FRAT ahead - if you are gonna debate this post, please read through what I have to say without just skimming and saying "well Floyd never lost, so how could Ali be greater than him?"
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Don't get me wrong. This is poetry in motion as well
Facing Marquez and dominating him was a great feat - despite how many weight classes he had to jump up - perhaps looking back with hindsight, Floyd's best win against an elite opponent.
However, one thing about Ali, is by far and away, he faced tougher opponents than Floyd. I am NOT saying Floyd hand picks guys or faces shitty fighters all the time. But he has done it before, and even against Pacquiao, he waited until the very end to make this fight.
It's just the the golden era was full of dangerous, high level HW fighters. Ali fought them ALL. When you are fighting the absolute best possible guy every time you're out there, the chances of losing are a lot higher.
Let's not forget, Ali missed 3 and a half years of his prime when he skipped the draft.
THREE AND A HALF YEARS! That's like Dominick Cruz level of absence if not more.
IMO, wins over
Sonny Liston (twice)
Prime Foreman (when he was an unstoppable machine that no one even came close to beating)
Frazier (twice)
Ernie Shavers
Ken Norton (twice)
Leon Spinks (after already suffering from early stages of Parkinson's, Ali STILL went back and beat Spinks in the rematch)
Floyd Patterson (twice)
Jerry Quarry
Henry Cooper
Archie Moore
Cleveland Williams
Floyd's best wins are over
Vargas
Corrales
Castillo 2 (and he LOST that first fight, too, but hey the records say otherwise)
Oscar (at the end of his career)
Hatton
Mosley (at the tail end of his career)
Cotto (after sustaining serious brain damage from a glove loading cheat)
Canelo (all credit to Floyd here, no one thought he'd take the fight, but he did the smart thing in getting Canelo early)
You can throw in more names like Judah.. But are we really putting Zab Judah, Diego Corrales (RIP and all respect), Vargas and more on the same pedestal as Joe Frazier and Sonny Liston?
Those guys are all awesome, great fighters. Champions. But how many of those guys are going down in the all time great list? Not many.
Almost everyone I listed in Ali's names is a hall of famer, all time great. Liston, Foreman, Frazier, Norton, Patterson... etc. Floyd has never really beaten a guy that was as reputable as them.
He has beaten great fighters. I'm a HUGE Floyd fan. I don't hate him because of his personalty. I definitely don't admire or look up to the things he has done outside the ring, but I don't hate him because he's cocky or rich. I love him because of his skills in the ring, and his defense that is like no other. But greater than Ali? NO.
Is Marciano the greatest HW ever? Nope. He never lost, but how many guys did he face and beat with the reputation of Ali's opposition? Maricano faced everyone put in front of him, and never backed away from a fight. His best win name wise, over Joe Louis, came when Joe was long past it. Wins over Walcott, Charles and more were great. But those fighters were not Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Sonny Liston or Floyd Patterson.
Just because Floyd never lost does not make him the greatest automatically. This is something people get fooled by. They see "undefeated" and automatically thinks that means the best.
Ali's quality of opponents trumps Mayweathers. How can this be argued? Even some of the elite guys Floyd faced (Cotto, Marquez etc).. could easily have been considered past their prime by the time Floyd faced them.
In the last 6-7 years of Floyd's career since his initial retirement, aside from the Canelo fight, he very wisely and carefully selected his fights. Despite that, the last time Floyd got a KO was in 2007 against Hatton. He KO'd Victor Ortiz, but so would a lot of people when throwing a flush power shot at a guy standing there clueless and unprepared like a moron.
Ali finished A LOT of guys. The fact he finished Foreman when Foreman was KILLING EVERYONE, including knocking Joe Frazier down 6 times n 2 rounds... No one ever expected that. What monsters has Floyd ever beaten? When has Floyd has ever come back from adversity other than getting slightly wobbled by a 40 year old Mosley, holding on to regain his senses?
His fights in earlier years were more competitive maybe, like the Castillo fight (undefeated huh?).. but he never sat and got wailed on by someone like a prime George Foreman for 7 rounds, only to come back and knock him out cold.
Ali is the greatest. He shook up the world.
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Anyway. Long read, but I really think that if you break down their entire careers.. there is NO way that Floyd is greater than Ali. If anyone can make an argument using facts, with research into the fights when they happened, their opponents' careers at the time, etc.. I want to see it. I know an argument IS there, but when dissected in every way, I don't think it's the right one.
Either way? Can't wait for May 2nd : ) We probably won't see a fight this big at least for a couple of decades, unless Manny pulls off the miracle and they rematch.