Home

Boxing

“No One Ever Came Close”: Muhammad Ali Detailing Qualities of the Fighter Who Could Beat Him in Forgotten Clip Makes Fans Nostalgic

Published 10/14/2023, 6:01 PM EDT

Follow Us

via Getty

Muhammad Ali is the most iconic personality in not only boxing but in the entire sports history. He was known for his slick movements inside the ring and his strong ideals in the outside world. He held the Ring Magazine heavyweight title from 1964 to 1970. Ali engraved his name on the plaque of greatness after he portrayed the perfect display of the rope-a-dope technique. Later, he went on to be considered by many to be one of the greatest heavyweight champions to set foot on the boxing canvas.

Ali fought around 61 fights in his boxing career. He has been defeated only five times and knocked out only once. So, there were only a few contenders who could actually escape the ‘Ali Shuffle’, so in a famous interview with Michael Parkinson, he gave details about an ideal fighter who could have the potential to put him down. The fans were sent down the memory lane with the resurfaced video.

Muhammad Ali talking about his ideal fighter presents fans with a silhouette of a great fighter

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Muhammad Ali talks about how his ideal conqueror needs to be better than him in every aspect of fighting. He said, “He’d have to be about my height, a little taller, he’ll have to be about 1/10 of a second faster. He’ll have to hit real hard, he’ll have to be faster than me on his feet. He’ll have to be more experienced.”

After this long list, ‘The Greatest’ stated that anybody who wants to check everything on this list, the fighter will have to work hard to achieve this. Then he also added that if he really fought seriously, and for a cause, there’s nobody in this sport who could actually beat him in the boxing fight. Let’s see what the fans say about this.

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest Boxing stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

One of the fans stated that Muhammad Ali should have also added his stamina and strong chin to the list. They wrote, “Ali left out the most important element – ability to take a punch. Along with his stamina, his chin became his biggest weapon in his later years.

Another fan embellished what Ali stated, and mentioned that the ideal fighter needs to be the modified version of Ali. They wrote, “Basically Ali 2.0!

One fan pointed out that there’s nobody in the modern age or before who could come near the skills of Ali. They wrote, “Well no one ever came close lol. After all these decades. You still the GOAT.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

A fan pitched in to say that the closest fighter that resembles the described criteria is none other than Larry Holmes. They wrote, “Ali pretty much described Larry Holmes in there future match“.

A YouTube user claimed that prime Mike Tyson would’ve been able to defeat prime Muhammad Ali. They wrote, “Controversial but prime mike could’ve taken prime ali.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

The fans only wrote great things about Ali’s description of an ideal fighter. It’s still amazing to see that the fans are still in awe of the greatness of the boxing legend. What are your thoughts about this? Let us know in the comments section.

Watch This Story: Not Just Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali’s Daughter Laila Ali Also Once Backed Tennis Icon Serena Williams to do the Unthinkable

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Chirag Radhyan

2,060Articles

One take at a time

Chirag Radhyan is a Boxing Writer at EssentiallySports. He has authored over 300 articles and loves to talk about the animosity between athletes, leading up to a fight. His coverage of the off-court drama between Jake Paul and Tommy Fury received widespread appreciation from readers.
Show More>

Edited by:

Gokul Pillai