Welcome to another edition of What If?, as fates are decided in the heavyweight tournament group stage. Read the intro and method here. Catch up with the 1930s and 1970s group stage in Episodes 4 and 8. Previously, on What If: What's in a name? Or, perhaps more germane, what's in a nickname? Muhammad Ali is known to history as the Greatest of All Time, but thanks to a … [Read more...]
What If’s Excellent Heavyweight Adventure Part 8: Styles Make Chaos
Welcome to another edition of What If?, as the first round of the heavyweight tournament group stage continues. Read the intro and method here. Then catch up on the first group-stage fights from the Thirties and Seventies at this link. In the words of the Grateful Dead: Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me, Other times I can barely see. Lately it occurs to me What a … [Read more...]
What If’s Excellent Heavyweight Adventure Part 4: Only Legends Need Apply
Welcome to another edition of What If?, as the first round of the heavyweight tournament group stage continues. Read the intro and method here. Life is like a box of chocolates. You may get some different flavors, but for the most part you know exactly what you're going to get: chocolate. Last week, we saw this principle in action. Floyd Patterson couldn't beat Sonny … [Read more...]
Ken Norton, One Of The Greats Of Boxing’s Golden Age Passes At 70
Ken Norton, who has died at the age of 70, was one of the outstanding figures at a time when Heavyweight boxing ruled the world of sports in the 1970s. It was a time that saw the heavyweight division at its most talented and exciting, and Norton was one of the best of this time, alongside the legendary Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Larry Holmes and, of course, Muhammad … [Read more...]