Would the heroic Ali of 77 that "Outgutted" the deadly Earnie Shavers have succumed to the Joe Louis of 1938?

Question

I wanted to "shake this up a little bit". If you always have Ali in his "Prime", most fans won't even give the other guy a shot!

So I'm pitting the gutsy Ali of 77 that "somehow" not only withstood the devastating Earnie Shavers, but actually found a way to out slugg the brutal monster toe to toe in the 15th round VS. The unbelievably focused, young Joe Louis of 1938 that won World War 2 in the ring by obliterating his former knockout conquerer Max Schmeling!

Who wins?

Does Ali digg down deep to find a "magical" performance for the ages OR Does the Brown Bomber stand over yet another vanquished foe?

Answer 1

Louis would have knocked that Ali out. You have to remember something my Dear, Ali spent the first half of his career showing that he could not be hit and the second (after his suspension) showing how much he could take it (ala rope a dope)

Answer 2

louis and ali are pretty similar in handspeed, and ali in this one would not have made louis look good.

ali tries to steal the rounds by coming on strong in the final 30 seconds (surprise surprise), but louis' punches are sharper than shavers' and he can catch ali with punches from any angles.

shavers is arguably the hardest puncher ever, but louis' punches are more sharper and crisper, but louis takes the decision in a safety first performance form ali.......if ali stands toe to toe with louis, a 35 year old ali will get stopped.

Answer 3

At this point in there careers Louis was in his prime Ali was not. Louis all the way. The very best Ali i say could outfinesse, outspeed and outthink Louis. Not to take anything from Louis one thing he had Ali never did was punching power. Yes the 1938 Louis was outstanding and could whip an Ali who was on the decline after Manila.

Answer 4

Two of THE GREATEST,Louis 24, Ali 35. Ali, clearly could have outwitted Joe to pull it off but Joe was actually the The Best of All Time and Ali's bag of Magic would have been exhausted by young Joe. Winner- LOUIS. Louis pulverized,paralyzed, or poked his way beyond a larger number of challengers than any other heavyweight king who wore the Royal Robe.  Howz about reversing the age now. Now I say adamantly ALI!!!

Answer 5

Ali would have got taken out by a 1938 Louis.he was shot in 1977 and the fact Louis was a finisher of the highest caliber would have left Ali broken

Answer 6

Ali in his prime would have had a hard fight with Lewis. This one is a no brainier. Ali was washed up after Frasier III. Yes he still gave some pretty good performances, but wouldn't have had a chance against a peak Lewis. Fun question though.

Answer 7

ali would have had to have produced the performance of his life to even be close in this one..louise's repitior  would cause ali immense problems and if ali was brave enough to go for the win would probably have been stopped out punched and brutalized..I think the most likely outcome would find ali trying to steal rounds late on and using spoiling tactics to survive,but could he?..I think louise tko round 12 after a courageous effort by a spent ali

Answer 8

shavers had ali out on the ropes in 76 i believe the bell saved him from going down but even ali admitted shavers had him out on the ropes i believe the young joe louis could of beaten ali at this point joe louis is in the top 3 i think ali would of beaten louis at any time in his prime but ali was aging when he fought shavers and a young louis would be a machine and he was also a much smarter fighter than shavers if louis got a fighter in trouble they never escaped and here we go with size again joe louis was usually between 198-215 lbs in his prime 215lbs is not much lighter than 220 lbsa prime louis was also 6 ft 2 he would of been easily 220 lbs in 1976 ali was the best of all time but by 1976 his skills had faded dramatically you put a joe louis that faced schmeiling in their second fight against ali 1976 louis would of ate him for dinner