Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Louis who wins?

Question

Since it is a hypothetical question yes, they are both in their prime.

Answer 1

ali in his prime i believe would've beaten any boxer...his performance against foreman just showed how he wouldve found a way to beat anyone with a powerful punch

Answer 2

Although Ali would hold a height and reach advantage I believe that Joe Louis would have the ability to get inside the Ali jab. Louis wins if he knocks Ali out. Ali 60-40 % wins if it goes the distance. It would however be the greatest fight of all time.
Joe Louis at his prime had the second fastest hands of any heaveyweight behind Ali. However his punching power in both hands was the greatest. Jack Dempsey may have had a stronger left hook but when both hands are taken in to account Louis was the greatest puncher.
Ali could take a punch he had a great jaw but the only boxer Ali fought who came near Louis's power was Foreman. Louis however would not play the rope a dope game.
Louis would have just pressured Ali continually. He would have worked the body but also Ali's head, he wouldnt have allowed himself to be tied upand he sure as heck wouldnt have punched himself out by throwing so many relatively ineffective body shots

Answer 3

Got to say, Ali wins. I honestly think he would have had more trouble with Tyson that with Joe. Not to dis Louis, but that 40's crowd was as blind to his failings as the 70's hip sportswriters (Mailer et al.) were to Ali's, But even though Ali's being the greatest was self-proclaimed, it might well have been true. He was so fast, so versatile, so indominatable. I think Louis would have quit before he did (Tyson, almost certainly, as soon as he realized Ali was still there.) The only man as mentally tough (maybe tougher)than ali was Joe Frazier. I say ali makes Joe chase him for four rounds, then he starts in on him. It would look a little like the Cleavland Williams fight (Joe better than Williams natch) where Joe can't get set to dliver the boom. Keeps following gets frustrated, later round clay goes to work. No knock out, then Ali wins decision. Only chance would be Joe catches being too cute. Possible, Joe did have a pretty cool head, Still I say alie wins. Fight stopped in the eight.....Crap, now I really want to see that fight. Heaven, I guess. Then Dempsey Louis after that what a wonderful world!

Answer 4

Joe Louis, every punch he had, had knockout on it, even his jab, and he could box.

Ali was lightning fast and he punch.

The Louis against Max Schemling was vulnerable holding his left hand down low when he delivered a right cross, closing his eye when he delivered the big punch and Max exploited his weakness.

By the same token the Ali against Archie was exposed when he lifted his knee after Archie hit him in the stomach.

They may be in their prime but they only started learning the skills later on in their career as champions. I say one thing, they learnt from their mistakes and never repeated them again.

I'd go for Joe Louis but it would have been a classic. Ali would have had his work cut out. He never fought Doug Jones and that was one man who gave him hell in a fight.

Louis on the other hand had trouble with speedy boxers, and Ali was the fastest in the division. I'd go for Ali as well because they both have good reasons to make a good argument for a successful campaign. Too hard to pick.

Answer 5

Ali was a great boxer and a great ring technician with amazing footwork. He also used a lot of psychology on his opponents. Louis was a no nonsense straight ahead boxer/slugger who had probably the best killer instinct of any fighter who ever lived with great knockout power in either hand. I rank Louis as the 2nd greatest of all time behind undefeated Marciano and he held on to the title for almost 12 years! At his best I believe Joe would have had too much power for Muhammad. Ali would have won several early rounds with his dazzling speed but Joe would eventually have cornered him and stagger him with some signature right hand bombs. In a 15 round contest I believe that Joe would have knocked him out in 14 rounds in a terrific and exciting fight! Great question!

Answer 6

Let me say this first:
To garret b - calling Ali Cassius means that you are still fighting the Veitnam war. They are plenty of fighters that don't go by their real names. Watch out, both Patterson and Terrell got beat down by ALI because they refused to call Ali by his correct name.

To toughguy - some older people don't like Ali because of his politics.

Louis - W 69 (KO's 55) TF 72 - W pct 96% - KO pct 76% - wins over P. Carnera, M. Schemling and M.Baer - KO'ed by Marciano and Schemling (Ali would also take advantage of this chink in Joe invincibility) - #1 ranked puncher of all-time - 4th greatest fighter of all-time.
He iniated the bum of the month club.
The U.S. gov't used Joe for propaganda purposes during WW2 ( he even donated some of his purses). When he had tax problems, they could have let him pay something like 30 cents on a dollar.

Ali - W 56 (KO's 35) TF 61 - W pct 92% - KO pct 57% - wins over Frazier{2}, Liston[2], Foreman and Patterson{2} - KO'ed by Holmes (when he was washed up) - 3rd greatest fighter of all-time
Greatest chin (that is the reason for Ali's health today) and will/heart ever at any weight.
Great boxing skills and atheletic speed/prowess.

If Ali could take all these rated punchers Foreman (9), Moore (4), Liston (15) and Foster (17) punches I think he could with stand Joe.
Ali possibly Ko Joe like Schemling did.
Joe was out boxed by Conn and Ali would out -box, out-point and out think Joe and Ali had a better chin or punch than Conn.

P.S. Please excuse any mis-spelled words because spellcheck was not working.

Answer 7

Ali in his prime vs Louis in his prime. Ali, hands down.

Answer 8

Was Cassius Clay "the greatest' just because he said so? Of course not, but many people believe anything they hear indiscriminately. I've read many books on boxing. One has a panel of experts rate boxers since Marquis of Queensberry rules were adopted. They say Jim Jeffries was best and Jack Johnson was second. Cassius Clay rates tenth. Ahead of him are John L. Sullivan, Jack Dempsey, Rocky Marciano, Joe Louis and others. There was a computerized bout between Rocky and Cassius. The computer picked Marciano. I always agree with experts, not naive people, so I say Joe beats Cassius...who is surely the most over-rated boxer of all.

Answer 9

i am really surprised at some of the answers i've read here. louis always had trouble w/boxers and dancers movement, in general. ali would've been a blur on his radar that he would never have been able to catch - and that's how louis beat fleet-footed fighters, was to catch them late in the bout. ali could handle the best punches of far stronger men(liston, foreman, shavers) and could dance 15 straight rounds, in his prime, and he was much stronger than louis, physically; louis fought at, what, 185 lbs? ali's natural weight was 25 lbs or so more. as great a boxer/puncher/role model/symbol as he was, louis, on his best day, would have suffered the biggest, most embarrassing loss of his career had he fought ali. ali would've out-weighed, out-fought, out-reached, out-punched, and out-classed louis in what would've been a surprisingly easy fight for him. styles make boxing and louis' style would've been made-to-order for ali and he would've had a field day w/the brown bomber(of all the heavyweights, only jack johnson stood a realistic chance of beating ali - but only on paper, ali probably would've squeezed out a clooose win over him too!). as much as i love and respect joe louis, ali's speed, footwork, and underrated power would've spelled doom for this great man...and that's the fact, jack~

Answer 10

both men fought in differentg eras, both had about the same amount of bouts, louis was in the service for 4 years during his prime, he was a great fighter and ali was also during his prime, ali may win by a majoritydesision over 15 rounds, because of hand speed and reach,

Answer 11

Assuming both were alive and well, I think Ali would cream Louis. Don't get me wrong cuz Louis was good, but Ali was great.