Could Cassius Clay beat any of the greats Johnson Dempsey Marciano Louis?

Question

baer, moore or even me

Answer 1

Clay would lose to everyone but you.

Answer 2

Cassius Clay would have beaten any fighter you put in front of him, including the fighters you mentioned. None of those guys could have hit him. He was a defensive genius. His trainers used to bet on how many times he got hit in a round, and sometime the number would be as low as 3 punches. He had to much skill and quickness for Johnson. Dempsey wouldn't have been able to hit him and not to mention Clay towered over him. Marciano had trouble with the slickness of Jersey Joe Walcott. Clay would have made him look like a bloody mess. And Louis was just too slow to give Clay a fight. Remember when Louis fought Billy Conn? Conn was giving him a boxing lesson until he got cocky. Clay was 5 times the fighter Conn was and he was a FINISHER.

Answer 3

If by "Clay" you mean Muhammad Ali, and you're not some sort of closet-white racist who just got exposed, then I'll gladly answer your question. Look, Ali was one of the top five greatest heavyweights of all time. Where he ranks exactly has been a contentious issue for many years. I honestly don't know the answer to that one. And to all the Ali fans out there, I'll give you this: your man is certainly in a league of his own. That said, I'll give you what I think would happen if the names you mentioned above fought Ali (all in their primes of course):

Ali vs. Johnson: I see this fight as one of the most problematic and perhaps UGLY fights for Ali. Johnson was a master of defense. If he studied Ali's style intensively (and believe me, he would have), there's a good chance that he could have been the only man in history to knock him out. You see, Jack Johnson had that kind of power. He was a big man who could keep an opponent at bay, and he was also a master technician on the inside. Ali would have his problems with Johnson, but eventually, I believe would pull off a decision.

Ali vs. Dempsey: This would look a lot like the other fight proposed by Big-E. Poor Dempsey would be utterly confused. I see him being stopped on cuts in the middle of the fight.

Ali vs. Louis: I know I'm gonna catch Bert Sugar's wrath for saying this, but here it goes: Louis would lose a lopsided decision. The "Brown Bomber" would also be confused by Ali's unorthodox style. I don't see Louis as much of a problem for him.

Ali vs. Marciano: This is the fight that Ali would lose. Marciano had the power of a Tyson, coupled with much better movement than a Dempsey. The "Rock" really perfected Dempsey's crouching style. You can see in the bogus "Computer Fight" that a decrepidly OLD Marciano still had a threatening game. Ali, himself, said the Rock was hard to hit. If he was in his prime (and, okay..provided it was not stopped on cuts), Marciano would pull off a latter-round knockout.

Answer 4

You really can't ask that question and gain a correct answer. About every decade boxing training improves, boxing nutrition improve and heavyweights become biggers. You can compare Clay against Marciano because they were around during a close period in time but the rest truly weren't. I think that Marciano wears Clay down.........but hey that's only my opinion and you'll find many more that totally disagree..... that's what makes boxing so great!

Answer 5

Ali would KO Jack Johnson...Jack was floor by 160lbs Stanley Ketchel, he did came back and win the fight but his chin is questionable.
Ali would frustrate and win an unanimous decision from Jack Dempsey. Why? Dempsey always has problem with boxer, again puncher like Willard he won easily but against boxer like Tunney he lost twice. Ali can box like Tunney with greater reach...
Ali will outpoint Marciano like he did against Frazier, Marciano has short arm so he will never caught Ali. Remember Jersey Joe Walcott, Rocky was behind on point going in the 13th round when he caught him with the right hand. Ali who has greater reach than Walcott and much faster will do exactly what Walcott did but for the whole 15 rounds instead of 13 rounds.
Ali will decision Joe Louis. Remember Billy Conn, Billy was outboxing Joe for most part of the fight because Joe is slow footed until he got cocky and exchanging blow with Joe. Ali is too smart for that, he would use his speed and reach advantage to outbox Joe....

Answer 6

He could beat Dempsey,sharkey,tunney,johnson, and marciano, and louis because these are guys who don't go into the same category. Boxing for them was different than it was for Ali. Try to picture labron james playing b-ball in the 70's and how dominant he would have been. Ali would have trouble with a couple of fighters but he would have been victorious at the end

Answer 7

By saying Cassius Clay I assume you mean Ali before he was forced out of boxing. The Ali before the exile was simply unbeatable. His speed trumped anything else that went on in the ring the same way Roy Jones dominated greats like Toney and Hopkins. Muhammad was superman, the only 2 fighters that could have even been competitive would have been Holmes and Johnson, both of whom could have coped with Ali's speed advantage. I think we're beginning to forget how Ali's physical gifts were off-the-chart phenomenal.

Answer 8

He could likely beat Johnson. He could easily find himself losing to the others. He actually matches up better against Louis than the others due to styles.

Bundini:
Larry Holmes had a piston-like jab.
Wlad Klitschko has a piston-like jab.
Ali's biggest flaw was his fast but weak jab. He threw it while upright feet close together and moving backwards, eliminating any possible power. He could not keep a real man at bay with it.

Answer 9

I really do not know, for certain!
After all, this is only a layman's opinion!
And MuHammad-Ali,not Cassius-Clay, is one of my All-Time-Favorite-Athletes!
But I Believe He would have some Trouble Defeating any of them!
It would probably end with a Decision!

Answer 10

YES! He's faster and smarter than any of these guys that, no matter how hard they hit, they wouldn't be able to touch Clay. Clay would confuse these guys circling around the ring while throwing his piston-like left jab, then he'd come in and annihilate them with dazzling combinations that would hit their target with unbelievable precision. These guys would end up like Sonny Liston - hitting nothing but air and punching himself out.

Answer 11

first, you must study the rules and regulations of each and every fighter in his era and then compare them to todays standards, for example during the title of johnson and dempsey there was no neutral corner rule, another example today ringside doctors can stop a fight, this would have hurt marciano today, he was prone to cuts.