Muhammad Ali is better than every heavyweight who has ever laced up the gloves, aside from one, says a legendary trainer.
In his career, the superstar proved his skills beyond doubt, mesmerizing fans with his tremendous footwork.
Ali got revenge on Alvin Lewis, who’d dropped him in sparring, and of course, produced one of the best performances of all time when he defeated George Foreman.
However, that wasn’t quite enough to earn him the number one spot in the eyes of a boxing aficionado.
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Joe Louis was better than Muhammad Ali, says Teddy Atlas
Teddy Atlas rates Muhammad Ali very highly.
During a breakdown of the top ten heavyweights of all time, the coach ranked ‘The Louisville Lip’ at number two.
During a video uploaded to his YouTube channel in March, he said: “A pretty damn good spot, but maybe not good enough for some of you.
“The first heavyweight ever to exhibit the speed of a lightweight. And he had a great chin, that we didn’t know he had in his first coming.”
The trainer then proceeded to claim that Joe Louis is the greatest heavyweight to have ever graced the ring.
Atlas said: “He was the baddest man on the planet before they even used that term.”
Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier got into a brutal street fight in a television studio
Regardless of whether Ali was better than Louis or not, there’s no doubting the showmanship he brought to the sport.
With incredible powers of charisma, the American paved the way for trash talkers around the world.
And it often annoyed his opponents.
During a particularly explosive encounter, Ali and Joe Frazier started brawling during a TV interview.