The absurdity of the thread is almost beyond belief, 'Frankenfurter' talks of Ali as if he just suddenly appeared in 1964 out of the blue and nobody knew who he was, he probably did talk himself into a match with Liston, but he was an Olympic champion and that's significant enough to remind people that the next two Olympic champions also went on to win the World Heavyweight title. Ali was unbeaten at the time and Liston was like Godzilla in the ring, the fact that he won and then became the most famous sports personality in the world appears to be the source of much consternation. It's easy to be critical of Ali the boxer and Ali the man, he came along during the golden age of television where every statement he made, every opinion he had, every move he made was scrutinised and by many condemend. This did not faze him.
Ali the boxer was stripped of his title and had his livelyhood taken away from him at the peak of his career, tell me truthfully could Joe Frazier have beaten Ali in in 1967 or 1968? They most certainly would've have met in that time had Ali continued to fight. Ali returned and he fought Frazier in 1971 almost 4 years after being stripped of his title, he lost a decision, but was not disgraced, (have a close look at Joe Frazier's face after this fight) Joe Frazier was no mug. Ali was not the same fighter as he was in 1966, he then beat George Foreman in 1974 and Frazier in 1975. Ali fought the best out there at the time and he used different tactics to do it, he was a brilliant ring tactician. Where is this criticisim coming from? My only criticism of Ali is he should've retired after the Thriller In Manila.
Frankenfurter... you have no idea!