Posted on 06/04/2016 1:21:27 AM PDT by SkyPilot
Muhammad Ali, the silver-tongued boxer and civil rights champion who famously proclaimed himself "The Greatest" and then spent a lifetime living up to the billing, is dead.
Ali died Friday at a Phoenix-area hospital, where he had spent the past few days being treated for respiratory complications, a family spokesman confirmed to NBC News. He was 74.
After a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74. The three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer died this evening," Bob Gunnell, a family spokesman, told NBC News.
20 years or so ago I nearly bumped into him while scurrying between flights at O’Hare airport. He was just sort of gazing into space, like he wasn’t all there.
I laughed.
Excerpts:
"In 1984, he put his mature myth to an even more severe test when he publicly supported Ronald Reagan and even attended the Republican National Convention."
"At a Fourth of July celebration in Washington, for instance, Ali publicly scolded Louis Farrakhan for an ongoing series of threats and insults against Jews. 'What he teaches is not at all what I believe in,' said Ali boldly.
Thanks for the post. I always tried to separate politics from sports until liberals started to push their religion on broadcasts, and I always kept Ali’s politics/religion separate from his brilliant athletic performances. Hunting, fishing, and watching sports and boxing were what I remember the most about being with my Dad, and Ali sure gave us a lot to talk about.
As far as his religion is concerned, he disparaged the extremists and provided one of the few healthy role models that some inner city black kids could emulate. He wasn’t a perfect man, as are some who have posted negatively on this thread, but all in all he was a good man. He was also one of two heroes to an Army brat-later-paratrooper son of a paratrooper. RIP Muhammad Ali.
Don’t they know Joe Frazier knocked Clay flat on his back?
Don’t they kow he lost to overweight light heavyweight Doug Jones?”
Don’t they know he got extra several extra minutes between rounds just after he was knocked down by Henry Cooper?
Don’t they know he lost his title to 7-fight novice Leon Spinks?”
Don’t they know he lost every round to Jimmy Young?
Don’t they know his fights with Liston were fakes?
I'm dating myself but IMHO that distinction would go to Rocky Marciano!!!!
Ashs to Ashs Clay to Mohammed
Let’s, a conscientious objector, who fights and makes millions. To me, that is nothing but a stinking liar.
A mooselimb convert. Frankly, I see nothing redeeming in this man’s achievements in life.
The fact that he was an athlete - that is a big fat nothing burger. A man is defined by his character, principles and what he believes in, not his physical or mental capabilities.
I think you nailed it there. When he was growing up here in Louisville, all his teachers and classmates said he was a very quiet, withdrawn, shy kid. But once he started winning professional fights, his handlers/agents/promoters/hangers on started feeding him lots of scripts to read.
CRAP.
I was eating at the lunch counter of a diner next to a hotel I was staying in in Elizabeth New Jersey years ago
when a policeman sitting next to me got up and said he had to go to.
I finished eating and followed him to the front of a theater just across the street.
A big bus drove up, a bunch of 5’6” black muslims got out and then Ali, wearing a black shirt and black pants, got out.
He stood in front of the theater, with an audience of about 8 people including me and several policeman, and gave his feeble-minded memorized spiel, which included mentions of “kikes” and “spics”
And then got back on the bus with his muslim handlers to head to their next stop.
Having said that, any Christian African American who slithered over to the likes of the Muslim Brotherhood, Elijah Muhammad and Louis Farakhan and was a draft dodger, rabble rouser and generally A-hole is and remains a traitor and A-hole.
You obviously do not know much about boxing. I’ve watched the the greatest fighters of all time, including Sugar Ray Leonard, Rocky Marciano, and footage from fights of Joe Lewis. Leonard, who idolizes Ali, emulated Ali’s style and tactics.
If you want to go to school, review young Ali’s fights from the early 60’s Olympics.
ONLY members of the Religion of Ali are ignorant of the fact that
“judges” automatically declared Ali the “winner” of any fight that he was not knocked out in.
Ali could not lose a decision.
Nucluside,
If you want to pose as an “authority” on boxing
learn how to spell Joe Louis’ name right.
That was my favorite Six Day War joke, which I heard at the time in the summer of 1967.
Also known as the Blintzkrieg. J.C. Whitney selling back up lights for Egyptian tanks, that sort of thing.
Nucluside,
You never had a fight with your own sister.
You simply made that up. Proof or it didn’t happen.
What a dolt! You are obviously as ignorant about my religion, which is NOT islam, as you are about boxing.
What are you talking about? Four of Ali’s five losses were decisions.
Thanks.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.