BoxRec

i was thinking yesterday about who had the styles to beat ali. i always thought prob the only man was joe louis because of his all around skill. then i thought of marciano, but i felt ali would have outpointed him in a close decision though he couldnt pull rope a dope on marciano. i felt he would have at his peak out pointed frazier. and i felt he would have outpointed holmes cause holmes would have had to beat him at his own game.

THEN I THOUGHT ABOUT DEMPSEY. ali had trouble with left hookers and swarmers and body punchers. dempsey was a crowder who didnt give u much room, he was in a crouch but bobbed and weaved at times. he had a great thunderous left hook and would swarm u a lot and could body punch.

did dempsey had a good style to beat ali??? im not sure. dempsey did keep his hands low so ali could take him apart with jabs. dempsey also didnt have as good a chin as everyone thought so maybe ali could land some hard combos and stop him. ali was also strong and would be hard for dempsey to wear down.

but do u think dempsey with his left hook, swarming style when he had a men hurt, and body punching could have gave ali fits??????

id say he would give ali fits but i think ali would adjust and continue to land jabs and combos and outbox dempsey. if he gets lazy for careless, dempsey could put him out with the left hook, but ali had a lot of speed and i think ali would outpoint him. i just think dempsey had a lot of tools to give ali fits.

I agree BB. Dempsey was quick enough to keep up with Ali. That swarming style was utilised to great effect by Frazier and as you rightly point out Ali was susceptible to left hooks. I think Dempsey's left hook was one of the best in the division ever (I think it's probably between him and Frazier). His hands were low in some fights you see, but he could also come in with the crouch which would minimise that weakness.

I still think Ali wins but if he wasn't at the very top of his game then Dempsey could take him.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote: then i thought of marciano, but i felt ali would have outpointed him in a close decision though he couldnt pull rope a dope on marciano.

First...If you're going to match up Ali against an all time great, you're going to match the 1966-67 Ali...that Ali didn't 'rope a dope'...rope a dope was something he came up with out of fatigue, he was older, past his prime, and couldn't fight 3 minutes a round moving on his feet anymore...so rope a dope really wouldn't enter in to it...

Second...a prime Dempsey against a Prime Ali...I would think Ali would be able to stay away from Dempsey's power, but it wouldn't be easy...and he would get hit more often then he was used to in his prime...I think Ali would have an edge, but I'm not sure that if they fought 3 times, prime to prime, the same guy would win all 3...Dempsey could give Ali trouble with the hook...but Ali would make him miss more often than he connected...Ali would beat him to the punch for the most part..for Dempsey to be successful, he'd have to sell out to land some big shots like Frazier did the first time, he'd obviously have to take punishment to get inside...easier said than done against an Ali with the old foot speed who would be content to jab and run, circling away from that dangerous left hook...it would be a great match up...the Dempsey that lost to Tunney was coming off a 3 year layoff, so in his prime he most likely would have been a much tougher fight for Tunney...much tougher...that's why I wouldn't base the result of Ali-Dempsey on the Tunney defeats...I'd make Ali an 8-5 favorite to win...not exactly a guarantee...

i think dempsey would be able to pull it out if he trained hard and had enough stamina to swarm ali with punches in the early rounds..if dempsey could bring him to the ropes, and let his hands fly, i think dempsey could wear him out.. he had a great left hand and a great right hand, so i think 1 punch and ali could be knocked out if ali was still recovering from the swarm of punches and jabs being throw at him