RIP Muhammad Ali

[SixPapaCharlie]

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/C_fEIVwjrew/maxresdefault.jpg

 

[red4golf]

RIP

 

[FastEddieB]

I remember the near global hubbub surrounding some of his biggest fights.

I even watched one on a beach camping in the Canary Islands via some German's satellite hookup (IIRC).

Yet right now, I have absolutely no idea who the heavyweight champion of the world is.

Is it just me, or are we in a new era of relative indifference about the sport?

 

[mscard88]

I remember his first fight with Sonny Liston. Ended in first round I think (knockout?) and a lot of folks were crying fixed. Nevertheless he was, and is, a great man and a champion of the people. A little questionable about refusing to be drafted when the rest of us were facing it and went, many drafted and others joined 'freely'. He was so funny with his poems, and when he and Howard Cosell were together it was a laugh riot. RIP Muhammad Ali. Thanks for the compassion, entertainment, and your fights.

 

[Xscaliber]

RIP Mr Ali

 

[White Bird]

A true legend. RIP

 

[GRG55]

...He was so funny with his poems, and when he and Howard Cosell were together it was a laugh riot. RIP Muhammad Ali. Thanks for the compassion, entertainment, and your fights.

The three bouts with Joe Frazier are the one's I remember best. Especially the final in Manila - Ali said the fight would be a "killa and a thrilla and a chilla, when I get that gorilla in Manila"

 

[frfly172]

RIP a legend in his own time.

 

[mscard88]

The three bouts with Joe Frazier are the one's I remember best. Especially the final in Manila - Ali said the fight would be a "killa and a thrilla and a chilla, when I get that gorilla in Manila"

Those were probably the best. Which one did Joe knock Ali down in the 15th and take the crown?

 

[Tom-D]

I understand he was arguably the best fighter in boxing, and a great athlete. But I remember what I thought of him evading the draft, I've never seen anything to change my mind.

 

[Lindberg]

I remember his first fight with Sonny Liston. Ended in first round I think (knockout?) and a lot of folks were crying fixed. Nevertheless he was, and is, a great man and a champion of the people. A little questionable about refusing to be drafted when the rest of us were facing it and went, many drafted and others joined 'freely'. He was so funny with his poems, and when he and Howard Cosell were together it was a laugh riot. RIP Muhammad Ali. Thanks for the compassion, entertainment, and your fights.

Did he ever back away from the downright racist and anti-American statements he made at the time?

 

[Chip Sylverne]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_v._United_States

 

[PaulS]

Great fighter, great entertainer, I used to love watching him on interviews, especially with Cosell. There hasn't been one like him since.

 

[oilburner]

Can't dispute his sporting success & entertainment value.

He always seemed to have rather noisy disrespect for many of the values I hold dear.

He partially redeemed himself with me when he offered himself as a fellow Muslim hostage trade for those 52 people trapped in the American Embassy during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979.

 

[timwinters]

deleted

 

[jason]

Let's keep this thread from turning political.

 

[Perezhr]

I remember the near global hubbub surrounding some of his biggest fights.

I even watched one on a beach camping in the Canary Islands via some German's satellite hookup (IIRC).

Yet right now, I have absolutely no idea who the heavyweight champion of the world is.

Is it just me, or are we in a new era of relative indifference about the sport?

I was a huge fan back in the day when you could actually watch boxing on TV without paying $100. A certain Mr King destroyed the sport, sadly.