How can Muhammad Ali be called "the greatest" when?

Question

Rocky Marciano is the only heavyweight in the history of boxing to retire undefeated.

Answer 1

The two never fought. So its hard to compare.
Ali has the copyright for being called "the greatest", so no one else can be called that.

Answer 2

A lot of people ask that question. It is really simple. Rocky fought in an era where the talent was depleted due to the wars..WWII and Korea. Another is the fact that Rocky only weighed 185 which would be between a cruiser and light heavyweight today. Taking nothing away from Rocky,he beat everyone that was in front of him. However he needed some dramatic late round knockouts to pull out some fights that he was losing badly. I think that Ali would not have had too much trouble with Rocky,Ali could take a punch better than anyone. He let Foreman(who many consider the hardest puncher ever)pound on him for 6-7 rounds until he tired and then knocked him out. I dont think Rocky would be able to knock Ali out,and everyone knows that he could not out point Ali. Also,Rocky had a tendency to cut,Ali had a jab that was known to cut people like a razor. I see the fight ending due to cuts or tko somewhere around the seventh or eighth round. I think Rocky would have probably been the greatest LHW or Cruiserweight should he fight with todays weight classes. He was a tough warrior who never gave up. I think the most underrated of the heavyweight champions is Larry Holmes,he had a devastating jab that punished as well as creating distance for his lethal right cross. I think he would have beaten most in his prime...except maybe Ali. My top 5. are as follows

1) Ali (without a doubt)
2) Holmes(never gets the credit he deserves)
3) Louis(natural born puncher with technique)
4) Johnson(Jack,that is,never gets the credit because of the prejudiced times he lived in. He was Ali before there was an Ali..lol)
5)Marciano(Hard to argue 49-0)

Answer 3

Probably cause Muhammad Ali was entertaining to watch at the same time. I've never heard of Rocky Marciano, but I'm pretty sure everyone has heard of Muhammad Ali. It's all about what you bring to the sport, and he not only was a good boxer, but he entertained people too, and brought more viewers to Boxing.

Answer 4

For the same reason that Babe Ruth is considered the greatest baseball player when there is no doubt that Ty Cobb is the best of the best. The sport needed a "hero" at the time and it can be summed up in one word......."publicity". If you have any talent at all, someone with a few contacts, and money to back you up, people can be convinced of just about anything you want to tell them.

Marciano was the greatest heavyweight of all times.......no one else comes close. If they had a fight, Ali would be down and out in 3 rounds or less.

Answer 5

He retired undefeated, sure. Against who?
Top 5: Ali. Fought and beat the best there were in the greatest era of heavyweights ever.
George Foreman. Had two separate careers ten years apart. Second career was more successful than the first. Won title for second time at 45. Oldest BOXING champion ever.
Larry Holmes. Most underrated heavywight in history. Made almost twenty defenses against much younger men. Best jab in history of division.
Evander Holyfield. History will prove me correct. Only four time champ in history. Competed and was successful in very competetive era of heavyweights. Was able to overcome the odds and beat much bigger, supposedly better opposition like Mike Tyson.
Joe Louis. Twenty five defenses. Most in history in ANY division. And he did it at a time when there were 8 divisions and only one champion in those divisions.

Answer 6

Showmanship and timing. Ali came along at a time when people had become to worship athletes more than they did during Marciano's time.

Plus, a main reason Ali is called the greatest is because he started calling himself the greatest. A lot of it is self-promotion. Ali was flamboyant. Marciano was blue-collar, all business. He would never have promoted himself.

Answer 7

Boxing is a game of match-ups. So lets match-up Marciano and Ali. The fight takes place in both fighter's primes, and lets match them up physically. Ali: 6'3" 80" reach 212 lbs. Marciano: 5'10" 67" reach 184 lbs. Marciano's characteristics in his prime were a good chin, relentless pressure, ability to get inside and punch to the body, and one punch knockout power. He would also take a lot of punches to get inside, and his other weakness was his susceptibility to being cut and cut badly. His defense was not the tightest. Ali's characteristics in his prime were an iron chin, extremely fast hand and foot speed, (we're talking about the Ali of the sixties not the seventies) endurance to move constantly for 15 rounds, and control the fight with his flicking jab until he wore his opponent down. His ability to psyche his opponents out.(although I don't think Marciano would've fallen for his psyche) and great reflexes defensively. Ali's weaknesses were to sometimes take his opponents too lightly, His susceptibility to getting hit with a left hook (Marciano had a great left hook and right cross), And playing with his opponents for a couple of rounds. I think the fight would have been fairly close with Marciano doing plenty of damage but Ali's speed of hand and foot would be too much. I think the fight would be stopped because of excessive damage to Marciano's face. Ali wins by TKO due to cuts in round 13 or 14.

Answer 8

because Ali fought during the peak of boxing's popularity.
It's hard to say who was really better, but the quality of Ali's opponents were much higher than Marciano's - the guys Ali fought against are considered some of the best in the history of the sport.

Answer 9

It is all a matter of perspective and the era in which they boxed. Look at mike tyson for example. The press turned him into this great boxer but he in reality is a piece of crap as a boxer. Mike tyson rose through the ranks because there was NOBODY worth a damn out there when he made his run. Anybody worth a snot beat the hell out of him. . . . Buster Douglass, Evander Holyfield. . . exposed him for the fraud he is. In their primes . . Muhammed ALi, George Foremen, Joe Frazier, Joe Louis. . . they all would have knocked tyson the degenerate into next week! Muhammed Ali also self proclaimed himself the Greatest of All time and the pressed picked it up and stuck with it.

Answer 10

Whos knows, here are some stats, though:

Rocky:

Total fights 49
Wins 49
Wins by KO 43

Ali

Total fights 61
Wins 56
Wins by KO 37
Losses 5

Answer 11

Do u really think Marciano would have beat Ali?

different time periods. If they fight in their prime, most would still give it to Ali.

come on lets be real.