Text 25329, 71 rader
Skriven 2012-02-18 04:09:55 av Lee Lofaso (2:203/2)
  Kommentar till text 25200 av Roy Witt (1:387/22)
Ärende: The Greatest
====================
Hello Roy,

 LL>> "There are more pleasant things to do than beat up people."
 LL>> - Muhammad Ali

 DD>> And yet when others :stand up for what they believe in" they get
 DD>> pilloried for being "anti-American".

RW>Muhammad, before he was Muhammad got pilleried for things he said
RW>when he was a young pup.

And praised by others.

RW>As Cassius Clay, he avoided the draft in the late 60s and was
RW>pilleried for that.

And praised by others.

RW>Not only by his fans and the media, but also by the feds.

And in the end, praised by all.  His conviction was overturned,
he regained his heavyweight boxing championship, and he became a
spokesman and living legend when he retired from the ring.

 DD>> I guess one has to have the ability to knock the shit out of others
 DD>> before one is allowed a contrary opinion.

RW>Odd that! Ali got the shit knocked out of him more than once, so he
RW>has 1st hand experience in knowing how unpleasant that can be.

Late in his career Ali was punch-drunk.  Larry Holmes was forced
to defend his title against Ali, and hated every minute of it.
There is no question that Ali should have retired earlier than
when he did, but in his heydey he was indeed "The Greatest".

RW>(I think it was the 'Thrilla in Manilla', the Phillipines where Joe
RW>Frazier broke Ali's jaw and Ali continued to fight a losing battle
RW>to the last round).

The Thrilla in Manila was the best fight of the three encounters.
Joe Frazier's manager threw in the towel before the end of the bout,
and Ali said he was not sure either of them would have survived the
next round.

 MvdV>> So in the end it boils down to right of might anyway.... :-(

RW>Actually not.

The Spinks/Holmes fight was fixed.
The white boys clearly did not want
Larry Holmes to break Rocky Marciano's
boxing record.  Thus the fight was
awarded to Spinks.

The fix was also in for Mike Tyson's fall from grace...

RW>Boxers require more than might to play the game and be the last
RW>man standing. They didn't call Ali Mr Rope-a-Dope for nothing. In
RW>everyday parlance that's called strategy...

Ali's "rope-a-dope" strategy worked for some opponents, but not all.
Larry Holmes could have chosen the same strategy against even bigger
opponents.  But not all athletes can take that kind of a punch or
multiple punches.

Angelo Dundee, R.I.P.

--Lee

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