Gorgeous George Publicity Photo
I'm gettin really old!
I remember Gorgeous George.....
Very well....I must admit..
He was a showman.
"Gorgeous George would shout, bulge his eyes and threaten to annihilate his ''enemy." Some of his opponents feared George's tough talk outside the ring far more than his technique inside it. In short order, the anger aimed at him made him one of wrestling's - and television's - biggest attractions. And he cried all the way to the bank.
His act lasted so long that a little-known boxer named Cassius Marcellus Clay, who won the 1960 lightheavyweight championship in the Rome Olympics, took careful note of George's success.
"Soon after I turned pro," Cassius mused, "I discovered that even though I won the Olympic title, I wasn't making any money. I was the only champion that didn't have no jack jangling in his jeans. So I studied Gorgeous George and began doing his act better than he did it.
"Before I became champ, I used to go in the ring and fight and when I went to the dressing room, people didn't pay much attention to me," Ali recalled years later. "One night, I was watching Gorgeous George on TV. He was jumping around making a lot of noise and threatening his opponents and I said to myself, 'this guy's on to something.' I think I'll put some of that in my act."
Boxing fans plunked down their hard-earned cash to see Ali get knocked out. But alas, he had become as fine a boxer as he was a showman, and routinely whipped his opponents - "as if I was their daddy," he enjoyed saying. He also told reporters he probably owed Gorgeous George a lot of money: "Wasn't for him, nobody would have heard of me," Ali insisted."I didn't use no perfume or high heels, but I became real boisterous and the fans began paying attention to me. They hated my poetry and came to see if I would knock out my opponents in the round I'd predict. Fans would spend their money and rush to my fights, hoping to see me get my head whupped."
Clay, who became a Muslim and changed his name to Muhammad Ali in 1964, possessed enormous fighting skills. However, it was his persistent bragging, as much as his fighting ability, that electrified professional boxing. So accomplished was his act that he is often credited with saving the most brutal sport of all."
I’m already sick of hearing about that loud mouth.
Much of the blame belongs to Howard Cosell.
Howard Cosell built his career on pimping for Cassius Clay.
wth?? why on earth is this in Breaking News?????
so basically...
Ali admitted to cultural appropriation!
I'm gettin really old!
I remember Gorgeous George.....
Very well....I must admit..
He was a showman.
People like him trick people into believing islam is about peace.
"Before I became champ, I used to go in the ring and fight and when I went to the dressing room, people didn't pay much attention to me," Ali recalled years later. "One night, I was watching Gorgeous George on TV. He was jumping around making a lot of noise and threatening his opponents and I said to myself, 'this guy's on to something.' I think I'll put some of that in my act."
Boxing fans plunked down their hard-earned cash to see Ali get knocked out. But alas, he had become as fine a boxer as he was a showman, and routinely whipped his opponents - "as if I was their daddy," he enjoyed saying. He also told reporters he probably owed Gorgeous George a lot of money: "Wasn't for him, nobody would have heard of me," Ali insisted.
Great story... great post.