Ok this is heresy but was Ali actually a total knob?

[Bomp]

its funny because ali in his time at top was not very well liked at all but to really understand the racisim etc u have to place yurself in that period of time when he was coming up and became champion(martin luther kings time malcom x black marches for equality etc)when we look back in time now and c his interviews and comments and antics sure he comes across as a bit of a self centered clown but those were the times back then and too the white heirachy he was a mouthy black who didnt know his place(polishing the white mans superior shoes)and was a great inspirational hero to the black man....especially in that vietnam war era(no viet cong ever called me a nigga haha)he was a symbol of strength intelligence confidence(very cocky)wittyness and articulate for the black people when they needed all that.....long live the self proclaimed greatest
ps he did apologise eventually to fraizer but alwaysaid wat he did was in jest, the reason joe took it so personally was because joe trully liked ali and regarded him as a friend and felt alis antics was not necessary and too over the top

So that's ok then. I think he went a bit mental when the X brotha's got hold of him.
Ali paved the way for trash talking.
Was it ok for him to say white folks were snakes? Gee ok not all of them but why would he risk getting bit? That's fine, then we're all ok with stating there are black folks and there are niggas?

Ali went way too far with Frazier, and was certainly a hypocrite through his womanising.

However people's ideas and opinions are shaped throughout adulthood as well, and I don't believe he should just be brandished a bad person as things are rarely black and white. Deadlypete makes a great point about how blacks were still treated like shit at the time he joined the controversial nation of islam, so I think he has some justification for that action, especially as he has since recognised the errors in Elijah Muhammads treachings.

Like he said in his best quote 'A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.'

[The Fightfan]

Ali was a complete racist piece of s**t in my mind. Yeah I've seen this documentary as many of other Ali documentaries which play repeatedly.

[LEGION]

Ok I'm up late watching a rbr commentary of Frazier Ali 2 in which both Ali and Frazier were in the studio providing the commentary.

Ali is a complete douche! Calling the interviewer a white bigot and saying he lost the fight because of racism, e taunts Frazier relentlessly during the show causing Frazier eventually to stand up and square up to Ali who then jumps up and wrestles him to the floor.

Frazier then leaves in disgust but Ali is still there loving the platform he has and talking absolute shit

I don't think any boxer could get away with the crap he did back then and now I'm watching this willing Frazier to knock him the fuck out!

Anyone else ever seen this doc, or have recollections of Ali actually sometimes being a total Mayweatheresque tool?

Yeah he was a knob; but a knob who was one of the best......So he's got you beat; you're just a knob who can barely breathe without an oxygen tank

[fan johnny]

He was a character that is for sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnYCTh_DSLM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGNZS...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpSOO...eature=related

[MGG]

Sure Ali was a arrogant prick, after what they did to him during the Vietnam war was a shame. Still he had no right playing the race card with the interviewer or claiming robbery from the Frazier fight.

[mofo2]

Ok I'm up late watching a rbr commentary of Frazier Ali 2 in which both Ali and Frazier were in the studio providing the commentary.

Ali is a complete douche! Calling the interviewer a white bigot and saying he lost the fight because of racism, e taunts Frazier relentlessly during the show causing Frazier eventually to stand up and square up to Ali who then jumps up and wrestles him to the floor.

Frazier then leaves in disgust but Ali is still there loving the platform he has and talking absolute shit

I don't think any boxer could get away with the crap he did back then and now I'm watching this willing Frazier to knock him the fuck out!

Anyone else ever seen this doc, or have recollections of Ali actually sometimes being a total Mayweatheresque tool?

I agree at times he acted over the top...but for me he was a hypocrite more than a Knob!

This was the man who used the 'UNCLE TOM' line against Frazier and turned the public against him after saying he was nearly a white man as a put down,to then go and speak at A KKK meeting!

I don't like Ali as a man..but as a boxer!

[cpcompany]

Yeah true..infact Frazier is still bitter to this day.
Anyone see the recent Thrilla in Manilla documentary?
Brilliant stuff and i think it was on More4 of one of the channel 4 sister channels.
It still upsets him being called an "Uncle Tom" etc.

One of, if not the best boxing documentary I have seen. Whether you are an Ali fan or not, its hard to disagree that Frazier came across as the better man during their verbal dispute.

[Wayne]

Both Ali and Robinson were arrogant pricks when they wanted to be. People criticize Mayweather and Roy Jones for being cocky, but Robinson and Ali were just as bad, and in Robinson's case he regularly beat his wife, and cheated on her which is something Ali obviously did as well.

Mayweather plead no contest to battery, but it wound up being he had to to keep the fight with Gatti. And the woman subsequently admitted he didn't hit her.

And to a previous poster having dogs sicced on you and being hosed down is no excuse to be a racist prig, especially against one of your own. I love Ali, but he was a dick when he wanted to be.

[JazMerkin]

I pretty much agree with everything Killface has said. With the Mayweather thing, most people who meet him off camera say he's a very different person. Richie Woodhall who took a training session at my gym recently said he was shocked at how different he was when meeting him, & how even Ricky Hatton said that PBF post-fight was a guy he could've got on with.

Regarding Ali there is no doubt that he could be a gigantic prick, & the way he treated Frazier particularly was sickening, although it is part of a wider issue regarding skin tone & post-colonial inferences in the black community, however, that's not really an issue for the main board.

However, the thing with Ali is what he meant to black people worldwide. My nan who knows nothing about boxing, would often cite Ali as someone heroic to her children & grandkids as someone 'who fought for us'. I think Ali's attitude & stand against racism inspired a lot of people to feel that they didn't have to just take it. Being half-white as well, I don't agree with the views of the Nation, but I think both Ali & Malcolm X moved away from the Nation & its rhetoric. If anything it was Ali being taken under the wing of Herbert Muhammad rather than Malcolm that led to his views in the 70's. However, it does not take away from what Ali represented, and he remains a hero for many of us who never even saw him fight. The only other sportsmen who I can think of that inspire that kind of international respect & love would be Diego Maradona & Sachin Tendulkar.

Also as radical & offensive as he could be back then he was a very different person, let's face it we all have views that we regret & change as we get older.

[Wayne]

Regarding Ali there is no doubt that he could be a gigantic prick, & the way he treated Frazier particularly was sickening, although it is part of a wider issue regarding skin tone & post-colonial inferences in the black community, however, that's not really an issue for the main board.

That at one point was a huge issue. I don't know so much now, but the funny thing is Ali had it reversed. Kind of like Kennedy calling Nixon a pussy when it came to war.

[JazMerkin]

Regarding Ali there is no doubt that he could be a gigantic prick, & the way he treated Frazier particularly was sickening, although it is part of a wider issue regarding skin tone & post-colonial inferences in the black community, however, that's not really an issue for the main board.

That at one point was a huge issue. I don't know so much now, but the funny thing is Ali had it reversed. Kind of like Kennedy calling Nixon a pussy when it came to war.

It definitely remains a big issue, at least in the UK, and I think it's still a bit of an issue in the US judging from a lot of the stuff I've seen about the use of light-skinned girls in hip-hop videos. But, it's a regular heated topic of discussion in the Afro-Caribbean society at my university.

[No Contest]

Thats why i wanted frazier to knock his ass out badly! Later on I realized he was just selling the fight, but yeah he was ultra annoying. Prince Naseem has been the only guy since to be near that lvl of annoying.

[Violent Demise]

Ali could come across somewhat arrogant, but he was nothing like Mayweather and his antics were pretty much for the benefit of selling the fight. He was a genius at this which is why he is the most popular sportsman of all time!

Oh yes and the fact he was the greatest too

Wonder what fight Ali was trying to sell when he called Joe Louis an Uncle Tom?

[Hunter]

I agree Ali was a knob...I dont really understand why everyone is making such a big deal out of him these days...

He refused to fight for his country in the Vietnam war (supposedly for religious reasons) but went through gumars like he was changing his shorts.... I think he and Tyson have alot in common when it comes to women....

I have no respect for the guy..

[sillent killer]

Agree Ali was a knob but he was also one of greatest boxers of all times