How fast could muhammad ali punch

However, on this occasion, the boxing legend, who died last Friday at age 74 in Phoenix, Arizona, only took three rounds to knock out Cooper, who had already shown resilience to the fury that Ali unleashed upon him. Live Audio Only. Havana, Cuba. Photo: File. Having already defeated Joe Erskine to win the British and Commonwealth heavyweight title in , he came into the fight with more experience, being eight years older than Ali.

Ali, however, duly delivered as he put on a masterclass to knock London out in the third round. With his opponent only landing one punch in the whole fight and having been in complete control, Ali decided to finish the contest with a rapid succession of punches, showing remarkable hand speed rarely seen today. Twelve punches in 2. Of course, he would go on to create further history.

Big George was with 37 knockouts and had simply annihilated the two men Frazier and Norton that had given Ali his toughest fights. In a brilliant strategic fight Ali sought to tire his man by fighting off the ropes, pulling back, evading and rolling with all of his opponent's hardest punches and then countering with quick jabs and right hand leads.

In the eighth round Ali caught a visibly tiring Foreman chasing him off the ropes and knocked him out. Ali's popularity soared and he would make 10 successful title defenses in his second reign as champion, one of them a rubber match with Joe Frazier. Many analysts have called the third fight with Frazier the greatest heavyweight championship fight in history. It was described as a drama in 3 acts by the Oct.

Muhammad pummeled his foe in the first five rounds. In the third Frazier was shaken twice as Ali hit him at will with his quick two-fisted attack. In the middle rounds Frazier began to work his way back into the fight with strong body punching. He started the first two rounds well, with London reportedly only landing one punch in the fight, before completing the knockout with the 10th of the quickfire 12 punches.

He would, of course, gain his revenge on Fraizer, winning two bouts against him in subsequent years. London, meanwhile, was aged 32 at the time of the Ali fight, eight years older than his opponent, and would only win a further two fights before retirement.