RIP Ali the greatest there will ever be, | Vital Football

RIP Ali the greatest there will ever be,

spurdon

Vital Football Legend
I Can't believe vital has not done its own tribute. If so I have missed it and apologies, but we have lost the most charismatic brave and astute men the planet has seen. Boxer, hero, civil rights leader, iconoclast....and he was pretty too. Rest in peace you were a legend.
 
Balanced out by his refusal to fight in an unjust imperialist crusade and the guts to be jailed to stand by his principles. That kind of out weighs sledging, in my opinion any way. I don't think I have been OTT enough one of worlds few true sporting heroes.
 
Ali was a principled man; he was a great boxer and he did challenge apartheid and racism in his own backyard; in his own way - even if he did for a long time preach the separation of the races and was in this respect a self-avowed racist for much of his life...

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As for his refusal to fight in Vietnam, it always makes me laugh when the left (especially the Marxists) describe it as an ' imperialist crusade' - firstly, it should never be conjoined with the term 'crusade' -what you could call it is an ill advised overseas venture borne out of the fear of communism and Maoism. If you read the history books, the fear was a real and present danger.

The US stupidly believed it was coming to the aid of a country that were fighting the march of communism that was backed , funded and supported in it's ambitions by China - it was a proxy war that the US never ever fully committed to the way they did the UN sanctioned Korean war...

They learned their lesson, as did the rest of the free World.

Context in this regard in the terms of the red menace that so many believed would see the end of democracy is in this case exceptionally important.
 
Hands down the greatest heavy weight the world has seen. There will never be another Ali. Not even after a million years.

Damn shame, he had Parkinsons disease all these years, we have been robbed of his wit, wisdom, charm and hilarious humour. My old man was lucky enough to meet him twice. Bastard.

Yiggity, he was OTT with smoking Joe, but he was selling the fight, he really didn't mean the things he said. Plenty of interviews after their fights prove this.

That Thriller and Manilla fight is still one of my favourites. That wasn't boxing, it was a street fight, they tried to kill each other that night.

The only boxer ever that could have beaten Foreman at Rumble in the Jungle. That win made him the greatest heavy weight of all time IMO.

RIP Ali, you have earned your rest.
 
Ali was a true great but the of all time is open to debate even by himself.

He questioned whether he could have beaten Marciano who was a brutal puncher and never lost. Also Joe Louis could be a challenger for the absolute title. He once told Ali to his face he would consider Ali a bum tour Fighter. One to notch up money and a sure loser.
 
Cassius Clay/Mohammed Ali...... the GREATEST .... EGO.... EVER.

Henry Cooper put him down and he was saved by the bell. Another few seconds or so and 'Henry's Hammer' would have been the greatest.

I applaud that he became an ambassador for peace in some way and that he wanted people to get together and be at peace with each other. SO MANY gospel and Christian preachers have preached forgiveness and peace for centuries in proper terms, practising it themselves but WHO comes out and says that they are wonderful? (the religious extremists that use the name of Christianity to PROMOTE hatred and division need to be ousted by real Christians and show it up for what it is). The world can be SO BLIND to the real heroes and will suddenly take up the cause of an individual that was just a GLORIFIED THUG FOR MUCH of his life. I applaud that he changed but let's not let this get out of perspective, he got recognised by the world because he was a boxer, someone who made his name by hitting people to the ground in sight of the whole world.

 
Kevin Hickey put him on the spot during his heyday. He asked perhaps young people of all races needed his support, not just his own race. Ali got quite agitated and fobbed the question off.
 
Nobody said he was perfect, he sold fights, he was a genius at doing so. If he was around today, he would have been even bigger.

He had the greatest ego and he backed it up.

 
So many Great boxers didn't shout their mouths off but we're just gentlemen. Why do they need hype and to shout down the opposition before hand? Sounds like they're scared and have to try and unnerve their opponents in order to win. Unnecessary if your that good.
 
considering what the guy had to go thru' in Life within a semi-fascist state in the early 1900s, there can only be 1 Greatest.... ever.

Jack Johnson.
 
Welshtel - 15/6/2016 17:35

So many Great boxers didn't shout their mouths off but we're just gentlemen. Why do they need hype and to shout down the opposition before hand? Sounds like they're scared and have to try and unnerve their opponents in order to win. Unnecessary if your that good.

The quiet ones never sell a boxing fight do they? Would be rather boring. That's why I don't mind Fury. At least he is different.

Are you suggesting Ali was scared? He beat them all. Fought many that were bigger than him. He was a hard fecker.

The sad part of it all is in his best years, he never had a fight. Nearly 4 of his best years were taken away from him. We never saw him at his best, now that is scary.
 
Nick Real Deal - 20/6/2016 18:45

Jack Johnson by all accounts was very good and of course resented .

But could he have beat Marciano ?

Yes.

if you get to see the documentary on Discovery or PBS on his life, you still won't believe what the guy had to go thru'..

he could have taken out 'The Great White Hope' Jim Jeffries in any of the rounds they 'fought' but knew he wudda been lynched in the ring itself in Reno, had he done so.

hard to believe that amount of hatred by the majority of his countrymen just for being black and world champion.