Happy 65th - Muhammad Ali

[socalwingfan]

Float like a butterfly - sting like a bee!! Boxing hasn't been the same without the champ

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16643958/

[troutman]

The Greatest!

[habernac]

I worked with a man down in Virginia who had the opportunity to meet Ali one day. It was in the almost deserted Charlotte, NC airport. He squinted and said to himself "that can't be...." but it was. He went over, said hello, had a nice conversation with the Greatest. Ali's wife showed up a few minutes later. "Cassius, are you trying to get that man to carry your bags? Stop bothering him and let's get going." They both laughed and said their goodbyes. He couldn't get over how approachable he was.

[Dion]

True stroy last year from my brother who was on business travel in Detroit.......

I was sitting in the club minding my own business when in walks the champ, his wife and what looked like a couple of his kids. They sat in the same seating area as me. A bunch of Northwest employees brought in their cameras and started snapping pictures with him. He was very gracious and patient and had time for each of them. He never said a
word the whole time. Once they all left him alone he started reading the newspaper so I didn't bother him for another photo. His wife gave me the nod like she appreciated me leaving him alone. All in all, still a very cool experience.

[@theCBE]

Happy Birthday Champ!

[JiriHrdina]

When 60 minutes aired their tribute to the late Ed Bradley, they showed a clip of Ali playing a joke on Bradley.

He pretended to fall asleep during their interview. His wife was in on it too. Bradley got real concerned and started to whisper to Ali's wife "how often does this happen...he just nods off".

He's leaning in real close to Ali too while talking, when suddenly Ali springs to life and grabs him on his arm. I darn near thought Bradley was going to poop himself.

[Sylvanfan]

The sport of boxing is nothing like it once was without charasmatic champions like Ali in the heavyweight division. Definitely one of the greatest ever, and the greatest in the eyes of most.

[troutman]

I enjoyed these books:

The Fight (Paperback)
by Norman Mailer (Author)
There are sporting events that transcend the world of sports, and the 1974 heavyweight title fight in which Muhammad Ali regained his crown by improbably kayoing George Foreman in the middle of the African night was certainly one of them. Metaphorically, it was a writer's dream: two imposing black warriors, one all grace, the other brute force, one the iconoclast, the other the blind patriot, battling each other. Fatefully, the appropriate writer threw his pen into the ring. Norman Mailer's masterful account goes far beyond the ropes to capture the primal ethos of the sport, the larger social canvas this particular fight was drawn on, and the remarkable cast of personalities--not the least of which is Mailer himself--who converged to make this "Rumble in the Jungle" a landmark in sports history and a clear knockout in Mailer's journalistic portfolio.

The Muhammad Ali Reader (Paperback)
by Gerald Early (Editor)
Ali is the subject of some 30 essays and a poem by an all-star cast of prominent contemporaries

[habernac]

It's sad to see boxing in it's current state, a joke in comparison to the days of Ali, Frazier, Foreman etc.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by habernac

It's sad to see boxing in it's current state, a joke in comparison to the days of Ali, Frazier, Foreman etc.

True. Boxing needs to get down to one association - one champion. And get off cable, and back on network TV.

[Vulcan]

Nice to see all the good wishes for Ali. I remember he may have been the most hated man in the USA when he refused induction into the army. Great man for sticking to his guns at the expense of his championship.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by troutman

True. Boxing needs to get down to one association - one champion. And get off cable, and back on network TV.

Yeah, and the other thing is that the heavey weight division just seems to be lacking these days. Lots of great fighters in the middle weights, and feather weights. But the heavey weight division just doesn't seem to have the guys that existed back in the hey day at all.

Than again these guys likley opted for other sports where you don't get beat up nearly as bad as boxing.

[troutman]

There are probably more people boxing in the world than ever before. The financial rewards are to huge to ignore.

I think the problem is marketing - the only people watching boxing now are hard-core people willing to buy fights on PPV.

Back when championship fights were on Network TV, fights were big events. Boxers were big stars and household names. It has been said that Ali is the most famous person in the world.

People like Howard Cosell contributed to the spectacle.

It is confusing that there are so many different champions at each weight class. They all have to be unified.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by troutman

There are proably more poeple boxing in the world than ever before. The financial rewards are to huge to ignore.

I think the problem is marketing - the only people watching boxing now are hard-core people willing to buy fights on PPV.

Back when championship fights were on Network TV, fights were big events. Boxers were big stars and household names. It has been said that Ali is the most famous person in the world.

People like Howard Cosell contributed to the spectacle.

It is confusing that there are so many different champions at each weight class. They all have to be unified.

I wonder if Boxing is an example where chasing the PPV money is a short term cash cow but a long term money loser since, as you say, when these fights were on network TV you always knew who the champ was and who the big contenders were. I don't think I could name who holds any of the HW belts, and haven't seen a championship fight in 8 years other than a few highlights.
As a borderline fan, I don't care and turn off boxing; I can remember a time when I saw a fight with a savage young guy who had a chance to be the next great one (Tyson before he hit the big time) but those days of interest are long gone.