Ambling Alp II wrote: ↑25 Jan 2019, 08:57
Really? 15 years? You have actually done the math on this?
For some reason, I doubt this is remotely close to being true.
There used to be a website on Marciano covering all the stats, facts--- but it's long since gone--- and one of the topics of discussion on it was, "Did Rocky Beat Old Men?", and it did some comparisons between Marciano's most notable opponents versus Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, etc and their most memorable opponents.
Ali's average came out to 15 years age difference--- guys like Henry Cooper, Archie Moore, Sonny Liston, etc were a decade (or more) older than he was.
So in all fairness, if Marciano fought old men then Ali fought decrepit old men. Williams, for example, was born in 1933 and Ali was born in 1942, so 9 years difference. Patterson, born in 1935 was 7 years older than Ali. Chuvalo, born 1937, was five years older. Brian London, born 1934, was 8 years older. Zora Folley, born 1931, was 11 years older. Etc etc etc.
There are some reports that Sonny Liston was 49 years old in February 1964
and just turned 50 years old while training at Poland Springs at Lewiston Maine in early May 1965.
( I would personally doubt it tho)
Well of course he was nowhere near that old. You can only fudge your age so far. Imagine if you were famous and saying you were 17 years younger than you really were. Friends and relatives would come out of the woodwork who grew up with him would say that it's impossible.
Anyway, it's ridiculous to claim that on average Ali's opponents were 15 years older than him. About half were younger than him. homicide coming out with crap and acting like it's historical fact again.
Last edited by Ambling Alp II on 31 Jan 2019, 14:54, edited 1 time in total.
yeah, you probably right,anyway I made a slight mistake.
from what I remember hearing,
Reportedly Sonny Liston was still only just 48 years old in February 1964 (his Birthday is May 8th)
and the rumour was after he defeated Muhammad Ali in the planned November 1964 re-match
in Boston,he was shortly a week afterwards going to gather the press for a press conference announcingto the world that.
"I'm getting too old for this Sh*t"
and then give a signal and someone was going to come up from behind back-stage with a wheel-barrow
with a big varnished three-foot section of an old Pine tree where his actual birthday was carved into it from almost 50 years earlier.