prime like Norton, Young et al. He slipped some pretty speedy punches from Williams, Cooper, Terrell and Folley in his prime though, great reactions, he was so hard to catch.

I guess he was just an undeveloped kid when he fought Liston, he did show some flashes of greatness that night though. I watched the fight yesterday and Liston couldn't hit him with a bowl of rice in round one.

As for complete skillset, damn it was close. Ali had advantages in speed and mobility, Louis in power and possibly accuracy (albeit not by too much).

[Spartacus Sully]

possibly accuracy (albeit not by too much)? maybe when i compare the accuracy of alis jabs to that of louis's haymakers.

[mickey malone]

Yea, the 70s Ali was still great but not what he was in 66/67, he had rather more problems with fighters when post prime like Norton, Young et al. He slipped some pretty speedy punches from Williams, Cooper, Terrell and Folley in his prime though, great reactions, he was so hard to catch.

I guess he was just an undeveloped kid when he fought Liston, he did show some flashes of greatness that night though. I watched the fight yesterday and Liston couldn't hit him with a bowl of rice in round one.

As for complete skillset, damn it was close. Ali had advantages in speed and mobility, Louis in power and possibly accuracy (albeit not by too much).

God... It's always gonna be a knats **** between these 2..
With ref to Williams, Cooper, Terrell & Folley, I'd say Louis deals with these a fair bit quicker than Ali, but I'd also say he'd take a lot longer to deal with Liston & may not even stop him..

[Sugarj]

Lets face it they were both very accurate with their punches. Louis probably edged Ali for punch economy, but it was a close thing.

[boxingbuff]

Ali had hideous problems with Norton, Frazier, Young, Shavers & Spinks.. I'd say Ali gets a bit overrated on his wins against Liston & Foreman.. I think it's safe to say that Ali was very adept at negating power, but not so good at dealing with speed.. Louis had a more complete skill set.. As I've already pointed out, Ali would often use his footwork to run onto punches..

I noticed the fighters you listed are all after Ali's 3 1/2 year lay-off.

Please break down those fights against a prime Muhammad Ali (1964-67)

Dang,you even mention some fights 10 years after Ali's prime!! Lol

[mickey malone]

I noticed the fighters you listed are all after Ali's 3 1/2 year lay-off.

Please break down those fights against a prime Muhammad Ali (1964-67)

Dang,you even mention some fights 10 years after Ali's prime!! Lol

I don't know how many times I've explained how close this is.. That's why the examples aren't many.. The fact is, that over all, Louis struggled with less opponents than Ali did.. During their primes, both fighters were equally unstoppable..

[boxingbuff]

I don't know how many times I've explained how close this is.. That's why the examples aren't many.. The fact is, that over all, Louis struggled with less opponents than Ali did.. During their primes, both fighters were equally unstoppable..

Well,after Joe Louis's lay-off break down fights against Forman,Frazier 3 times,Shavers,Norton 3 times,Young,Bugner,Lyle,Bonavena,

Remember,this is AFTER Louis's 4 year lay-off!!