This argument is nonsense.
1. Ali still would have beaten Cooper without the extra time to fix the glove. What have we learned about Ali's chin? He would have been fine in the next round, regardless of a slit in the glove.
2. Ali was clearly a better fighter in his next fight against Liston than he ever was before. He was clearly scared of Liston, and that fear drove him to become a better fighter. And he embarrassed listen in that fight. Made him look silly. And so you can't say Ali's prime began until the Liston fight.
3. In the first Liston fight and then every subsequent title defense until he lost his license, how many times did Ali take a clean shot to the face? You can probably count them one hand. You just couldn't hit the guy. And Lennox Lewis wouldn't have been able to hit the guy.
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