BoxRec

Is this a match that is even possible to calculate?

Mutual Assured Destruction?

BoxBuzz wrote:Is this a match that is even possible to calculate? Mutual Assured Destruction?

YEAH... You saw Vitali Klitschko weighing only 238 or something.. never saw VK that light ever.. but he stopped Sanders very brutally with savagely driven right hands.. It's like he did to Sam Peter the first time he was stopped.. Sanders is so easy to hit it's like teeing off on a golf ball.. One shot by Wilt Chamberlain and his head would go SPLAT!!! And they'd be hauling in the stretcher..

I'm not sure anyone would wish that on Sanders because it would be tantamount to murder. But they would buy Chamberlain-Ali because of the mythical, super hyped up status of Ali... Ali didn't look so mythical after the Frazier fight... and after Norton shattered his jaw... and after little neophyte, 6-0-1 Leon Spinks beat Ali up... and after Larry Holmes won every minute of every round while never getting hit with a decent punch... But myths die hard... Chamberlain would have destroyed the myth like a tiger pouncing on a deer.

I'm pretty sure that Corrie is the only boxer in history who stood a chance at beating Wilt; for anyone else with a chance you have to look to the NBA.

crusader wrote:I'm pretty sure that Corrie is the only boxer in history who stood a chance at beating Wilt; for anyone else with a chance you have to look to the NBA.

I'm pretty sure you're the biggest idiot off all time... I'm talking about a fight that everyone wanted to see.. that was painstakingly negotiated over several months while Chamberlain and Ali promoted it... and when it came time for Ali to put up or shut up, he wouldn't sign the negotiated agreement.. For no other reason than Canelo Alvarez has for ducking Gennady Golovkin -- and Leo Santa Cruz has for ducking Gary Russell.. because none of them wanted to face a certain KO loss.

I think this forum needs to declare a National Wilt Chamberlain Day!

Chamberlain is so tall I'm not sure anybody except Andre the Giant could beat him.

gilgamesh wrote:Chamberlain is so tall I'm not sure anybody except Andre the Giant could beat him.

Right Gilg.. Being tall is all that matters right??? Wilt didn't have anything else going for him except height and he holds more NBA records than basketball player in History. Amazing what height will do. Andre the Giant was by far the 2nd slowest human being on the planet, and couldn't play basketball in the NBA or ANYWHERE!!! but he just wins on sheer height I guess. On the other hand Andre grabbed the even slower Chuck Wepner - who went 15 rounds with Ali, and threw the pokey little plow horse into the 3rd row of seats. After all Andre weighed 400. Wepner weighed 219. Chalk that one up for Andre.

Kalan wrote:

gilgamesh wrote:Chamberlain is so tall I'm not sure anybody except Andre the Giant could beat him.

Right Gilg.. Being tall is all that matters right??? Wilt didn't have anything else going for him except height and he holds more NBA records than basketball player in History. Amazing what height will do. Andre the Giant was by far the 2nd slowest human being on the planet, and couldn't play basketball in the NBA or ANYWHERE!!! but he just wins on sheer height I guess. On the other hand Andre grabbed the even slower Chuck Wepner - who went 15 rounds with Ali, and threw the pokey little plow horse into the 3rd row of seats. After all Andre weighed 400. Wepner weighed 219. Chalk that one up for Andre.

Unlike you when I say something absolutely ridiculous I'm probably joking.

Where is the Bruce Lee V Mighty Mouse thread I can't seem to find it?

Mighty Mouse for me every time.

Is this thread a joke?
Obviously Corrie Sanders would have bolted out of his corner
slips a big stiff left jab and then
and immediatly hits the Big Dipper with a counter left punch to the liver
as he is seen grimancy on the canvas while being counted out.

gilgamesh wrote:Unlike you when I say something absolutely ridiculous I'm probably joking.

Yes you joke all the time, implying that a reasoned argument is a joke... since you think Henry Armstrong would have beaten Edwin Valero... and Ali would have beaten Wilt Chamberlain if Wilt has 6 months of intensive training in Boxing specifically to beat Ali - who was VERY far from being unhittable.. That's why Ali's in the shape he's in. Ali was a great human being. I'm not taking anything away from Ali the person, but 185-pound Henry Cooper planted one on Ali's jaw damned near knocking him out.. Wilt was 100 times the athlete Cooper was.

I have no idea whether Wilt Chamberlain was 100 times the athlete Henry Cooper was, but Henry Cooper would knock him out cold in a boxing match.

Kalan wrote:

gilgamesh wrote:Unlike you when I say something absolutely ridiculous I'm probably joking.

Yes you joke all the time, implying that a reasoned argument is a joke... since you think Henry Armstrong would have beaten Edwin Valero... and Ali would have beaten Wilt Chamberlain if Wilt has 6 months of intensive training in Boxing specifically to beat Ali - who was VERY far from being unhittable.. That's why Ali's in the shape he's in. Ali was a great human being. I'm not taking anything away from Ali the person, but 185-pound Henry Cooper planted one on Ali's jaw damned near knocking him out.. Wilt was 100 times the athlete Cooper was.

You are now dismissing henry cooper I see. A tremendously tough man who had a fabulous boxing career and also happened to have one of the hardest left hooks in heavyweight boxing history. I really have no idea why I'm writing this actually as you clearly can't see sense at all but boxing and other sports are totally different. That's why everyone is making a joke of this because it is a total joke. If you think people can pick up boxing in 6 months and then beat the greatest fighters of their era - why is it that boxers arent world champions 6 months after they start boxing - it takes years and years to master a sport, not to mention that boxing is one of the toughest sports in the world - its takes tremendous bravery to be a boxer.

Surely you must know that once human beings get to a certain size, punching power doesn't equate to the size of the fighter? there's are 100s of examples of this. Marciano a huge hitter for his size, joe frazier, mike tyson, david haye today en enormous puncher but basically a cruiser. I could go on all day - then of course there are the giants who couldn't punch really - carnera, valuev and numerous big lugs from todays heavys. Just cos someone is big and is exceptional at one sport means nothing when moving into another - nothing! To continue against such overwhelming ridicule on this forum is a bit silly really.

littleton.barry wrote:I have no idea whether Wilt Chamberlain was 100 times the athlete Henry Cooper was, but Henry Cooper would knock him out cold in a boxing match.

"Henry Cooper would knock him cold"?

Yeah, right.

I think it more likely Henry would have fainted when he realized what he was up against.

Some of you have NO clue about Wilt. He was once in a lifetime special.

Just stop it. You are embarrassing yourself.

Yes Chamblerlain was the best basketball player. If you want to argue that he was the greatest athlete of all time, fine. He has to be up there.

But to think in six months he would be a world class boxer is absurd.

How accurate of a puncher was he?
How was his handspeed?
How was his left hook?
Did he have great head movement?
Could he take a punch?
Would he know what to do if and when he got hurt?
Did he cut easily?
Would he know how to use his reach so that he could hit his opponent without being hit?
Was he great at cutting off the ring?

We could go on and on. The fact is that you don't know.
The odds are, he would not be remotely world class in any of those in that short of time.

There is little reason to believe he would be ready to fight 8 round fighters, let alone 10-round main events fighter, let alone Ali.

You don't become great at these things over night.

Chamberlain didn't become the greatest basketball player in the world six months after he touched a basketball the first time. It took him years.

Ambling Alp II wrote:Just stop it. You are embarrassing yourself.

Yes Chamblerlain was the best basketball player. If you want to argue that he was the greatest athlete of all time, fine. He has to be up there.

But to think in six months he would be a world class boxer is absurd.

How accurate of a puncher was he?
How was his handspeed?
How was his left hook?
Did he have great head movement?
Could he take a punch?
Would he know what to do if and when he got hurt?
Did he cut easily?
Would he know how to use his reach so that he could hit his opponent without being hit?
Was he great at cutting off the ring?

We could go on and on. The fact is that you don't know.
The odds are, he would not be remotely world class in any of those in that short of time.

There is little reason to believe he would be ready to fight 8 round fighters, let alone 10-round main events fighter, let alone Ali.

You don't become great at these things over night.

Chamberlain didn't become the greatest basketball player in the world six months after he touched a basketball the first time. It took him years.

"Did he have great head movement?"



Uh, how many cats are even going to reach his head?

"Was he great at cutting off the ring?"



Uh yes, I would expect him to be.

I could go on and on.

You are firmly entrenched in the box of conventionality.

We aren't dealing with the ordinary here, bud.

Valuev was about the same height as Chamberlain and got hit in the head many times by people roughly a foot shorter than him.

Barring freakishly short arms a HW should be able to punch a target that is 7 feet off the ground.

crusader wrote:Valuev was about the same height as Chamberlain and got hit in the head many times by people roughly a foot shorter than him.

Barring freakishly short arms a HW should be able to punch a target that is 7 feet off the ground.

Yep, they reached a big stiff like Valuev so therefore they automatically reach Chamberlain, right?

Good, deep thinking. (sarcasm)

What else you got?

You brushed aside a question about his head movement simply by suggesting that no one could reach his head, and my point is that heavyweights can reach high enough to land head shots on 7+ tall targets. Hence, questions about his head movement are still important and shouldn't be dismissed.

Funny how the stiff in this case is the world ranked boxer, not the guy with pretty much no boxing background. With a top pro trying to hit him, something he never had to deal with in professional bout, Chamberlain may well have stiffened up and been a fairly easy target; it's ridiculous to assume that because he was very tall and a good athlete that he would've strolled into boxing and been near impossible for top fighters to hit upstairs.

I've seen raw amateurs who where great athletes KO long time pros in a sparring session. Wladimir Klitschko had a ton more amateur and pro experience at a high level than Corrie Sanders. He was bigger and stronger and a massive favorite. Why was Sanders hitting WK with every left hand he threw??? Considering the fact that Hagler and Barkley wasted Tommy Hearns---why was Hearns able to bombard Duran non-stop when Hagler and Barkley couldn't do that to Duran??? Trainers who can't figure this stuff out always blame it on "Styles make Fights" but that's not the real story. The problem comes when missiles zoom in at you from angles you're not familiar with.

Those punches were coming in at angles Klitschko and Duran never saw before... There are tons of sparring partners Wilt can find who are 6'3" but how many sparring partners is Ali going to find that are 7'1" with shoulders as big and arms and legs as long as Wilt??? Chamberlain was one-of-a-kind!!! That's what Cus D'Amato was so excited about.. "Ali can't prepare for you. You think sparring with Bill Russell will help him??? Hell no. Ali's not going to find ANY sparring partners who can get him ready and we can find a dozen."

Boxing isn't Tennis, Swimming, or Track & Field. Everybody throws a little different and there's somebody out there who will kill you. One problem Klitschko had was finding sparring partners as tall and quick at Fury who could jab worth a damn. Big guys are pretty uncoordinated usually. It's rare to find a good athlete that size.

yancey wrote:

crusader wrote:Valuev was about the same height as Chamberlain and got hit in the head many times by people roughly a foot shorter than him.

Barring freakishly short arms a HW should be able to punch a target that is 7 feet off the ground.

Yep, they reached a big stiff like Valuev so therefore they automatically reach Chamberlain, right?

Good, deep thinking. (sarcasm)

What else you got?

I don't get your take on this.......are you saying there is something on the record that shows that Wilt could be a defensive master in boxing? A single frame of film that demonstrates he actually had some sort of punch evasion skillset? Other than his masterful "spin" when Ali batted his arm away in the interview with Cosell?