How Could Ali Have Beaten Wilt?

[QueensburyRules]

- -Wilt weren't just a ball athlete, his favorite sport was track and field where he might well have won Gold as a decathlete.

The guy set so many BB records that the suits had to change the rules. Nobody yet has approached his dominance playing a game he never really enjoyed, and it was that physical dominance that he really enjoyed.

And nope, I don't rely on espn flunkies to tell me who the best athletes are any more than I rely on Fat Dan to tell me who the best fighters are.

Wilt, Babe, and Jim Thorpe one off athletes that additionally can never be replicated in time in their unique American eras that can never be replicated.

And guaranteed no athlete save Wilt could get a prime Ali to back out of a fight

Read it and weep for thee and thou loved ones!

[BKM-]

****ing around with a ball is kid's stuff. It's fun but these guys don't belong anywhere near a combat sport. Basketball players, baseball, even football players. Fruits who couldn't throw or take a punch to save their asses.

[IMG]http://media0.*****.com/media/oUSzIG482gSiI/*****.gif[/IMG]

They're uncoordinated lanky Fruitcakes who can't fight. One Ali jab and Wilt is literally dead drooling on the canvas.

[Longhaul]

[QUOTE=BKM-;19637385]****ing around with a ball is kid's stuff. It's fun but these guys don't belong anywhere near a combat sport. Basketball players, baseball, even football players. Fruits who couldn't throw or take a punch to save their asses.

[IMG]http://media0.*****.com/media/oUSzIG482gSiI/*****.gif[/IMG]

They're Fruitcakes. One Ali jab and Wilt is literally dead drooling on the canvas.Dont waste your time this queen of fantasy is determined to rewrite history and has a man crush on Wilt that is unreal.I don�t even want to think about the fantasy that goes through his head late at night.You heard it from the queen all the writers that voted on the ESPN article know less than the queen.Wilt was a better athlete and better track and field star so for sure that equates to a victory over Ali.This guy has never been in the ring I can guarantee you or he wouldn�t be talking this rubbish.He thinks you hit the bag run spar a little and all the other stuff falls into place.

[QueensburyRules]

- -Ok, so you're a lackey to the boxing hacks making peanuts to the movers and shakers that control boxing from behind the scenes.

Glad you found your level.

Read it and weep! Herbert and Ali backed out of their first fight that was supposed to be signed at the ABC segment arranged by Cosell, thus relegating the fight to fantasy.

The contract was real enough though. Time to wash your Ali undies to store away as a keepsake of your era.

[The Old LefHook]

I always try to look at precident... I was hoping that Too Tall would tell us something about this possible exchange... But it was not to be. First off Too Tall had boxing experience before the ring. And as Queeny says, he probably had an epiphany realizing that the politics, etc was such, football was the better path to travel.

I think Ghost's idea is the most logical: Wilt would give a good account but lose on the finer technical points of boxing...those points committed to muscle memory. Yet Queenie and Lefty making the point that Wilt was no ordinary Bballer switching sports, should be considered. I would put Bill Russell in this category as well: a very smart man, high IQ, very strong, very athletically able... a guy who would be a quick study for sure.

Some posters have made the point that fighting is not identical to sports...a great point. Boxing has become more and more a sport...Bigger gloves, fewer rounds, fighters doing less things in the ring, etc. Ali is fighting at a time where there is a golden age for the heavyweights, guys are fighters but come in to the ring athletically prime...Guys like, Shavers, Norton, Lyle, Little Hercules (Weaver), Foreman, were athletically built, strong athletes with a lot of resistance to get through...But they were smart fighters also.

Ali and Frazier were a little more "throwback" imo. Both men were much more fighter than athlete. Frazier beat you through attrition and a left hook that could shake the coast! Ali could take a punch laced with dynamite! I think Ali respected Marciano for this reason... Like Marciano Ali was the type of guy that created a high bar and made it personal not to go down from a big punch, to survive the hurt and pain and deliver.

In the final analysis experience is a big factor in these contests. An oarsman with skinny arms can oar a boat a lot better than a man with arms of steel... Wilt would have to be a real quick study and learn to box enough to use his reach.

An excellent delineation, sir, between athlete and fighter. You make an interesting point that the ol' Kentucky Moslem and Frazier were more fighters than athletes. I never really put it that way before.

[billeau2]

An excellent delineation, sir, between athlete and fighter. You make an interesting point that the ol' Kentucky Moslem and Frazier were more fighters than athletes. I never really put it that way before.

I have to give Queenie the credit for that one... He does have a point that if we take someone with incredible reflexes, that alone does not make them an elite athlete. I still remember as a kid an article about this subject featuring a picture of Wilbur Wood, a knuckleball pitcher with a pot belly, etc. compared to a dancer of all things...

Fighters have a tremendous capacity for certain variables that go beyond sports per se. Fighters evolved off of similar lines for sure, but there are differences. That is why I agree with Marchanegro: A guy like Marciano who could really sustain and give back at that level comes once many generations. But certainly we see the same thing when Ali is fighting with a broken jaw... as many fighters have done... And we see the difference when Vitalie cannot continue due to a shoulder hurting lol.

[QueensburyRules]

- -Billie dearie, Vitali and Wlad turned pro using their Soviet trainers who knew nothing about pro boxing nor the American version of it.

They were self described boxer sportsman steeped in traditional European notions of honor, not American fighters steeped in their own ethos.

You really are quite provincial in yer notions of culture ain't you?

And Vitali was never noted for his athleticism or BB, he was noted for his 6-8 height and 250 lbs of methodical beatdowns and his record of inactivity between sucessful title fights, 4 years sandwiched between two brutal KOs.

Oh, and being brother, inspiration, and mentor to Wlad. You can thank me later.

[BattlingNelson]

- -Wilt weren't just a ball athlete, his favorite sport was track and field where he might well have won Gold as a decathlete.

The guy set so many BB records that the suits had to change the rules. Nobody yet has approached his dominance playing a game he never really enjoyed, and it was that physical dominance that he really enjoyed.

And nope, I don't rely on espn flunkies to tell me who the best athletes are any more than I rely on Fat Dan to tell me who the best fighters are.

Wilt, Babe, and Jim Thorpe one off athletes that additionally can never be replicated in time in their unique American eras that can never be replicated.

And guaranteed no athlete save Wilt could get a prime Ali to back out of a fight

Read it and weep for thee and thou loved ones!

What happened regarding this so-called out-backing? I never heard that before.

Still it baffles me that some (you) believe that because someone has the physical and athletic attributes, yet being an utter boxing boxing novice, can even put up a fight against a prime Ali. I mean what about Usain Bolt? I reckon you’d argue that his speed would neutralize Ali’s biggest asset and ensure a win.....

[QueensburyRules]

- -Cus not interested in other athletes, he was specifically interested in Wilt. He trained him and liked what he saw and very confident he could beat Ali with their strategy.

Contract drawn up, everything in place but for the money and Herbert's fear of Ali's future if wilt beat him.

[Ben Bolt]

Walk forward and punch him.

I wouldn't have spent any PPV money on that "fight".
Great athletes they are. Specialized in their sport they are.