I think Ali is in fine condition to fight a dead man.
In another interview, though, Norris strongly iimplied that he would have outclassed Lee in a real fight, since Norris was a competitive fighter and Lee only did exhibitions. In that same interview, though, Norris admitted that he and Lee “never went there.” They trained together, but never fought.
And, yes, I realize I’m talking out of both sides of my mouth now. The point is that interesting rhetorical cases can be made for both Lee as the greatest fighter in the world ca. 1971, or Lee as more of a poseur. Since there wasn’t really a medium for competition like that forty years ago, we will never know for sure.
NM.
Because Lee is bad-ass. Just like appleciders said in post 8.
See? Lee would disable HIS OWN GODDAMN LEG for a fight just to make it sort of fair and he’d still whoop-ass.
Ali was a heavyweight, that moved like a welterweight.
Ali wins, period.
Comparing a martial art actor and exhibitionist with Muhammad Ali seems a little unfair IMO. Ali went into very deep waters in some of his 70s fights - literally putting his life on the line. Bruce is a legend, obv, but his accomplishments are in a different sphere really.
Ali is not THE GREATEST because he was fast, strong, tough, durable, intelligent and flamboyant. He’s the greatest because he had all those things embedded in the heart of a champion. He always fought with tremendous heart and courage. Bruce would fold when faced with such a warrior - ring, street you name it.
In a boxing ring Ali is going to absolutely destroy Lee. If Lee attempts to actually fight Ali, he’ll be on the canvas in less than a round. If he tries to just dance around he’d lose a decision, or make a mistake and end up on the canvas. The different in size and weight is nearly insurmountable, and Ali was a genuine martial artist - boxing is as refined and as difficult a martial art as any.
In the street, I’m not sure. Lee had a lot of experience in street fighting, which is a different thing entirely, but one punch from a tremendously strong man 75 pounds heavier than you is enough to send you to the hospital, so Lee only has to make one error.
And to be honest Busy has a point. Lee’s serious FIGHTS mostly ended when he was a kid; Ali was a professional fighter who tested the very limits of human spirit and endurance in wars against Frazier, Foreman, Ken Norton, George Chuvalo, Floyd Patterson. Ali once fought ten rounds with Ken Norton when his goddamned jaw was broken. Ali’s record proves his ferocity and his ability to summon will and strength when the chips are down. Lee spent much of his career doing stunts and acting in movies. Lee could sure as hell fight, and he kicked some people’s asses, but usually in cases where the person was really out of their element and Lee could drub them within seconds. Muhammad Ali would not be so easily overcome. I really am not convinced Lee could beat Ali in any scenario.
Ali either way.
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Ali’s weight and reach advantage would overwhelmed Bruce Lee in the ring. It’d be pretty ugly. On the streets Ali can fight barefisted. If he can grab a hold of Bruce he would toss him around like a rag doll. Then beat his brains out. You also have to remember that Ali in his prime can take a real beating (just check out his Frasier fights) and keep on ticking. He’ll be able to stand Bruce’s hits. Can Bruce take any of Ali’s hard hits? Don’t think so. All this coming from a big Bruce Lee fan.
Just for the record, Ali also trained with the founder of modern Taekwando in America…so “martial arts” wasn’t totally foreign to him
Ah, yes. You’ve cut to the heart of my argument. 
Well… yeah. As I pointed out, Ali didn’t have to train with a taekwondo master to learn martial arts. He was a great champion of one of the great martial arts; boxing. It’s a martial art just as much as karate or taekwondo, and takes full time dedication to master. It’s not just two thugs slugging it out like a bar fight; when you watch Ali taking on Foreman, you’re watching a duel of martial artists of the highest order.
I’d call Foreman no higher than 2nd order at that point in his career.
You realize your credibility just took a huge hit.
In 1974, George Foreman was coming off of huge wins over Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, two fighters who had beaten Ali. If that’s not highest order, I don’t know what was. Granted, he made some major strategic mistakes fighting Ali, but he was an excellent fighter by any standard.
But the OP changed the rules. It’s not a boxing match anymore, which is what Ali excelled in.
While I would agree that boxing can be classified as a martial art, it is an art with a set of assumed rules. In regular American boxing, you don’t have to worry about kicks, throws, or sweeps (trips), so he wouldn’t have trained in defending against those moves. A Greco-Roman wrestler doesn’t learn how to defend against strikes, as those moves are not available within the ruleset of the sport.
Surely though he could win against a corpse.
Ali either way and it wouldn’t take long enough to even be interesting.
Now an interesting match would be Ali v. Jack Johnson with both fighters in their prime.
Well, asking if Lee could beat Ali in a conventional boxing match is a bit like asking if Michael Jordan is a better golfer than Tiger Woods or something, so obvious as to be not worth asking.
Yet some answers were provided along these lines.
Three out of every ten respondents believe Bruce Lee would win a boxing match with Muhammad Ali. I find that astounding, but it is so.