Yes. Unmatched ability. His best fights never happened due to the forced exile.
I met Ali and got his autograph in Las Vegas during the mid '80s. Granted, he was already in bad shape physically due to Parkinson's. But this is the key variable: Ali was huge. Massive frame. He was standing side by side to George Foreman, who was equally huge.
I can understand why the Sonny Liston camp was stunned at the weigh in of their first fight. As Angelo Dundee said, his guy was simply the bigger stronger guy, regardless of image prior to the fight.
I have seen Mike Tyson in person many times. I have mentioned it here. He is an absolute midget compared to Muhammad Ali. That's why a guy like Holyfield who is much smaller than Ali was able to dictate those fights and effortlessly shove Tyson away whenever needed.
Big guy. Awesome quickness and point-scoring jab. Great footwork. Incredible ability to take a punch. Tremendous will to win. I don't know what he lacked, other than more one-punch power.