Could Ali beat Lewis?

I just saw ESPN boxing analyst Max Kellerman make an interesting statment. When asked where Lewis ranked among the all time heavyweights, he said that he is one of the 14 best champions based on what he did in his era. He then went on to say that "in his era" is the only fair way to compare heavyweight champions because todays heavyweights are simply bigger and faster than their predecessors. He then said that Lewis would have dominated Larry Holmes and would likely beat Muhammed Ali, though he said that it was possible that Ali was great enough that he could pull off the "upset" against Lewis.


I thought it was an interesting series of comments in light of our recent p"ast vs present" athletic discussions.

Ali whooped Foreman and in my opinion big George was twice the fighter of Lewis.

one thing to keepin mind is that when ali was in his prime he was probably 40 pounds lighter than lewis. That said I think ali would beat lewis.


pat

That was Max's main point. That Ali in his prime is shorter and 35lbs lighter. There's a reason that fighters lose effectiveness as they move up in weight classes. An aging and clearly ineffective Evander Holyfield today would still beat up on Roy Jones. Height and weight make a huge difference.


He alluded to the fact that he thinks there should be a super heavyweight class introduced to the sport because of these huge height and weight differences between people in the same class.

It's reach that counts. Ali had an 81 inch reach. Right about equal to Lennox Lewis'. But Ali had 20 times more hand speed, foot speed, and evasiveness. The Ali that dominated Sonny Liston and Cleveland Williams would run circles around Lennox Lewis on the way to shutting him out. Lewis is in the same class as Buster Mathis and Jimmy Ellis. Even Joe Frazier, with all his head movements and weaving ability (two skills Mike Tyson had a bit of 12 years ago), would beat Lewis. Frazier would easily be able to cut off the ring against Lewis and then get inside his jab and under his right uppercut.

Puhlease! Lewis would get killed by a prime Ali or Holmes, but let's not get hysterical. LL is a huge man with very good boxing skills, above average jab & movement, excellent right hand, glass jaw.


He wouldn't beat Frazier or Foreman, either, but he'd destroy Mathis, Ellis, Patterson, Quarry, Bonavena, Norton, etc.


Buster Mathis, jesus. Thanks, I needed a laugh. [img]/images/smile.gif[/img]

I don't think so even though Mr. Ali is my only living hero I don't beleive he could do it.


If any of you remember Olympics of the sixties or probably even earlier, specifically the 26 mile Marathon - those guys would be delerious when and _if_ they crossed the finish line. It would be day's before they were 'normal' again. Women weren't even allowed to run a marathon because it was a known fact they weren't capable of that level of exertion.


Today accomplishing that medium distance 26 mile run isn't a deal any more. We now have 100 mile races, 24 hour races, and the ECO challenge. Middle distance runners now go out dancing later that night after a long run.


In that same vein, boxers of old weren't as conditioned, and/or trained as well as boxers of today. That being said, Ali is still my hero, and the greatest boxer I that I know!

against Tyson, he is simply too big to be beaten.. His jab is way too much for a guy who would be 40 pounds lighter..


Ali was amazing, but 40 pounds of muscle and reach is too much to overcome with Lennox;s experience..