Who is the greatest in your opinion??

[pacfan]

If the question is "who is the greatest boxer of all time" then theres one answer IMHO. Ali. I think whilst Great is something you achieve in the ring its also something increased out of the ring. Our Sport has a bad enough rap now. It needs Ambassadors, Its why Tyson just about creeps into my top 10 HWs list. The man did nothing good for the sport outside the ring, despite the fact he was a phenomenon in it.
Ali was too. I never get tired of watching The Thrilla.., or Rumble.. Ever. Add what the man has done away from the ring that reflects well on the sport and my mind is made up.

Cool Click for you sir. Excellent point about the sport needing Ambassadors.

I'll say this, I was in an elevator at work the other day, kind of in a shitty mood. Some guys who you could tell were casual fans and nothing more were talking about Ali and how no other boxer in the history of the sport could touch him blah blah blah, without thinking I snickered in the most rude and smart a** way I knew how. Least to say they quit talking and I felt like a dick afterward. The thing is, if you're talking strictly abilities in the ring and not achievements outside of it IMO (and quite a few others) Ali doesn't come close to many of the fighters I've seen. No doubt he's the biggest name boxing has ever seen, simply because of the time period he was in. The use of draft dodging combined with the whole muslim religion front made him the huge icon he is. He was just a normal guy who was just as much a sinner as everyone else on here, and was nothing more than excited about the idea of being a muslim - but the people took it one step further and built him up to be this living god. Do you really believe that if Ali had fought in this era he would be beloved in the same way? No, the second he said he was a muslim we'd all say ok, you wanna fly a plane into my house?

one of the greatest heavyweights of all time easily, but heavyweight is the keyword
just an opinion tho, could easily be wrong

agreed my friend.
Ali was good, ali was great but not the greatest, his reputation is built on the era, his awesome personallity i mean he was cocky no doubt he had charisma but was he undefeated ..no did he have titles in different wieght classes ..no
i think its cos yeh he knocks out liston in the round he predicted he did alot for boxing and the whole muslim thing.. and yes he was one of the greatest if not the greatest heavywieghts but certainly not the greatest boxer and it bewilders me that the casual fan or even the boxing fanatic will say well roy has lost 3 fights and hes no longer great but ali is thought of as you said nearly in god like proportions and should have damaged his legacy for staying in the business far longer than he should have! but is stil thought of as the greatest, far from it.. i'd like to see the tough assed lighter boxing warriors get some recognition liek chavez, duran (mainstream, he is a legend to most fanatics) and others like them.
jus my opinion baby :P

I myself may not call him the "greatest" but many people simply don't understand why he was called the greatest. He was, and sometimes is still, called the greatest because he was the first heavyweight boxer who had the ability to "box." Heavyweights are notorious for their inability to box, in a technical sense, mainly because of their slowness. Most of them can be classified as "slow sluggers" if there is such a classification. Just watch Ali's early fights and try to analyse them without prejudice. You'll be amazed at his footworks, his stamina, his stinging jabs, which by themselves sometimes caused the early downfall of his opponents - that jab that's almost like a straight, and his "dance," yes he dances away gracefully from most of his opponents attack, evading their punches with a continuous dancelike movements and footworks - and what's more amazing is that he did that sometimes for the entire 15 rounds! No other heavyweight boxer before (and even up to now) comes close to him when it comes to the way he boxes technically, even though he may not be the biggest puncher. That's why he was considered, and many still do consider him, "the Greatest." And adding to that, his flamboyance - his controversial character outside the ring - did help him somewhat to gain that title.