Craig Beevers wrote:Lose all respect for anyone who says Muhammed Ali. The guy lost 5 times and not all of those you can excuse by saying he was getting on a bit. The only reason people mention is because he could bullshit better than anyone else and because of all the other stuff surrounding him with changing his name, draft dodging and that particular era being well remembered for lots of reasons, some of them nothing to do with boxing.
Base the decision on anything other than hype and it's impossible to even include him as a possibility.
"Bullshit"? The man predicted the rounds he'd knock his opponents out in and stayed true to his word more often than not. And I do think he chatted a lot of crap about most things, but that doesn't make him any less compelling to watch.
As for the era, if you deny it heralded three of the all-time great boxers in Liston, Frazier and Foreman, well then you're just an idiot. By the way, I'd like to see you (being forced to) take a 4 year break from Scrabble and return at the top of your game.
Let's assess the 5 defeats:
1) Joe Frazier - "The Fight Of The Century", to just survive 15 rounds was impressive. He then avenged Frazier twice, including another epic in Manilla.
2) Ken Norton - boxed the last few rounds with a broken jaw. Avenged within 6 months.
3) Leon Spinks - split decision, avenged within a year.
4) and 5) - the last two fights of his career, at a point where he was already suffering from brain damage.
The only point that can be made about these final defeats is that he didn't retire gracefully. Except, I think a man willing to put himself in the ring purely for his addiction to the game (and not money), despite knowing the huge risks, deserves more credit.
As for the other defeats, they only attest to his inexhaustable drive; he made a point of chasing down everyone who bested him. Whilst they were still in their prime.
Once again, you chat shit Beevers. And I really couldn't give a toss if I have your respect. You are quite a hateful guy and I don't really like you very much.