Martinburke,
I actually meant to say that people in their late 30s and 40s are not as tall as they are in their 20s and early 30s. I made a mistake in my wording. I meant one thing but typed another.
You lose about roughly a quarter of an inch a year beginning in your late 30s. The reasons why are many. The most common is simply bad posture and the effect of gravity on you.
Aside from I don't mean to discredit you but I hear that alot from people who actually think they are the same height as someone else when in reality they are not. When they actually view themselves with the other person in a mirror they find they are not as tall as the other person. I had many people say to me they are the same height as I am; BUT as soon as we get to a mirror I am clearly taller than they are by and inch or so. The same has also happen to me, I think I as tall as the next person, until I see myself standing next to the person in a mirror BOOM reality hits and I realize that I am not as tall as I thought AND that the person who I thought was my height was actually taller. That is why I don't trust people's judgement of height based on whether they can see eye to eye etc. I'm about 6'1" - 6' 2" I had a friend who is about 5'11" - 6 foot. He thinks he is the same height as I but every time we face the mirror those two inches are evident. They are not so evident to him without that visual comparision but with it, it is clear. So although he thought he was my height because he in mind when he saw me he felt he viewed me eye to eye, in reality he wasn't. I've been tricked like that as well. My brother is about and inch and inch and half taller than me. But I see him eye to eye, this would easily make me think we are the same height BUT as soon as we get infront ot he mirror that inch - inch and half becomes evident.
No offense but how can you really judge the difference between your height and the person you're comparing yourself to if you can't really see the amount of inches between your line of sight and the top of your head?
When you compare Ali to Liston and Ali to Foreman you can see that Ali is about 6'3". He is taller than Liston and alittle shorter than Foreman. Also if you watch the old footage of Ali with the professional black athletes (Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul Jabber at that time Lew Alcindor, Jim Brown among others) you get a sense of how taller Ali was. Ali was taller than Jim Brown by at least two inches and Jim Brown supposed is 6'1".
Anyway let me check out this link and then I'll get back with you.