Quote Originally Posted by Master View Post
Joe Louis threw perfect punches and was efficient but Ali was all wrong for him.
The main thing about Joe Louis was he had a great knack for distance, he was great at knowing just how much room he had to work with. He rarely if ever reached on a punch, over extended, or short armed a punch. His punches were crisp, accurate, and landed solidly and that all goes along with he was damned difficult to beat. Now with Ali's head movement and footwork would Louis find it difficult to land? Well Joe Frazier who was pretty much a 1 armed fighter until later in his career when he was a 1 eyed fighter had little trouble pestering Ali, Frazier was also a bit of a plodder as well. I think an Ali-Louis fight is a LOT closer than people want to believe but then again that's the way most hypothetical matchups would be vs Ali. People think Ali was super human....he wasn't, he was just another boxer albeit a great one, but he had exploitable flaws just like anyone else.

An old Joe Louis beat up on Joe Walcott who was a very solid defensive fighter, very tricky, very cagey...he knocked Walcott out in their rematch. A Prime Joe Louis is as perfect of a boxer as you could dream up, big power in both hands, poured on the pressure, very good hand speed, big for his era, just a supremely talented boxer.