I never cared much for the guy either. In addition to the offputting self-promotion and the radicalism, I thought that the way he treated Joe Frazier, a basically decent guy, was beyond disgraceful.
I actually met Joe Frazier one time while in high school, quite accidentally. What you say is true. He is a decent and nice man. I had a one-on-one converastion with him for about 15 minutes.