Muhammad Ali, simply 'The Greatest,' dead at 74

• isadore

  Ali, who had a long battle with Parkinson's disease, was taken to a Phoenix area hospital earlier this week where he was being treated for a respiratory issue. He was 74.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  was he the greatest?
• Ironman92

  

  Sad but it was probably time. Really took a beating and his last 25 years were simply not him.
  
  RIP
• vball10set

  the older one gets (especially while battling an affliction), the more revered they get--he was a polarizing figure who was more of a figurehead and a symbol during the last 30+ years...the "greatest"?!? nah.... Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes, etc......
• Laley23

  

  Ali was the greatest because he was more than a boxer. He wasn't the best in the ring, but he was just a huge figure in the world of sports and world in general. I don't think he was the best boxer ever, but I have no problem with people calling him the greatest because I look at it as more of a life title than athletic title.
• Heretic

  

  Laley23;1797785 wrote:Ali was the greatest because he was more than a boxer. He wasn't the best in the ring, but he was just a huge figure in the world of sports and world in general. I don't think he was the best boxer ever, but I have no problem with people calling him the greatest because I look at it as more of a life title than athletic title.

  I'd agree with that. As a fighter, he was known for being in some of the greatest fights of all time; but with his larger-than-life personality and how he transcended sports, I have no issue with the title.
• isadore

  “‘Course I’m respectable. I’m old. Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough.” from Chinatown. We have seen 30 years of the respectable Ali. I don't thing most people today realize what a lightning rod he was for controversy in very turbulent times.
• Spock

  

  who?
• vball10set

  When he's referred to as "The Greatest", it's because of his boxing prowess. Period. Those not old enough to have been around during his boxing career base this "great guy" coronation on movies and stories, but as I said earlier, time softens rough edges. Ali was an excellent boxer, but a militant and an activist during this time as well. He was an ambassador during the last 30+ years, but this was a testament to his family and handlers as much as it was him. RIP, Mr. Clay, you truly were one of a kind.
• thavoice

  Laley23;1797785 wrote:Ali was the greatest because he was more than a boxer. He wasn't the best in the ring, but he was just a huge figure in the world of sports and world in general. I don't think he was the best boxer ever, but I have no problem with people calling him the greatest because I look at it as more of a life title than athletic title.

  Wasn't one his famous quotes about if he told the world enough he was the greatest ever than everyone would eventually believe it? (or something along those lines...)
• Ironman92

  

  This funeral is quite the spectacle. Incredibly impressive.
• Ironman92

  

  Jesse Lewis....yikes
  
  Jesse Owens sir...
• salto

  

  Spock;1797917 wrote:who?

  Some draft dodger who used to be known as Mr. Clay.
• salto

  

  Tyson in his prime would have destroyed Ali.
• Ironman92

  

  salto;1798822 wrote:Tyson in his prime would have destroyed Ali.

  Yeah but Ali would've been about 47 years old
• Heretic

  

  Ironman92;1798824 wrote:Yeah but Ali would've been about 47 years old

  In other words, marginally older than Larry Holmes when Tyson destroyed him when he was making his reputation by destroying no-names and past-their-primes.