It's true. About two years ago I bought the entire career sets of Floyd Mayweather, Juan Manuel Marquez & Shane Mosley and it amazed me how little change all three fighters had shown from start to finish. Probably Mosley more so, which really is madness!
And Ali, also. He was a special fighter in his prime, his balletic ability for a heavyweight is completely unrivalled even to this day.
After that It was all guts and wit. Like you said, he grew to be a big man eventually and actually out weighed many of his opponents during his 2nd career.
He wasn't nearly as un-hittable as some people would like to think, nor as fast. He was awful in his first fight with Fraizer and I think on numerous occasions, further down the road, he outfoxed the judges nearly as much as his opponents. But his intestinal fortitude was ridiculous. Again, something that is probably unrivalled.
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