How fast was Muhammad ali?

Answer 1

I've seen a YouTube video of him in training and some scenes of his fights, where they showed his speed. Then I stopped time while I watched him punching and doing the "Ali shuffle" and looked how fast he was. Here are the results:

Hand speed:

- 60's Ali(prime): 5 punches in 1 second

- 70's Ali-ca. 1974: 4 punches in 1 second

Footwork speed:

- 60's Ali(prime): 7 footsteps in 1 second

- 70's Ali-ca. 1974: 5 footsteps in 1 second

I took Mike Tyson for comparsion and made the same experiment also with a YouTube vid of Mike's training. Here are the results:

Hand speed(ca. 1988-prime): 6 punches in 1 second

Footwork speed: 5 footsteps in 1 second

You can see that Muhammad Ali had the fastest feet ever in heavyweight history. Even as an older man in boxing he was still as fast as a prime Mike Tyson. Tyson rates higher in hand speed. I can make 6 punches in 1 second, like Tyson, but I'm only a very fast middleweight fighter. Tyson and Ali were that fast with a weight of 220 pounds, I'm only 154 pounds and still one of the fastest guys I know. With 220 pounds I would probably even have problems with throwing 2 punches in 1 second.

When you want to know how fast Ali was and comparing him to you, try throwing 5 punches in 1 second or making 7 footsteps in 1 second. I bet you would fail.