Joe Louis vs Muhammad Ali

Both men are at their prime

Victory by KO

MUHAMMAD ALIIIIIIII!!!

Speaking of which, here's a good article on how Louis would beat Ali. I'm not saying he would, but it's a good read.

http://coxscorner.tripod.com/alilouis.html

Ali

Ali would surely beat Lewis

Something I though that was pretty funny in this video is that at 1:05 when Joe cracks that joke and you hear everyone laugh, I couldn't help but think of this gif

@killerwasp: @cregan_stark: @pikachumonster: @darkgenex: How would you guys see the fight going down?

@warlordeternal: I see Ali winning by knockout. Honestly if you watch the fights from Lewis' era and Ali's you can really see not only how much the athletes evolves into bigger, faster, stronger men but you can also see how techniques evolved.

Lewis has a great jab and a great counterpunch, he's also fairly fast. However Ali is leagues above him in speed and I believe that he would be overwhelmed early and often by Ali.

I don't like putting athletes from past generations into future sports because they are generally outclassed physically (in most cases), for instance if you take an all time great like Dick Butkus and put him in today's NFL, he's going to be much too slow to be anywhere near as effective as he was in his era simply because the players and game have evolved.

@cregan_stark: I see what you mean. Joe and Muhammad basically represented the two different sides of the spectrum.

Louis was pretty much the pinnacle of orthodox fighting. He was trained to near perfection in the craft of boxing.

Ali represented the unorthodox way of fighting. We can see it all in his tactics. He employed his own style and kicked tons of ass.

@warlordeternal: :D

@warlordeternal: Muhammad Ali easily wins, Joe was too stationary and flat-footed, fast fighters usually gave him trouble, ergo Jersey Joe Walcott, a poor man's Muhammad Ali.

Yeah but That was post WW2 Louis, not the prime beast of 1938-42 who had obliterated just about every one of his challengers in an unrivaled stretch of dominance.

@warlordeternal: None of his caliber of competition matches Ali's competition. Joe has technical ability but he can't really stop Ali, or in fact KO him. He'd score a knockdown however.

@frozen: Alright. How would you picture the match going down?

@warlordeternal: Muhammad Ali's flicker jab keeps Joe off balance, his feet making Joe uneasy/bad timed because of the constant movement which only makes Ali more elusive, the 'stick and move' tactic will play in, cutting Joe up however Ali does play around in the early rounds so Joe would catch Ali quick with a fast, rapid combination, but it wouldn't put Ali down despite Joe's technical skill and quick, compact punches - Liston, Foreman, Frazier and Shavers all failed to put Ali down, only an old Ali was put down by Holmes and that's it - after that, Ali cranks it up a notch, keeps Joe at bay, tunes up the jabs and throws faster combinations, Joe constantly moving around the ring won't benefit his relaxed, textbook style which was universal for the 1930s/1940s, because he won't be able to effectively load combinations on the faster Ali.

ALI wins UNANIMOUS DECISION.

@frozen: good analysis.

@frozen: Good analysis you called it about right. I do think Ali would likely put Lewis down though.

I don't like comparing athletes from different eras at all.

Ali if he keeps Louis at bay with that jab.

I know this post is years old but I can't help but put in my two cents here. I can see Joe Louis pulling a knockout win. Louis was flat footed, yes but he was also extremely conditioned, his trainers putting him through a regime where he'd be able to go twenty rounds. An out of his prime Louis had trouble with the crafty and elusive Jersey Joe Walcott and was put to the canvas by well timed counters. Though he eventually caught Walcott in the second fight. Louis was not only a power puncher but a precision puncher as well never wasting shots like Foreman or Liston and always learned from his mistakes especially after his fights with Schmeling and Godoy.

Ali could move, best footwork of any heavyweight. And yes in his prime he could do it for the full fifteen. As long as he doesn't get cocky he'd be fine. Henry Cooper floored and seriously hurt him in their first fight and almost KO'ed him But early in his career he was floored by the limited Sonny Banks who despite having a single punch in his resume put Ali to the canvas. Doug Jones also exploited his weakness and rocked him not half way through the first round. Truth be told if you want to rate the greatest heavyweight of all time I can't blame anyone who would have either or in the top spot. But I do think Louis was the more technical and efficient of the two.