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Is there an old time boxing fan on the board? I'd sure like to pick his brain. I never saw Joe Louis except in film clips and I wasn't that impressed. But I really don't know how good the guy was he was fighting. I think he fought Schmelling at least once but he was a white guy. The first Heavyweight champion I remember seeing on TV was Rocky Marciano. I think he retired undefeated. Hey, he was a white guy who barely weighed 200 lbs. And who did he fight? Eras make a hell of a difference. And then there was Floyd Patterson. As poor an excuse for a heavyweight champion as I've ever seen. Undersized and no particularly good skills. Ali nicknamed him "The Rabbit" and then pounded the shit out of him three times. Ali fought several top notch fighters during his career. Notably Frazier and Foreman. Either one of which would have killed Patterson and maybe Marciano as well. It's had to compare fighters from different eras. But back to Ali. When he first showed up, Sonny Liston was the baddest dude on the planet or so everybody thought. (Except Ali) Liston's problem, though, was that he was big, dumb and slow. Ali fought him twice and knocked him silly both times. Both fights lasted a total of 3 rounds. Makes me wonder just how good Joe Louis was. Ali could beat you several different ways. He could stay away from you and never let you hit him if he wanted to. He used to stick his jaw out toward his opponent and dare them to try to hit him. Or, when he faced a good fighter like Foreman who was probably the hardest puncher in history, he would lay on the ropes (rope-a-dope) and wait for you to punch yourself out. Then destroy you while you are spent. He hit Frazier enough times to kill an ordinary man in Manila. Go rent it. I have utmost respect for Frazier as possibly the 2nd best fighter ever. He gave Ali all he wanted when Ali was in his prime. If Frazier had come along in 1950, we may have never heard of Marciano or Patterson. Tyson came along at just the right time for him. He was a brawler with some quickness and a devastating left hook. But best of all, there was nothing out there but tomato cans that he could easily knock out early. But he got exposed when he ran up against someone who would put up a fight. Even Holyfield outclassed Tyson and knew all he had to do is make it last past the first few rounds and Tyson would fold. Which he did. Tyson wouldn't have lasted 3 rounds with Frazier. And he would have lasted as long as Ali's poem predicted he would. Hehe. Ali quit the poems after the first few fights. He said it put too much pressure on him to predict the round although he was usually right. I think the real reason he quit that was named Joe Frazier. As best I can tell, Louis and Dempsey were both one trick ponies. Pretty good fighters with not much competition. (I could be wrong on Louis as he has a lot of support from the old guys). Ali could adjust his style to fit the opponent. I've never seen any fighter that was able to do that let alone a heavyweight. Can you imagine Ali and Louis when things started badly for Ali? He could use his quickness, speed, durability, or evasiveness to change the fight several directions. If the reverse happened, what could Louis do ? Ali is the best I've ever seen in any weight class. I've ignored Larry Holmes. He was a very good fighter in an era of nobodies. He simply beat everybody they put in front of him with very little glory. He lasted a long time too. By no means do I consider myself any kind of authority on boxing. These are just my impressions over the years and I'm sure somebody with a record book could tear some of this apart. Well, except for Ali that is. He was simply the best fighter that ever lived.
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