By Andrew Hall: Muhammad Ali is the most well known pugilist in history. He is a beloved figure all over the world. Any discussion of boxing will inevitably lead to discussion of Ali. Was he really The Greatest of All Time? I think he was certainly one of five all time greats but I think the claim to Greatest of All Time is only reserved for The Brown Bomber. In this article I want to discuss my main reasons why this is so. Firstly, I will discuss the fact that Ali was not as dominant a champion as Louis. Secondly, I will show that Ali did not have the boxing skills that Louis possessed. Thirdly, I will show that Louis had just as much heart and determination as Ali.
Joe Louis made an unprecedented 25 successful defenses of his title. He took on all comers, never ducking anyone. The same can be said for Muhammad Ali, too. Both of these men were great in their own time. Looking back over their careers, however, one can see that Joe Louis was the more dominant champion. Firstly, Louis knocked out a greater percentage of his opponents than Ali did. Secondly, when Louis won his decisions they were never in question. Ali had a few fights that were in question. A lot of boxing fans and scribes felt that Doug Jones defeated Ali in their fight (this took place two fights before Ali’s tangle with Sonny Liston). Doug Jones pressed the action and was able to land a plethora of quick punches on Cassius Clays jaw. The fight was close, and Clay was very lucky to be awarded that decision. There was never a fight that Louis won where he didn’t really win. All of Joe’s victories were on his merit alone. He was never given a dubious decision.
The next fight where Ali was given favorite treatment was when he fought Henry Cooper. This fight took place right before the Liston title fight. Henry Cooper landed a thunderous left hook that caused Clay to slide down the ropes. Clay was clearly hurt but luckily for him the bell rang. Angelo Dundee (Clays trainer) could see that his man was hurt. He saw that his fighters gloves were tearing so he tore them some more. He then showed the problem to the referee. The action was stopped for a few minutes to locate some replacement gloves. This, of course, allowed Clay more time to recover from the bone crunching jolt that Cooper landed. What would have happened had their been no issue with the gloves? We will never know.
Another fight where Ali was given biased treatment was when he fought Ken Norton for the third time. Ali himself told Ferdie Pacheco that he should retire after this fight and that he had clearly lost the fight (from the documentary “Ali: The Whole Story). Even the ring announcers felt that Norton had clearly won that fight. Thus, we can see that Ali was not as dominant a champion as Louis. He struggled against a lot of fighters. Yes, Louis struggled but there was more of a finality to his bouts. If he struggled, he didn’t win a close decision he knocked them out.
The second reason Louis was greater than Ali is because he was a better boxer. Louis didn’t have a single fundamental flaw. He was the Prince of Pugilism. He was the reincarnation of the great Joe Gans? He was cool, calm, and collected. His offense was spectacular. He could punch with either hand and was usually too busy breaking his man down to be hit himself. He had the ability to pick punches off just like some of old masters like Jack Johnson. The only chink in his armor was his lack of ability to pick off an opponents right (this was fixed after his disastrous fight with Schmeling). Besides that, however, he had tremendous defensive skills.
Ali was easy to hit. Granted, the guy had a chin like iron but he was rather easy to hit for a guy his size. Even in his early years he was easy to hit. Sonny Banks dropped him as did Henry Cooper (both of whom were supposed to be stepping stones for Ali). This shows that Ali was not so great in terms of defense. Later in his career he was thumped with reckless abandon by Joe Fraziers left hook. Now, I’m not putting down Joe Frazier by any means but any boxer worth his salt would not be hit as many times as Ali was by that easily telegraphed left hook. Had that been Louis in the ring with Frazier, Louis would have destroyed Frazier with straight right hands. Any master from the past would have easily dealt with many of Ali’s noteworthy opponents.
The third reason that Louis was better than Ali was because he was neck in neck with Ali in terms of heart and dedication. No matter what one says about Ali he had the heart of a lion. He never gave up and he won many a battle by being willing to continue on despite adversity. Louis was Ali’s equal in this regard though.
To see the heart of Joe Louis all one must do is look at his only defeat during his prime years. The beating he took against Max Schmeling was truly something to behold. Most fighters would have been done by round 5 or 6. Louis, by contrast, lasted all the way until the 12th round. He took a helluva beating in that fight. He continued to battle Schmeling all the way until he was finally knocked out.
Louis fought many hard punchers just as Ali did. He faced Abe Simon, Tony Galento, Max Baer, and Buddy Baer. All of these men bounced shots off of Louis’ skull but didn’t not hurt him. Those who say Louis had a weak chin are lacking in boxing knowledge. The man had an incredible ability to take punches. Was Ali, perhaps, a little better at taking punches? I would say yes, but just by a little bit. In terms of heart, though, they stood neck and neck.
In conclusion, I think Ali was certainly a great champion. He is on my list of all time greats at number 3 (behind Joe Louis and Larry Holmes) I think both men deserve a higher rating because they both possessed better boxing skills than Ali. Ali had a better chin than both men but both men hit harder and had better defensive skills. Ali was in a class all his own in terms of transcending the sport of boxing but Louis was Ali’s master as far as overall boxing ability and punching power are concerned.