An amazing human being, a true champion, one of my cultural heroes, rest in eternity.
Muhammad Ali, the silver-tongued boxer and civil rights champion who famously proclaimed himself "The Greatest" and then spent a lifetime living up to the billing, is dead.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/muha ... 74-n584776
[Merged] Muhammad Ali dies at 74
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shakespeare
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I was lucky to live in a time when NYC was the Center of the Sports World especialy in the late 60's, there was the Jets upset of the Colts, the Miracle Mets beating Baltimore and the Knicks improable victory over the Lakers but there was no sporting event that shook the World as when Frazzier knocked down Ali. The most remarkable thing for me about that moment was not that Ali got knocked down because Frazier was a Beast it was how quickly he got up but that was Ali no matter what life threw at him he alwasy got up. The term Legend and Icon are overused nowadays but not on him he was the Greatest RIP
i'ma let you finish vino, but lebron is the best of all time. he won the eastern conference 6 times in a row
In Thibs we trust.
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Also was amazing that he finished the first Frazier fight (reportedly) with a broken jaw.
While a great boxer who rarely failed to thrill in the ring I felt that the way he treated Joe Frazier, calling him an Uncle Tom and the white mans champion (which resulted in Joes kids getting bullied in school and the family needing police protection with multiple death threats), was way outta line.
Joe was a sharecroppers son back when sharecropping was a short step away from slavery. He had lived in the rural South where he experienced the most virulent racism and had to leave town at 15 for standing up to a white man who beat a young black worker.
And Joe had been a friend to Ali, lending him money when he was banned from boxing and testified to get him reinstated.
Ali sort of apologized to Joe (although never to his face) before Joe died, and Joe said he forgave him, but to me it always tainted how I looked at Ali.
While a great boxer who rarely failed to thrill in the ring I felt that the way he treated Joe Frazier, calling him an Uncle Tom and the white mans champion (which resulted in Joes kids getting bullied in school and the family needing police protection with multiple death threats), was way outta line.
Joe was a sharecroppers son back when sharecropping was a short step away from slavery. He had lived in the rural South where he experienced the most virulent racism and had to leave town at 15 for standing up to a white man who beat a young black worker.
And Joe had been a friend to Ali, lending him money when he was banned from boxing and testified to get him reinstated.
Ali sort of apologized to Joe (although never to his face) before Joe died, and Joe said he forgave him, but to me it always tainted how I looked at Ali.
Overly optimistic about the Knicks since 1974
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cragganmor
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will always have the highest respect for him, sat out 4 of his prime years in an act of defiant conscience. others have and will continue to try to be, but can only imitate the original.
Yeah your right about the Broken jaw and your right about what he did to Frazier We all do things in life we later regret I always had the sense that he knew he went to far Boxing will never see the like of those two again I'm not sure in my lifetime if there ever was a sporting event that cause such a buzzz You had to live through it to understand how big it was
That era of boxing was amazing. There were heavyweights who never won the belt who would have been champions had they not had to face Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Holmes.
Ernie Shavers comes to mind. I was a big fan, and thought he beat Ali when they fought for the title, but it was close enough that I understood the decision. The title rarely changes hands in a close fight.
Ernie Shavers comes to mind. I was a big fan, and thought he beat Ali when they fought for the title, but it was close enough that I understood the decision. The title rarely changes hands in a close fight.
Overly optimistic about the Knicks since 1974
Watching the funeral procession today on TV, I realized how we may never see another person with the impact of Muhammad Ali ever again. It wasn't just the passing of the greatest boxer. The way that all the people came out to pay respects to his life, run alongside the procession with Ali signs and flags, and toss flowers on the hearse was a huge celebration of the person he was and the spirit he embodied.
I can't imagine another living athlete or celebrity today who would be honored with more pride and respect upon their passing in the future. The world is no longer as unjust as it was in his prime, and standing up for your beliefs at the risk of jail time, public condemnation, and the loss of millions of dollars—all during the peak of your career—seems unfathomable today.
I can't imagine another living athlete or celebrity today who would be honored with more pride and respect upon their passing in the future. The world is no longer as unjust as it was in his prime, and standing up for your beliefs at the risk of jail time, public condemnation, and the loss of millions of dollars—all during the peak of your career—seems unfathomable today.
That era of athlete was unlike any other there was Bill Russell, Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul Jabbar Tommie Smith John Carlos and so many others Today sports figures are just intereted in themselves there all to busy being MJ and chasing the all mighty dollar