In praise of The Greatest

[Vertigo]

Javaman, to further on the quote you made in reply 292, here's exactly what Joe Frazier said:
<span>Frazier: Joe Louis is the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. Rocky Marciano is second only to Louis. Where do I rate Ali? Somewhere below me. I beat him, and if I could beat him, no doubt Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano could have beat him.
I though you may like that
V.</span>

 

[Vertigo]

....and:
<span>Joe Louis:</span><span>
</span><span>(From the book "My Life: Joe Louis" by Joe Louis w/ Edna and Art Rust, Jr)</span><span>
</span><span>"That jabbing and running would have made it hard for me to catch a guy like Ali, but eventually I'd get him and knock him out. Ali's a great fighter, but I think a Rocky Marciano or Jack Dempsey would rate ahead of him. So would Walcott.Ali makes too many mistakes, his hands are down alot, and he takes too many punches to the body."</span><span>
V.</span>

 

[imported_Reservoir Dog]

I'm no boxing nutgrabber (in the same league many of you here are) but someone answer me one question...
How on earth can anyone in their right mind pick Lennox Lewis in their all time best-of-d-bestlist and compare him to many other greats, when the guy has one of the most suspect chins in heavyweight history?
These guys all seem to be (I'm assuming)pig punchers and KO kings, so wouldn't they all drop Lewis...easily? Having a good jab-reach and size surely doesn't make Lewis deserved of the top 10 heavies of all time...does it?
Just my spare $0.02's worth.

 

[imported_Reservoir Dog]

Guys. Go to the link under this (it's where the article is at ESBoxing)and scroll down on that page to the comments section.
Some good comments there on this article.
Some very good comments here too.
ARTICLE

 

[CanadianSteve]

Here's a good quote from one of the comments on that ES board:

I love these message boards-- going to war with someone whose face you have never seen, a war of words in which nobody wins...
Vertigo: re your post # 300. I think Frazier was a very skilled fighter, able to work in close and slip punches, always moving forward. His combination of skill and power made him such a difficult matchup for Ali. With Foreman you may have a point. When he was young he had frightening power, but maybe not much defensive skill. He was exposed by Ali in the fight in Zaire, much as Tyson was exposed by the skill of Holyfield in their first fight.

 

[imported_Trojan Horse]

I think Vertigo forwards a very clever agruement on message 300.
Now that I think of it, I tend to agree with him to much degree. Foreman too often is regarded as the "other" fighter in Zaire who could also now-and-thenthrow big knockout punches. I've never heard or read anywhere that Foreman was a skillfull fighter with oozing boxing abilities.
JMO.
Good observation Vertigo.

 

[CanadianSteve]

Bump one of the all time best threads (IMO)

 

[mainload]

Super thread. I agree with Ali being #1.

 

[CanadianSteve]

Welcome, mainload. Yes this was one of the best threads ever on this forum, which sadly has fallen into disuse. It's great that you could discover it and get some enjoyment from the discussion.

Steve