Muhamad Ali's "lost years".....
..the reach measurement given here if for "wingspan".... which means an advantage of one inch is actually only 1/2 inch for each arm. even if the "two inch" advantage is the correct one..this would giver lewis one inch on each arm. i think ali's overall skills would be enough to overcome this........ah....less than huge handicap.
..when ali fought billy joiner in the golden gloves...and lost....joiner was considered in most amateur circles ....including mine...to be the best prospect. because of mismanagement he never acheived his potential as a pro. by the time the talk of ali/joiner was going around..and it didn't go around very far...joiner wasn't in ali's class....although he did make a few sports pages by being the first fighter to go the distance with sonny liston after liston's string of kayos following his second defeat by ali. joiner had also been one of liston's kayo victims a year before his own distance fight. it was one of sonny's last fights....maybe three or four before his final one.