The word legend is often used, but in the case of Muhammad Ali it was right. The man transcended sport let alone boxing. It was sad to see the dreadful Parkinson's disease taking it's toll over the years. RIP Ali - you were the greatest
Great boxer, great man in the true spirit, I grew up when he became Champ and loved him.. RIP Muhammad Ali..
Agree with all above. Intelligent, witty, non-conformist, handsome......and a brilliant boxer. One of very few true legends. R.I.P.
I guess it's an era thing, as no doubt Clay/Ali - RIP, was a great boxer,but for me the young hungry Mike Tyson was a better boxer. Putting aside his out of ring issues, in the ring in the mid/late 80's he was an animal, so much power he was unstoppable.
The comment I wrote was in my dads words really. Like you I'm more from the Tyson era but it really was a difference of finesse to brute power as my old man says.
Tyson ??? or Ali. I cross both generations - Absolutely no comparison - Ali's in a different world. Smokin Joe and Foreman were part of a golden age of heavyweight boxing but Ali came out tops. Name another 'great' who fought with Tyson - possibly Holyfield, but then Tyson had to eat half his ear. Just a fu**in nutcase. I loved Elvis, Pele, Bowie to name a few but no human being, to me, compares with Muhammad Ali.
truly the greatest, most heavyweights today aint fit to lace his gloves. live every day as if it was your last, because someday it will be,- muhamad ali.
Totally agree Rp, the greatest boxer that ever graced a boxing ring, someone said Tyson was a better boxer, Supercon 72, you are having a laugh.
Tyson was a nobody, merely an idiot who was good at his sport. He leaves no legacy and will not be remembered for anything other than biting another man and going to jail. Ali was so much more than a boxer, he was highly intelligent, a supreme entertainer, a showman, decades ahead of his time in this respect. He came to be loved in this country through his appearances on the Michael Parkinson show and built a strong relationship with him and his charisma charmed the British public over the years. When he fought, it was for the true heavyweight title of the world, not just a sub-division of one of the 400 different versions that there are now. He was the best in the world and beat some iron fisted fighters and, they were proper fights in those days, action from the word go, none of this namby pamby painfully ponderous, lumbering stuff that we mostly see now. We will never see the likes of "the rumble in the jungle" or the "thriller in Manilla" again, most of today's heavyweights couldn't hold a candle to those fighters, they were brutal, savage bouts, too brutal as it turned out Also, his stand for civil liberty and the black rights movement and later, charities marked him as true statesman of his time. Presidents stopped, countries stopped, the whole world stopped to watch Ali fight and he was simply The Greatest... EVER. RIP great man, you will be sorely missed....
Just got back from the Cardiff City Stadium (spit) to see the Stereophonics and rather than have a normal break before the encore, they put up quotes from Ali then a picture on the screens. To me it was a fantastic tribute to the man, and the crowd started chanting "Ali bomaya"
This man was a true legend for me.. He connected myself and my old man in a way only he could. My earliest sporting memories are staying up late to listen to the Ali fights on the radio in the 70's, I loved him and was genuinely gutted to hear the news today.
No, not having a laugh, pound for pound I think Tyson was better, but again a different era, as someone said before, in Ali's era it was slower, less about power and maybe more garceful. Tyson undoubtedly was a complete knob out of the ring, granted, but that doesnt tarnish what he acheved inside it, he just blew people away with power, ultimatley what a heavyweight boxer should be about. Lets not get misty eyed here, a young Clay was a gobby son of bi**h who refused to serve his country during a war.
He said he was the greatest, and it wasn't bluster, he really was. A genuine legend from my era. It seem that all of my heroes are going thick and fast these days I must be getting old RIP .Muhammad Ali
I think he served his country pretty well, presidents queued to be seen with him and it takes a stronger man to stand by his beliefs and refuse to enlist than to enlist and take the easy options he was offered.
He was extreme power and grace.. Thats what made him the best, there were 5 or 6 top quality heavyweights about at that time. He beat them all. Tyson power and fear.. Ali never resorted to biting his opponents ear off when he was gonna get a beating. If you have never seen the documentary watch, When we were Kings.. a must for any boxing fan.
Sorry mate you said boxer, not a brute like Tyson, i call a great boxer someone that shows great skill in the ring, a man that had everything, great boxing ability and could take a man out when he wanted to, that was "The Greatest".
