Boxing

[spud_gun]

Not just the greatest boxer, not just the greatest sportsman, but probably one of the greatest people to have lived, certainly in modern times....a top class sportsman, a top class entertainer and a top class human being. RIP

Can't really add to much that has already been said. He truly was the greatest not only sportsman but also as a human being. Genuinely one of the nicest, charismatic people to have lived.

It's such as shame that he didn't quit before he did the damage. The world didn't lose Ali today the world lost Ali when his illness took hold.

RIP champ.

Pseuds Corner awaits surely.

I think Joe Frasier and a few others would take exception to Ali being labeled as one of the nicest people to have ever lived. His treatment of Frasier was vile.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Pseuds Corner awaits surely.

I think Joe Frasier and a few others would take exception to Ali being labeled as one of the nicest people to have ever lived. His treatment of Frasier was vile.

He had a right nasty streak at times in and out of the ring but I think that showed that he was human and not a saint.

His treatment of Frazier was indeed vile and his comments (and in ring treatment) regarding Terrell were equally bad.

But it is hard to focus on the bad of Ali without seeing the good and as bad as the bad was I think it was more than balanced out by his talent, personality and genuine good that he did and/or inspired.


Was Ali a flawed man over the course of his life? I think it would be fair to say yes he was, but he was also a man who exuded genuine greatness on a number of levels.

I don't think we will every see a person transcend sport (and not just the sport of boxing) in the way that Ali did, and I don't think we will ever see such a complete heavyweight boxer again either. The man inspired millions, and often offered a glimmer of hope to those bereft of it.


He is one of those people who decades after his death his visage and name will still be known, and he will still be spoken of in mythical terms.


Not many go on to be true legends, but Ali is one who deserves that moniker

[spud_gun]

He had a right nasty streak at times in and out of the ring but I think that showed that he was human and not a saint.

His treatment of Frazier was indeed vile and his comments (and in ring treatment) regarding Terrell were equally bad.

But it is hard to focus on the bad of Ali without seeing the good and as bad as the bad was I think it was more than balanced out by his talent, personality and genuine good that he did and/or inspired.


Was Ali a flawed man over the course of his life? I think it would be fair to say yes he was, but he was also a man who exuded genuine greatness on a number of levels.

I don't think we will every see a person transcend sport (and not just the sport of boxing) in the way that Ali did, and I don't think we will ever see such a complete heavyweight boxer again either. The man inspired millions, and often offered a glimmer of hope to those bereft of it.


He is one of those people who decades after his death his visage and name will still be known, and he will still be spoken of in mythical terms.


Not many go on to be true legends, but Ali is one who deserves that moniker

Agree with what you're saying Jaco. He had dark, spiteful side which is why the beatification rankles.

He transcended the sport and boxing was very lucky to have had him. There's been a fair few imitators since but I think we could live for another thousand years and there wouldn't be another who had the same sporting of cultural impact as Ali.

[Tee]

Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un
"Surely we belong to Allah and to Him shall we return".

Gone but Mohammad Ali will never be forgotten

[Bender]

[ame]https://twitter.com/OllieHolt22/status/739178459763707904[/ame]

[ame]https://twitter.com/LiverpoolGifs/status/739066184017006592[/ame]

[shanks69]

r.i.p lengend

[Liverpool]

love this image, just some liverpool lads watching the greatest boxer train

If i was blue id have this on the wall

[Buzzo]

Agree with what you're saying Jaco. He had dark, spiteful side which is why the beatification rankles.

He transcended the sport and boxing was very lucky to have had him. There's been a fair few imitators since but I think we could live for another thousand years and there wouldn't be another who had the same sporting of cultural impact as Ali.

He was a remarkable and ultimately a very self aware man.

There will never be another like him because of what he stood for in the era he came to prominence. Being a proud, outspoken, charismatic black man at the start of his career will have changed the way a lot of black people felt about themselves, he was becoming prominent at the time of the Civil Rights Movemen and the Selma to Monthomery marches. Add to that his fighting the draft and refusing to go to 'nam which turned (mainly white) public opinion against him. Ali was fearless through his entire life.

Add to that the grace and dignity with which he handled his illness, throw in the liveliness of his mind and his love of a quote and you can overlook the misogyny and some of his pre bout antics. That said, Frazier made a lot of money from the publicity Ali brought and some of it is clearly engineered to promote. He did cross the line from time to time.

You wonder what effect being deprived of his premium years as champ had? Would he have fought on until his 40s if he'd been able to fight those years? You tend to think not. It was a disgrace that he was allowed to fight on after the second Frazier fight.

I used to love boxing, watched loads of fights went along to a couple of a amateur bouts when I was younger. I was too young to remember him in his prime but loved finding out about Ali. I used to have copies of his fights with frazier and foreman and they were fascinating to watch. I barely care about the sport now. The entire sport has lost its way, and any semblance of its nobility.

It's why th title of the Rumble in the Jungle doc is so poignant.

'When we were Kings'

the title lets us know how boxers used to be perceived, and in th same breath lets us realise that things have changed within the sport for ever.

[dom9]

The entire sport has lost its way.

Football, athletics, boxing... All those sports I loved when I was a kid. They've all lost their way.

[Buzzo]

Football, athletics, boxing... All those sports I loved when I was a kid. They've all lost their way.

[Fosterbloke]

Football, athletics, boxing... All those sports I loved when I was a kid. They've all lost their way.

Money, subscription TV and social media.

[Fosterbloke]

A great quote from journalist Dan Rather -

There are icons. There are legends. And then there was Muhammad Ali.

The world will never know another man quite like him, and his passing leaves our global community a little dimmer. My thoughts are with his family and friends.

For much of his later years, illness robbed us of the power of Ali's provocative voice. And time smoothed over the complexities of his younger self. In an age of growing intolerance it is important to remember that there was a time when the great Ali was also shunned on account of his activism, race and religion. Perhaps his ultimate acceptance and the message of unbending fairness that he embodied in life may be the final lesson he can bestow on us in death.

Ali was of another age, and yet he was ageless. The battles he fought in and out of the ring probably seem like ancient history to those who only know him through archival images and film. But for those of us who were lucky enough to witness him in his prime, his presence was unmistakable.

The sheer substance of his physique, the speed of his hands, and the effortless fluency of his mind and speech seemed otherworldly, and indeed they were. They could not be ignored, even as they challenged the injustices of America's self-identity. We are a strong enough nation that we can learn from worthy criticism, and we should never try to silence voices of dissent like his.

Our world is a better place for Ali having graced us with his dauntless spirit. It is a spirit that now belongs to the ages. May he rest in peace.

[Chazza]

George Groves v Martin Murray is on Sky PPV

Someone has to stop Hearn and Sky for trying to rob people.

PPV for that.....**** off!

[RichC]

How on earth is that PPV worthy

[Alex]

Can't really add to much that has already been said. He truly was the greatest not only sportsman but also as a human being. Genuinely one of the nicest, charismatic people to have lived.

It's such as shame that he didn't quit before he did the damage. The world didn't lose Ali today the world lost Ali when his illness took hold.

RIP champ.

Sorry to pick on you here

But that's complete rubbish.

My Mum suffers from Parkinson's. Diagnosed at age 49. We didn't 'lose' her the day the illness took hold. Maybe the public lost its iconic image of Ali. But the man was still there until he went rapidly down hill.

Parkinson's is a total cunt of a disease, but its not a death sentence. It tires you out and wears you down. But my Mum is just as full of life now as she was before she was diagnosed. Maybe not to new people or crowds, but its there is private. My guess with Ali is that it was similar to him. He just showed it in a different way to skipping around the ring near the end.