I'm sure most of what I'm going to say has been said in the 19 pages already, but here are my thoughts:BERNARD BRIGGS. wrote:Ali in my opinion was vastly over rated and would have trouble winning a WBO title today. Reasons being
too small
no defence
fought too many stiffs
rudimentry skills where lacking
I do think Ali might have trouble beating either Klitschko brother, but that he would dominate the rest of the division as it stands. And the difficulty he would have against the Klitschkos don't make him overrated...just a terrible matchup for him. Ali was used to having reach advantages over the guys he faced, and I don't think he would have much luck as the guy needing to get inside on a much taller man. Even if he did get inside, he didn't have the punching power to hurt his man much, especially Vitali.
So in one sense, I agree with you that he would have trouble winning the WBO title since he'd have to go through that particular guy to get it. As you mentioned, his size is a detriment to him, if only against that guy. He was smallish at his best, but we've seen that Eddie Chambers at an even smaller weight and with a lot less overall skill can have great success in this division as a whole. Post-prime, Ali wasn't really small at all, being 6'3" and as much as about 230, but in fairness he had lost much of what made him great by then, with the exceptions being heart, smarts, and chin.
As for no defense, I submit that you've been watching the wrong Ali. He was one of the toughest guys to hit in boxing history in the mid-60s. When he was a little past his true prime (such as against Foreman) he showed that he's also really good at covering up when it suits him. The Ali we saw in Manilla and after wasn't as much a defensive master, but I don't know that we should characterize a guy's entire career by his worst moments after his prime.
Fought too many stiffs??? Look, no fighter in history has fought champions or World-beaters every single fight, or even remotely close. Ali, as an Olympic champion, was fast-tracked to tough competition much faster than most fighters are, however. A casual fan, of course, may not be that impressed by Karl Mildenberger, for instance, but he was a legitimate contender in his day. Heck, the truly uninitiated might not even be that impressed by a guy like Chuvalo, but the truth is that George would have been a champion in most heavyweight eras. Ali truly beat all the best guys in the division from the moment he won the title in 1964 until, badly faded, he lost to guys like Berbick and Holmes around the dawn of the 1980s. I mean think about it: Liston, Frazier, Foreman, Norton, Chuvalo, Shavers, Patterson...name any heavyweight with a better list of victories on his resume. Every long-reigning champion is going to have a tune-up fight here or there, but Ali fought in an absolutely stacked era, fought all the best, and almost never lost.
And I really don't know what you could be talking about with rudimentary skills, either. He had lightning-quick feet, solid hand defense, good head movement when necessary, great hand speed and accuracy, great ring awareness, a plus chin, and plenty of heart. The only thing, whether you consider it a skill or just a talent, that he was really lacking was one-punch knockout power.
i'm not saying calzaghe wasn't a good fighter, i'm just saying he's didn't do near enough in his career to be called an ATG.
