Muhammad Ali - Boxing Style

Boxing Style

Standing at 6'3" (1.91 m), Ali had a highly unorthodox style for a heavyweight boxer. Rather than the normal style of carrying the hands high to defend the face, he instead relied on foot speed and quickness to avoid punches, and carried his hands low. During the early part of Ali's career, he built a reputation for predicting rounds in which he would "finish" several opponents, and by boasting before his triumphs.

Ali admitted he adopted the latter practice from "Gorgeous" George Wagner, a popular professional wrestling champion in the Los Angeles area who drew thousands of fans. Often referred to as "the man you loved to hate," George could incite the crowd with a few heated remarks, and Ali followed suit.

Later, Ali responded to punches by lying on the ropes to withstand the blows, only to return the blows back, sometimes holding his opponents by the neck and taunting them for being "weak" and "slow" and "can't throw no punch". Starting in the mid-1960s, Ali would openly taunt his opponents in the ring sometimes taunting them as instructions were read and later on, hitting them and taunting them throughout. Ali's later style of laying on the ropes to avoid bigger punches while hitting back would later be cited as "the rope-a-dope", a style that had started during Ali's first fight with Frazier and became something of a trademark move following "The Rumble in the Jungle".