Muhammad Ali and the Invisible Punch.

[H2O Man]

7. He was at the

elite, all-time great level. Ali had the perfect build for a heavyweight. He had uncanny speed for the division, was physically very strong, and as Liston said after the first fight, he hit much harder than people realized. Part of that had to do with catching an opponent coming into his strength -- which always results in the opponent being hurt. And he had as high of "ring intelligence" as anyone who ever competed.

It's a shame that he wasn't allowed to fight for 3.5 years, when his physical skills would have peaked. But he proved his greatness in the second half of his career, adding to his legend. In my opinion, he was the greatest heavyweight champion in ring history.

Watching his fights with Liston, especially the first one, I'm still amazed that he fought with his hands at his sides. Sonny was a scary man in the ring. Safe to say he scared a lot of people outside of the ring, too.