1) It's my thread. Don't like it, post elsewhere. 2) The point stands, and Ali himself called out people like @Dinner jut a few months ago. It is more of a tribute to him to recognise how he was in life and how peaceful he was "despite" being a Muslim, than to offer pointless platitudes.
Exactly - it was virtually guaranteed he'd get a soft assignment - he was just opposed to the war. And his being opposed to the war did not benefit him financially - it was a huge career setback. Okay as TR said "the greatest" could apply to many boxers, just like "the godfather of soul" for James Brown - there's no way to determine this scientifically. As for boxing win/loss records mean SHIT. Many popular fighters are fed "journeyman" boxers who are paid...to...lose. Yes, very competent boxers who know they will never be champ but love/need to fight. They generally lose on points versus get too beat up - after all, they might fight again in a week. And if they ever win too often, they get fired. That's why so many top-level boxers have a perfect (or nearly perfect) record when they are in championship fights - they have all been tossed underhand pitches to boost their win record. When you are "the greatest" it means you are THE PEOPLE'S CHAMPION and win-or-lose, people buy tickets to watch you fight. Half the people buy tickets hoping to see you lose! Ali was smart - you have to get people interested in the fighters, not the fight. Ali had the dynamic personality fighting sports need to be successful. There are no sexy cheerleaders (okay except girls who hold up signs saying what round is coming up which takes about 10 seconds) no half time shows with mega-star entertainers - no bells & whistles. Just two people fighting, so at least one of those two must be pretty damn entertaining & interesting - Ali was that fighter.
People are busting on the Obama tweet? Fucking sad. Everyone is weighing in about the great Ali passing - either say something positive or shut the fuck up.
People wouldn't notice except for the previous 200 times Obama posted a photo of himself next to whoever died or in front of a photo of whoever died.
Only partisan hacks like yourself would notice or care. This is the equivalent of liberals bashing Bush for continuing to read to the first graders on 9/11. Go sit in the dunce corner, fool.
yep - fighting transcends all politics. Everyone throughout history fights or has fought in the past, way before civilization or politics was ever conceived of. Fighting takes humanity down to the most basic biological level, cutting through all bullshit and abstractions.
Pick a death, any death. Mandela: Rosa Parks: If we had a major conflict with Russia or China he'd tweet something like this:
That happens now but back in the day that wasnt the case. Marciano was 49-0 with 43 by knockout. He whipped everyone that was anyone and cleared the division. You could also make a case for Joe Louis because of how long he dominated. Ali was great at running off with the mouth but I judge by performance in the ring, not promotion. Ali was great promoting a fight no question. If he had a flaw it was staying in the game too long. He should have retired after the Thrilla in Manilla. Some of his wins after that were contraversial and his loss to Holmes was just plain sad to watch. Staying too long was also probably a contributing factor to his syndrome as he started taking more blows to the head the older and slower he got.
Wow, great story about Liston taking a dive. I wish they would have had instant replay & slow motion & several differing camera angles back then. As for the punch not having enough zing (it doesn't appear that Liston's head had much rotational torque that that causes most knockouts, but Ali might have caught him right behind the ear or on the temple. It's like when Anderson Silva gets knocked out here (see clip - watch it in a slow speed). Backstory, Silva likes to clown around when he knows he's totally dominating and ahead on points. Here he is dropping his hands and sticking out his chin playing the "you can't even touch me" game. He dodges, dodges, then gets barely tapped by a punch at the far edge of it's range with a fraction of the effective power. This is kind of a bad camera angle - other vids show it more clearly. But that lucky "nothing" tap caught him just perfect on the chin and he dropped like a rock. Obviously he took a few more once he was out (perfectly legal and expected, to ensure he's really out until the ref stops it) but they weren't needed. During the original fight they replayed it over & over because nobody could believe what they saw. So there is no reason that Ali couldn't have tagged Liston because sometimes just a few foot pounds of energy can make a difference between a knock out and a daze.
I find this interesting. You know, Ali in his early days used to say that whites shouldn't date blacks and vice versa. Yet Obama, as mixed race, is a celebration of breaking that taboo. Ali was a Muslim, the sort of folks your kind hates. Your ilk accuse Obama of being a Muslim, despite him being Christian, as if it's a shameful thing. Yet now you, and twats like Trump, celebrate a Muslim. This is why I say that partisan morons don't have a clue about political conservatism and don't deserve to call themselves conservative. It's not about political conservatism. It's about whatever the partisan bullshit is at the time....and consistency be damned.
Sad but inevitable. His health was pretty bad for the past few years. How I wish we had a sportsman like that today. RIP, my favourite American.
I support Ali's stance on radical Islam versus Obama's inability to even call it what it is. And even though Ali was a disloyal coward in the 60's, Obama is a disloyal coward now. Thus, given a choice I'd prefer that Ali were still living and Obama was not. I'm very consistent.
1) I find it sad that politics drives you to wish death on your president. 2) Are you claiming your only issue with Muslims is extremist Islamists?
I'm not a fan of draft dodgers (looking at you Ted Nugent) but I have trouble thinking of Ali as "cowardly" because he got no personal benefit - he was banned from boxing during his prime years costing him many thousands of dollars in earnings out of what is already a short career. Ted Nugent however I have no trouble calling a coward, because his sole motivation for dodging the draft was not getting his career derailed. And Ali became a Muslim well before he got his draft notice, so he wasn't scamming anybody, unlike Ted Nugent who acted crazy when he was far from it, just self centered.
I guess it did for Ali. Side note couldn't they have cast somebody other than Will Smith for that movie? Smith is nowhere near being a heavyweight no matter wha kind of shape he could get in - he's just too small framed. Now Denzel Washington as Malcom X was perfect - he totally nailed that resemblance.
1. I'm thinking of what would be best for my country. 2. No, I'm not. However, at least Ali spoke out against radical Islam.
Now Koreans on the other hand......... yeah I had my hands full being the barracks NCO in Korea with KATUSA's (Korean draftees serving with the US military) running me ragged. Factor in they are all named Kim, Park or Lee.
Speaking of how he was in life.. http://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/03/us/campaign-notes-muhammad-ali-switches-his-support-to-reagan.html
Piers Morgan states that Ali said far more racist things than Trump has.. http://linkis.com/independent.co.uk/0AMdR
