Former HW Champions Who Could, and Could Not Compete in Today's Era?

FightGuyOpenMind

FightGuyOpenMind

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After the Wilder Fury fight, I got to thinking to myself how big these guys are in the division today. Wilder at 6'7, and Fury towering at 6'9.

A guy I know says Ali would have smoked all these guys. I said I don't know, the boxers today are really big. They may have gave Ali's style some problems.

Let's consider the current era to date back to 2000. Consider guys like Klitschko, Valuev, Fury, Joshua, Wilder, etc.

What former HW champions do you think would have still done well in today's era of giants? Which ones do you think would have struggled?
 
Ali and Holmes for sure.

If we're thinking about giving the former HW greats the same training and benefits modern fighters have at their disposal from the get go, then no reason to think they wouldn't have matured into all time greats even in this age. And I'm saying this all the way back to the likes of Johnson and Jeffries.
 
Alcibiades007 said:
Ali and Holmes for sure.

If we're thinking about giving the former HW greats the same training and benefits modern fighters have at their disposal from the get go, then no reason to think they wouldn't have matured into all time greats even in this age. And I'm saying this all the way back to the likes of Johnson and Jeffries.
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Do you think Ali could box a guy like Fury?

Would we even see the same Ali that we're accustomed to, or would it have to look all together different?

What about Marciano? Granted he was small, and may not have fought HW today. However, let's put him in the conversation. Do you think Marciano's power would be transferrable to today's division?
 
Marciano would have got demolished in the modern eras, IMO.
 
I think Primo Carnera, and Jess Willard are only ones with the size to have a chance.
 
FightGuyOpenMind said:
Do you think Ali could box a guy like Fury?

Would we even see the same Ali that we're accustomed to, or would it have to look all together different?

What about Marciano? Granted he was small, and may not have fought HW today. However, let's put him in the conversation. Do you think Marciano's power would be transferrable to today's division?
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Marciano would just move down to LHW, and be fine there.
 
FightGuyOpenMind said:
The guy was 7'0. I've seen the shorter guy outbox the giant, but Ali was an outside fighter. I think he'd be fighting the wrong fight. His size may have been bad for Ali's style.
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I mean.. the gap in skill there is massive. It's not like Ali couldn't fight on the inside, and Valuev sucks.
 
Minowafanatic said:
I mean.. the gap in skill there is massive. It's not like Ali couldn't fight on the inside, and Valuev sucks.
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What if he made Ali carry his weight in the clinch? lol I'm just messing now. I just think the fight would look comical.
 
FightGuyOpenMind said:
What if he made Ali carry his weight in the clinch? lol I'm just messing now. I just think the fight would look comical.
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Haye's a very similar kind of size to Ali without as much skill and still easily outboxed Valuev.

Also, the 90s crop of heavyweights were still more talented than the ones we have right now. Holyfield, Bowe, Tyson, Lewis. They'd beatFury/Wilder/Joshua/Usyk in head to head matchups, but the modern group still have time to develop obviously. And you can go a little further back and see the connections from that 90s era to the earlier talentpools, Holmes, Ali, Frazier, Ken Norton, Foreman etc, all those guys would be fine today. The big guys we have right now are all powerful and athletic but they're not too skilled compared to heavyweight greats. Fury can be outhustled, Wilder's sloppy, Joshua's stiff. They've all got issues.
 
FightGuyOpenMind said:
Do you think Ali could box a guy like Fury?

Would we even see the same Ali that we're accustomed to, or would it have to look all together different?

What about Marciano? Granted he was small, and may not have fought HW today. However, let's put him in the conversation. Do you think Marciano's power would be transferrable to today's division?
Click to expand...

Allot of peeps think the era of small strong HWs is over. Marciano was the guy who liked to dish it out so it depends who he fought. I can imagine him in today age as having more powerful punches than anybody in the last 30 years, including Tyson.
 
Minowafanatic said:
Haye's a very similar kind of size to Ali without as much skill and still easily outboxed Valuev.

Also, the 90s crop of heavyweights were still more talented than the ones we have right now. Holyfield, Bowe, Tyson, Lewis. They'd beatFury/Wilder/Joshua/Usyk in head to head matchups, but the modern group still have time to develop obviously. And you can go a little further back and see the connections from that 90s era to the earlier talentpools, Holmes, Ali, Frazier, Ken Norton, Foreman etc, all those guys would be fine today. The big guys we have right now are all powerful and athletic but they're not too skilled compared to heavyweight greats. Fury can be outhustled, Wilder's sloppy, Joshua's stiff. They've all got issues.
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Good assessment. You think Smokin' Joe would do good with his style? I've heard arguments that his style wouldn't have crossed over to the modern era well. Too square, and too flat footed.
 
FightGuyOpenMind said:
The guy was 7'0. I've seen the shorter guy outbox the giant, but Ali was an outside fighter. I think he'd be fighting the wrong fight. His size may have been bad for Ali's style.
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Holyfield was clearly a smaller man than Ali and a 85 year old version of Holyfield was robbed against Valuev.
 
If they have to fight at HW, guys like Marciano and Patterson would get wrecked. I believe the only pre 60's fighter who could win most fights against modern champions is Joe Louis. Fighters from the 60's forward like Liston, Ali and Holmes would actually beat most of the big modern day fighters IMO.
 
Obviously guys like Joe Louis would be incredibly outsized.... but who knows? With his dedication and access to modern training methods he could have been a killer
 
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