Vitali vs Ali

[Gary]

Last night I watched the computer superfight between Ali and Marciano which Rocky won by KO. As I watched this fight which took place in 1969, I thought this is Ali in his prime who has his hands full with a 42 year old man! Yes I believe Rocky would win had they fought, the ring for this computer fight was very small which would have favored Rocky. But the main impression I got was that Vitali Klitschko would have had very little trouble beating Ali. Ali was 6'3 215[Frazier fight] 80 inch reach. His record was 56-5 with 37 KO's, he was given gift wins over Doug Jones,Ken Norton and Jimmy Young. Vitali was 6'8 [5 inches taller] and was 250 [Kirk Johnson fight]. His record was 35-2 with 34 KO's. Vitali was never down and was never behind in a fight. Ali lost 5 times and was down several times.
Vitali was to big,to skilled,to tough to lose to Ali. Ali would look skinny and small compared to Vitali and Vitali would stop him in the later rounds. VITALI WAS A GREATER FIGHTER THEN ALI-Believe it!!!!

 

[Gary]

Ali was down 4 times by Sonny Banks,Henry Cooper,Joe Frazier and Chuck Wepner. I do think Ali had a good chin he stood up to punch's thrown by Foreman,Holmes and Shavers BUT he never fought a 6'8 250lb Ukrainian!! How is Ali going to beat Vitali??? Long range from the outside? NO!! Vitali has an 80 inch and a good jab,how about in close? NO!! Ali is not a big puncher,Vitali can take a good shot and has never been down-plus he will outweight Ali by 30lbs [all muscle].Come on even the jock sniffers will have to admit Ali would be in for the fight of his life [and would still lose]. Vitali by TKO in 11 rounds!

 

[Gary]

Jack Dempsey would have KO'd Ali so would Jim Jeffries. Dempsey was in great shape in his prime and was a very hard hitter with fast hands. Jack could pin Ali against the ropes and hit like a savage. Dempsey by KO. Jeffries was just to strong for Ali-Jeffries by late KO. Don't forget Gene Tunney the master boxer!!

 

[White_Savage]

My take:

Ali vrs. Marciano-50-50, Marciano by KO or Ali by cut stoppage. He reportedly took Ali to the canvass with a bodyshot during the filming of the "computer fight". Since Ali did not respect bodyshots, never learned to defend them except by showing up in shape, Marciano's power down low would have been a shock to him. Win or lose, Ali would probably piss blood for a week after his fight with Marciano, as he did after his fight with the much less powerful Chuvalo.

Dempsey, Jeffries, ditto.

Vitali? The winner at least 8 out of 10, no question. Foreman SHOULD have destroyed Ali, if he had not been so psychologically whipped. Prime Vitali, as I have demonstrated in another thread was as good or better than Foreman-91% knockout ratio, never been down, never been outscored in a fight, and Vitali would not have been succeptible to Ali's taunting tactics.

 

[Freedom]

I've never boxed, but I think that today Vitali would win easily. However, from watching old fights and Cinderella Man, I think that Marciano would definitely win in the 1950s and Ali could possibly win also. Marciano in the old days could do more things to use his lower center of gravity to control the inside. Today, especially in the Olympics

, the refs care more about punch technique than inside control and are distancing boxing from actual clean fighting. Don't forget that Tyson defeated bigger opponents by attacking the arms and getting inside sometimes.

As for Ali, he could fight well and was the best fighter of his era. He could beat Vitali if he tired him out and was in better shape than he was in the Liston fight when he cheated(cut his gloves). He could tire out Vitali possibly. He would have to attack Vitali's arms and out point him. Edited by: Freedom

 

[jcolec02]

I dont see Ali winning at all...he couldnt knock him out...and Vitali has a huge power, reach, and size advantage...so he couldnt out-point him either...Foreman Vs. Vitali would b a much closer fight

 

[White Shogun]

If Vitali didn't KO Ali, the judges would give him a gift decision the way they often do when a black poster boy for the sport fights a no-name (read: non-black.) The fight would probably be stopped on a 'cut' if Vitali got a fat lip. Couldn't have a loss to a Ukrainian nobody tarnish the rep of "The Greatest."