All credit for sticking up for black people the problem I have with him is Joe Frazier. I saw a documentry with Frazier where they asked if the anamosity between the 2 was real or was engineered for the boxing media (younger members may not remember this) Frazier said that when Ali was suspended for refusing to fight in Vietnam he supported him both spiritually ,as a friend and financially. Ali responded later by calling Frazier an " uncle tom" which apparently is one of the most derogotary terms you can call a black american. He was an entertainer there is no doubt about that but also remeber his chosen " islamic religious group" led by elijah mohammed also killed Malcolm X
Just watching his documentary. The commentator commented on his wife's dress and he said, "that's how a black woman should dress and she won't speak to you unless I say so" He's also just said he has no white friends. He used to be a bit of a hero of mine ffs. What an arrogant cock.
He wasn't perfect by any imagination as none of us are. The calling of Joe Frazier "Uncle Tom" was unacceptable which he tried to apologize later and put right but sometimes in life when you go too far like that it will always leave something that can't really be repaired. Overall I would say his pluses out weighed the negatives and the sporting memories he brought will never be forgotten.....RIP in lad....you put a good shift in on mother Earth....
Like it or not he became the spokesman for the burgeoning civil rights that took hold in the '50s and he counter balanced the dignity of Dr Martin Luther King. King was removed, but Ali made sure that nothing was forgotten. He may have been brash and loud at times and obviously said some outrageous things at the time but the message had to be put across and he used TV in every other country than America to get the message across. American southern states could be very cruel places for the Negros and segregation even differentiated between white and black veterans of WW2.
There is no dispute on that but what I have got a problem with is a) Joe frazier supported him in his anti vietnam stance and well you know what i have already said b) the "islamic religious group" that he adopted killed an american black activist who was trying to promote black american inclusion in society But i think he was used by elijah mohamid as a media piece
Some people will never let go of the fantasy mate, they like to believe all the Disney hype. He was all about the mouth, the opponents were almost certainly in on the circus that he travelled with. Still a good boxer for sure, but not the best, not even close. There's just no way I'd consider a heavyweight as the best boxer of all time.
The golden era rule man. Everything was better in the day. Someone posted his record. How does that classify him as anywhere near the best? Stick Mayweathers tecord next to his.
Mayweather is discredited because he's not an entertainer like Ali. Far too many people think boxing is about windmilling each other until one person gets caught with a big blow. Mayweather knows one thing and built his career on it, if he doesn't get hit he won't lose the fight. Clever man.
We'll be getting virtual evil stares as we dont tow the line and believe the media hype. Duran. Hagler. Leonard. Eubanks. Benn. Collins. Watson. Theres another 2 set of boxers that had their fueds. And bloody entertaining ones at that.
Thing is Billy...all these and the other boxers you mention may well have been better, I am no boxing fan so I really don't have a clue. But, put all these boxers together and they would barely get a few lines on the inside of most papers as and when they croak it. Ali wasn't just a boxer he was an icon of sport, not just boxing. In much the same way Beckham is now viewed, he transcends his chosen sport. Ali was almost an ambassador of world sport and as such (love him or hate him) he was one of those people who will remembered many years after his death, unlike some of these better boxers you mention.
Gene Tunney beat Jack Dempsey twice including the night of the long count. Tunney was only beaten once by a man called Harry Grebb. Put that up your piss flaps.
In fairness Billy, Dempsey had run out of opponents by 1923. He sat idle till 1926. Then Tunney came along. No quibbles, Tunney beat him on points that time. But Tunney was on the floor for between 14 and 19 seconds in the second fight (1929). What saved Tunney's title that night was a new rule that when a man goes down, his opponent must go to a neutral corner. Dempsey forgot it and the referee wouldn't start the count till he went. True, according to the rules, Tunney deserved to keep his title - but he was bloody lucky that Dempsey had a lapse of memory. It saved him.
Yup. Plus all this 'clever man malarky'. He was a fantastic boxer. No one has denyed that. But the rest i just dont buy into.
