
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Tyson would've destroyed Ali. Marciano would've destroyed Ali. Norton DID beat Ali. Hell... let's carry it further and say Butterbean would've beat Ali. Ali wasn't all that great. He was disrespectful... he dodged the draft... he clowned opponents. Some here even refuse to use his chosen name. It's Clay this... Clay that... almost with disdain. Yet any other athlete in any other sport changes his name and we all flock to use it. What's the point in all this hate??
Was Ali TBE? Most probably not. At least in my own personal opinion. There's plenty of other fighters who could probably claim that with more backup than Ali. Is Ali an ATG? He most certainly is. He won some fights nobody thought he would win (Liston, Foreman)... and was involved in some of the sport's best classics (Ali-Frazier III). He polarized the sport. He made some people love him... made others hate him. But the result was the same. He drew people to the sport. They either wanted him to win, or wanted him destroyed.
Let's face it. Were it not for Ali during that time, boxing wouldn't have made that huge leap in popularity that made it so popular in the decades that followed.
I'd like to hear from the haters themselves. What is it about Ali that brings out the vast amount of hate? I'm just curious. Were you around when Ali was fighting? Did you hate his off the ring antics? Did his stance on Vietnam or race relations irk you? Did you take his hate relationship with Joe Frazier personally? Are you pissed that Larry Holmes (as Holmes is and will always be) never got the attention you thought he deserved because he followed in Ali's footsteps?
What?
Most of the haters of Ali are those that were not even born when Ali was actually boxing
I was I followed his career since the day I saw him fight Henry Cooper in London as a kid
we wanted to see Henry silence the Louisville Lip & even booed Clay. I Left that fight a life long fan To me Ali is THE GREATEST in & out of the ring
You say Ali dodged the draft that's why he is hated. Ali refused induction due to his religious beliefs, Beliefs I do not share with him but I respect him for standing up for what he believed in He took what ever punishment they dished out .He didn't run to Canada or England like a certain gentleman named William Jefferson Clinton ran to avoid the draft. Clintons "punishment" You made him President of the United States ROFLMAO
I agree he went too far at times insulting opponents especially Joe Frazier but he was really only selling the fights. I met Joe & Earnie Shavers many years ago in Dallas & talked to them both about Ali. I asked Joe if they really hated each other Joes answer was " I would not claim to be his friend & go out for a beer with him but Ive never met a man I respected more. I hit him as hard as I have ever hit any man & he never stoped coming, If I was at war in the trenches he is the man I'd like to have fighting alongside me". Earnie grinned & said " I agree with Joe"
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