Sports

was when he fought Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams and Ernie Terrell, shortly before his forced 3.5 year retirement. He did fight Zora Folley after these two bouts, but did so because Zora, an aging contender, had never gotten a shot at the title when he was at his best (when Patterson held the title). It is worth noting that after Zora, Ali had agreed to fight Joe Frazier and Oscar Bonavena in ten round fights on the same night, with a 30-minute rest between fights.

The Ali of this time would have beat any heavyweight in history. He was at the peak of his physical and mental skills.