Muhammad Ali vs Wilt Chamberlain

Kriis · Post by **Kriis** » 25 Apr 2004, 12:55

I was watching a documentary on Wilt Chamberlain. It showed footage of both of them on a late night talk show and Wilt called out Ali to fight him. You could tell Ali was scared because his answers were like 'we'll have to see'.

Wilt Chamberlain (7'1" 275 pounds)

What do you think would have happened in this fight?

dempseyfire · Post by **dempseyfire** » 25 Apr 2004, 14:00

LOL you think Ali was scared of Wilt Chamberlain????

saad · Post by **saad** » 25 Apr 2004, 16:42

Gift decision for Ali.

DeuceOfSpades · Post by **DeuceOfSpades** » 25 Apr 2004, 19:32

size doesn't mean anything.

{amateur} · Post by **{amateur}** » 25 Apr 2004, 23:07

Its all how you use it isn't it!

jsc1973 · Post by **jsc1973** » 26 Apr 2004, 01:52

Ali would have KO'd Wilt by pounding on the big oaf until he wore out and dropped. Just because someone is a great athlete doesn't make them a great boxer, and here you'd be talking about someone who would be totally clueless in a pro boxing match against one of the most skilled boxers in history.

No way Ali was scared of Chamberlain, probably more perplexed than anything else. Ali wasn't scared of anything, which is part of the reason why he has the problems he does today. He was fearless and didn't know when to quit.

If it were as simple as Wilt thought it was, Too Tall Jones would have been heavyweight champion of the world, along with Alonzo Highsmith.

THE DANCING MASTER · Post by **THE DANCING MASTER** » 26 Apr 2004, 20:50

The idea of Ali fighting Chamberlain was being kicked around as far back as Ali's pre-draft conviction days. They both appeared on Wide World of Sports to talk about a fight with Cosell. This was in 1967, right after Ali had fought Zora Folley and just before he was stripped of the title. They brought out a measuring tape and Wilt's reach was over a foot longer than Ali's. Ali's main comment was "cut that beard off cause I'm not fightin' billy goats. "

The idea came again in 1971 I believe and this time it got as far as contract signings. As the story goes, when Wilt walked into the room Ali yelled "TIMBER!" and Chamberlain got up and walked out of the room and that was the end of it.

Was Ali afraid of Chamberlain? Hell No!!! :x

Jaclem · Post by **Jaclem** » 27 Apr 2004, 01:31

before chamberlin/ali there was talk of patterson/chamberlin and there were still photos of them that i recall in ring magazine. the size difference was even more extreme between those two, and the photo angles were such to exaggerate it even more. cus d'amato even promoted the idea.

just publicity. patterson would have run around chamberlin for a while until wilt the stilt was exhausted and then kayoed him....with nothing much more than a push or two. two entirely different types of athletes. a well conditioned fighter is the best conditioned athlete there is...most pro boxers start learning boxing when they're as young as 12 and by the time of their maturity are doing things automatically while the other fellow has to think about them....and it's no contest.

as for ali against chamberlin....ali would make it hilarious for a while....probably to the point where the crowd would actiually feel sorry for the poor giant a he looked around the ring trying to figure where his tormenter was.

Roll With The Punches · Post by **Roll With The Punches** » 27 Apr 2004, 10:12

a boxer vs a non-boxer

hmmm let me think

doubt he woulda beat a top 20 contender

perrycarter · Post by **perrycarter** » 27 Apr 2004, 13:43

I don't think there has ever been a matchup like it. That is why it causes so much intrigue and mystery. Who knows, maybe Wilt could have had a big punch to go along with his size and reach.

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 21 Sep 2005, 23:49

TIMBERRR!

Rory McCloskey · Post by **Rory McCloskey** » 21 Sep 2005, 23:58

Ali would make wilt look like a little school boy who just had his lunch money stolen by the biggest bully in the school... im sure wilt wasnt serious.. al would mess him up in however many rounds it took to put wilt into the hospital

PS (grimmmmmm dont answer this one haha) theres some history there

Rory McCloskey · Post by **Rory McCloskey** » 21 Sep 2005, 23:59

Roll With The Punches wrote:a boxer vs a non-boxer

hmmm let me think

doubt he woulda beat a top 20 contender

agreed..especially in the 70's

tiredoldngrey · Post by **tiredoldngrey** » 22 Sep 2005, 00:54

Ali would've cut the big oaf to pieces, if he stayed around long enough to be cut to pieces.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 22 Sep 2005, 01:14

timmbbbeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

ali tko 6 , a bakteball player vs a boxer is no match

Jaclem · Post by **Jaclem** » 22 Sep 2005, 01:34

..within the past few months a basketball player....don't know his name because i don't follow that activity....wanted to do a little boxing. in an interview he said the training and conditioning for playing basketball was "a joke compared to training for a fight. i think the training itself would weed out a lot of people for even thinking about gettinng into boxing." i loved this statement because there are some people who think a basketball player is the best conditioned athlete in sports, wheras those of us here know that a well conditioned boxer...and i mean WELL conditioned....is the most highly physically trained and best conditioned human being on the face of the earth.

oh..the guy....i think he won his fight. didn't get much coverage.

p.s. why has this thread being brought up again when we all agree on the results....which were never seriously considered in the first place.

Ezzard · Post by **Ezzard** » 22 Sep 2005, 04:14

seem to remembere posting this here before but a decent (top 10) middleweight would have beaten Wilt

enrique · Post by **enrique** » 22 Sep 2005, 12:58

Wilt would have scored a hundred points against Ali in a basketball court but Ali would have beaten Wilt to a pulp in a matter of minutes in a ring.

Look at Too Tall Jones, Gastineau and others. Being a gifted athlete does not guarantee that you will be a good fighter.

Ali's sparring partners -Cody Jones, Mel Turnbow, Terry Lee or Allan Harmon- would have chased Wilt out of the ring. They had skill, experience and knowledge that would neautralize Wilt's size and weight.

Having a drivers license does not qualify anyone for the Indy 500....