Let's say all heavyweight greats were in the same era?

[res]

Tyson and Louis would nail him with hooks. I'd also expect the rangy boxers (Holmes, Lewis, Klits) to give him issues.

Tyson has the wrong style.

Louis could be a problem with the left hand if he actually tried to fight inside, but from the outside he would get outclassed overall. Thing is, Louis didn't really have the size to impose his will inside.

Ali would make Vitali look ridiculous, Wlad would do better. Holmes would be an interesting fight, wish we could have seen them both go head to head in their prime.

[res]

Terrell had height and a good jab but his skill level was not great. .

Well he was certainly greater than Doug Jones.

Defeating top contenders Foley, Machen as well as Jones himself.

[Daddy T]

I think ali would probably come out on top but he'd take a good few losses on the way, I also think foreman would be a horrendous beast and would demolish many of the other greats in short order (frasier style) while coming up short against a few of the others. Tyson at his absolute best would be a handful for all of them and head to head would do better than his atg rating might suggest - I'd back him against most.

Also one thing to note, it would take a hell of a fighter to beat Joe Louis I could see him taking perhaps the least losses, but i think ali gets the better of him over a trilogy.

... so I'd have ali and Louis as the stand outs with Tyson being impressive and foreman if the match making is right looking devasting until somebody like ali or perhaps Louis handles him.

Also as an aside don't under estimate Sonny Liston

and to the person that said ali would make vitali look ridiculous ... yes this is correct ... the current version of wlad would do ok though

edit ... I forgot lewis! hmmm he could cause problems ...

[danthepoetman]

I think the Louis who knocked Schmeling out in less than a round could probably have knocked any one of these men out, no matter how big or how good their chin was… except the young Ali.

What made Ali so exceptional is not so much because he edged all the best of this historically best heavyweight era (that of the 70s), because he indeed had lots of trouble with some of them as we know, namely Norton, whom he might never really have beaten, or Jimmy Young (I know, only in 77), Henry Cooper, Doug Jones (controversial but to me, he won), or even the young Chuvalo, whom he definitely edged in 66, but after suffering tremendously. The reason Ali was so great was is second to none adaptability. He was seemingly, during a fight, always able to find a way to win, whatever the challenge. That’s why I would, like most of you pick him as the champion of such an era as the one suggested by the OP.
This being said, one thing that was amazing about that invincible power machine Joe Louis was, was how he could learn from his mistakes. As opposed to Ali, Joe Louis was not very adaptable on the moment of the fight. Arturo Godoy gave him tons of trouble the first time around by sticking to him like bubble gum and fouling and head butting, etc. (SD15); Abe Simon gave him some trouble with his size (TKO13); Buddy Baer too (DQ6, Louis was decked 1st rd); Billy Conn with his speed and movement (KO13, trailing on points); Joe Walcott (SD15, Louis down 1st and 4th); and we all know about the first Schmeling bout (kayoed Louis in 12).
But that’s where you could see how great Louis was: you just couldn’t get him the second time around. In the rematch with these guys, he cut Godoy inside with short crosses (KO8); easily hammered Simon to submission (KO6); knock B. Baer down within seconds of the beginning and out at 2:56 of the first; knock Conn out in 8 making him look like a terribly old man; cut inside as Walcott was doing his signature sideway movement, and knocked him out in 11; and simply destroyed Schmeling with and all out attack, which nullified not only the over hand right, but anything he could offer.
So here is finally my point. I say Ali would be the champ, but I’m not sure Louis would let him be forever. My hunch is, Louis by KO the second time around, and who knows about the rubber match…

[Mintcar923]

Foreman and Manny Steward also praised prince Naseem as being the best featherweight of all time..

I know its besides the point and a completely different opinion but I think he was. When he was in his prime, that is. He paved the way for a lot of other featherweighs including Pacman...

[Scott9945]

I know its besides the point and a completely different opinion but I think he was. When he was in his prime, that is. He paved the way for a lot of other featherweighs including Pacman...

Other than deliver good ratings for smaller weight divisions on HBO, how did Hamed pave the way for Pacquaio?

[StarshipTrooper]

I know its besides the point and a completely different opinion but I think he was. When he was in his prime, that is. He paved the way for a lot of other featherweighs including Pacman...

Hamed was a fraud who lost to the first opponent he faced with a pulse. He does NOT belong in the same universe as guys like Pep, Arguello, or Saddler.

Poet

[Anthony342]

Hamed was a fraud who lost to the first opponent he faced with a pulse. He does NOT belong in the same universe as guys like Pep, Arguello, or Saddler.

Poet

Not only that, but before the Barrera loss, he was actually close to being stopped by Kevin Kelley, before he came back to win that fight and Kelley wasn't any kind of ATG or even the best of his era, was pretty good with a lot of heart though and one of my personal favorites to watch. Man, I just never liked Hamed. I loved it when Barrera knew he had the fight won and rammed Hamed's face into the turnbuckle WWE style in that fight and STILL won a UD by a decent margin lol. Only thing better would've been a knockout of Hamed.

[Sugarj]

I think the Louis who knocked Schmeling out in less than a round could probably have knocked any one of these men out, no matter how big or how good their chin was… except the young Ali.

What made Ali so exceptional is not so much because he edged all the best of this historically best heavyweight era (that of the 70s), because he indeed had lots of trouble with some of them as we know, namely Norton, whom he might never really have beaten, or Jimmy Young (I know, only in 77), Henry Cooper, Doug Jones (controversial but to me, he won), or even the young Chuvalo, whom he definitely edged in 66, but after suffering tremendously. The reason Ali was so great was is second to none adaptability. He was seemingly, during a fight, always able to find a way to win, whatever the challenge. That’s why I would, like most of you pick him as the champion of such an era as the one suggested by the OP.
This being said, one thing that was amazing about that invincible power machine Joe Louis was, was how he could learn from his mistakes. As opposed to Ali, Joe Louis was not very adaptable on the moment of the fight. Arturo Godoy gave him tons of trouble the first time around by sticking to him like bubble gum and fouling and head butting, etc. (SD15); Abe Simon gave him some trouble with his size (TKO13); Buddy Baer too (DQ6, Louis was decked 1st rd); Billy Conn with his speed and movement (KO13, trailing on points); Joe Walcott (SD15, Louis down 1st and 4th); and we all know about the first Schmeling bout (kayoed Louis in 12).
But that’s where you could see how great Louis was: you just couldn’t get him the second time around. In the rematch with these guys, he cut Godoy inside with short crosses (KO8); easily hammered Simon to submission (KO6); knock B. Baer down within seconds of the beginning and out at 2:56 of the first; knock Conn out in 8 making him look like a terribly old man; cut inside as Walcott was doing his signature sideway movement, and knocked him out in 11; and simply destroyed Schmeling with and all out attack, which nullified not only the over hand right, but anything he could offer.
So here is finally my point. I say Ali would be the champ, but I’m not sure Louis would let him be forever. My hunch is, Louis by KO the second time around, and who knows about the rubber match…

Nice post.

I'd just have trouble predicting a Louis KO over Ali in a return. Its difficult to predict a KO over a guy who was never knocked out and had one of the best chins/ability to absorb punishment ever. But your right though, Louis was lethal in rematches.....and if he had lost to Ali first time, you can bet he'd be better for the return.

[res]

Nice post.

I'd just have trouble predicting a Louis KO over Ali in a return. Its difficult to predict a KO over a guy who was never knocked out and had one of the best chins/ability to absorb punishment ever. But your right though, Louis was lethal in rematches.....and if he had lost to Ali first time, you can bet he'd be better for the return.

Yeah I have difficulty seeing that too, the major issue for me being Ali's supremacy on the outside, and Louis' size when it comes to imposing his will on the inside.

But I just thought about the stipulation from the OP that everything in this scenario is going to be thrown into a modern context: nutrition, training facilities etc. So we could be talking about a bigger Louis, and that would give Ali and some of the others a whole lot more to think about.