here is the thing. the closer you come to the
top of the pyramid the closer the quality of
the fighters you are judging. in this case we
talk about the best of all eras, that has to be
very close. styles make fights though and
while i am undecided who is the greatest in
history, in a direct matchup muhammad has
a slight edge. his natural abilities made him
cope quite well with big punchers not to speak
of his enormous absorbing capabilities, and
her in particular at the mid section. so even
if joe can get into good distance it is far from
over when he lands something.
in the end: ali for me due to style. of course
talking prime for prime, meaning both in
their mid twenties.