A Tribute To Ali - Rest In Peace to the "Greatest Of All Time"

--- Been all over boxing media with Ali reported in fair condition, but problems breathing.

Ring now says he looks to be in critical care on a respirator "fighting for his life." Tabloid media hype mixed with the secrecy of docs and family make impossible to really know, but maybe a prayer for the proverbial soft landing may be in order regardless of outcome.

I've necessarily been a big critic of Ali to counter unwarranted slavish devotion of him to the diminishment of other greats, but always had a profound respect for the essence of the man and the fighter. He has suffered quite enough.

Maybe a representative signature moment that captures the flavor of his era is when arch rival Jerry Quarry, who later suffered from Parkinson's disease and passed far too young, mimics Ali hilariously and flawlessly on a boxing broadcast. Can't post a link with my iPhone, but maybe tomorrow.

Muhammad Ali Passes

Sad news being reported this morning that Ali has passed away as a result of the respiratory illness for which he was recently admitted to hospital in Pheonix.

Re: Muhammad Ali dies

Oh no sad news but it happens to us all eventually R.I.P to the greatest

Re: Muhammad Ali dies

Sad sad news men. The genuine GOAT has died. Rest in Peace. We´ll keep his fights as a legacy. And there´s a great film, "When we were kings" that should be watched for you all. I learnt a lot of his personality from that film.

“I’ve wrestled with alligators,

I’ve tussled with a whale.

I done handcuffed lightning

And throw thunder in jail.

You know I’m bad.

just last week, I murdered a rock,

Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick.

I’m so mean, I make medicine sick.” Muhammad Ali. R.I.P.

Re: Muhammad Ali dies

Rest in Peace Muhammad Ali. You will always be The Greatest.

Re: Muhammad Ali dies

The Greatest. RIP.

Re: Muhammad Ali dies

Very sad news, has been on the cards for a good while. The biggest sports icon of our time for sure.

While it is tragic, the blanket coverage and grief-fest that will entail is going to be overkill!

Re: Muhammad Ali dies

A legend that transcends the sport. Managed to win the hearts of humanity for his fight with equality of its people.

Re: Muhammad Ali dies

For years I didn't care for Ali. I respected him as one of the greatest of all times but I didn't like the brass self confidence and sometimes ignorant ways he expressed himself against his opponents. I was also a Frazier fan, so came with the territory to dislike Ali. Not until the mid-90's did I start to warm up to him as a person. Read a few books, watched some interviews and documentaries, etc. I've come to realize he was a very complex man, going thru things I can't even imagine going thru. And doing all of that in the spotlight performing at such a high level in the sport of boxing. He changed the sport, transcended it. He was bigger and more recognizable than the President. He was and is The Greatest. RIP Champ. You will be missed.

Re: Muhammad Ali dies

"I've seen George Foreman shadow boxing and the shadow won."

"I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark."

He was the Greatest talking too:haha:. We´ll miss you.

Re: Muhammad Ali dies

Re: Muhammad Ali dies

Oscar De La Hoya on the passing of 'The Greatest'

Golden Boy Promotions Chairman and CEO Oscar De La Hoya has issued the following statement with regard to the passing of “The Greatest” Muhammad Ali:

“It is with great sadness today that we mourn the loss of the Greatest of All Time – Muhammad Ali. I send my deepest condolences to his family, and pray for strength and peace for them during this difficult time.

“Muhammad Ali is a legend and one of the world’s most celebrated athletes, the fighter who ushered in the golden era of boxing and put the sport on the map. He paved the way for professional fighters including myself, elevating boxing to become a sport watched in millions of households around the world.

Read more: Oscar De La Hoya on the passing of 'The Greatest' - - Boxing News - Ring News24

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Ricky Hatton statement on Muhammad Ali

I was extremely saddened to wake up this morning and be told of the passing of the legendary Muhammad Ali.

It is not only a very sad loss for boxing, but for the whole of sport as he was quite simply the greatest and most iconic athlete the world has ever known.

I used to collect boxing fights on VHS as a kid and Muhammad was a big favourite for me. He had speed and timing that few heavyweights possess as well as having the sort personality that drew you in.

I was very honoured when agreed to officially open my gym, Hatton Health and Fitness, in August 2009. It was a dream come true to meet him and that day is one of the proudest moments of my life.

Read more: Ricky Hatton statement on Muhammad Ali - - Boxing News - Ring News24

Re: Muhammad Ali dies

Rest In Peace to the "Greatest Of All Time".

It's been a very sad day today as we learn of the passing of one of boxing's legends and an icon.

He has inspired so many and many more look up to him and will continue to do so. There will never ever be another Ali.

He's now free from all the suffering. You sleep easy Champ and Rest In Peace.

Re: Muhammad Ali dies

Anyone else hate when it says _________ dies? I always preferred it to say 'passed away'.

A Tribute To Ali - Rest In Peace to the "Greatest Of All Time"

Bobby.............?

Re: A Tribute To Ali

--- Used up all my library time today writing the tribute.

Can't copy on my iPhone, but tribute can be accessed by googling The greatest in repose- Muhammad Ali-RIP or by my site name, Bobby Macs Straight Shooter. I really don't think words can ever do justice for what this moment means to yea or nay critics, but I tried.

Re: A Tribute To Ali

Thanks Bobby - I'll try and get it over..............

Re: A Tribute To Ali

From Bobby Macs Page:

The Greatest in Repose~~Muhammad Ali~~R.I.P.

Ali checked out beautifully

Just a little dash of muss

And a whole lotta fuss

As The People, they cried, The Greatest has died

Yet Valhalla awaits him still

Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis are a chompin’

Let’s give him a good ol’ fashion stompin’

Gonna be some all time fights for the ages

To wag tart tongues of the all knowing sages

who always gather ’round for yet another round

Bottoms Up~~~R.I.P. Ali

The Original, The One & The Onliest, Cassius Clay

Dateline: The end of January, 1967. I was 15 years old when the opportunity of a lifetime presented itself. I borrowed my mom’s Buick Skywagon to cart two of my buddies down to the Astrodome/Astro Hall complex to see Muhammad Ali and Ernie Terrell train the week before their unification fight.

Terrell was prime aged and quite impressive looking, and of course the training was light, just a show for us rubes to see two heavyweight champs in action to promote the fight. OK, Terrell’s hour up, so he puts on his robe to walk back to his dressing room, a temporary 10’x10’x10′ cube adjoining Ali’s cube.

Ali emerged just after Terrell climbed through the ropes and started screaming as they confronted. As the whole gym rushed over, Ali jumped in with a big wild swing on Terrell who returned the favor with the explosion of action jostling all of us as the training camps struggled to contain their fighters.

“Wow,” I was thinking, “so this is what a heavyweight fight feels like.”

Terrell finally made it to his cube, so Ali jumped into the ring with his robe on to dance around, shuffle and shout out some doggerel verse, and shadow box for a few minutes. Everything was serene now, so the crowd dispersed back to the ring fringes hoping Ali would dance around closer, but quick as a flash, Ali popped through the ropes to sprint to Terrell’s cube, slamming the door shut as all hell broke loose.

Oh, man, I was right on Ali’s tail the whole time with my buds trailing, but the door was locked! I ran to a corner and asked my buds for a boost so I could grab the top wall and pull myself up for a look. The cube was really rocking now with the sound of the furious fight punctuating the score, so imagine my shock to see Ali with a folding metal chair screaming while running round the room pounding on the walls with Terrell’s trainer on the opposite side keeping pace with his chair. Ernie was buck naked sitting up on the table with a towel covering him as he pounded his street shoe on the table while shouting.

Before I could jump in to grab a chair and join in the fun, a security guard grabbed my ankles to rudely yank me down as another guard unlocked the door to lead Ali out, still shouting. He promptly resumed his workout that consisted primarily lying on the ropes to let his sparmates pound on him, a preview of Rumble in the Jungle Rope A Dope he’d use on George Foreman 7 amazing years later.

The net impact of this most memorable training session on me was the beginning of a suspicion of boxing experts and the media in general who reported the event in high feudal drama, that Terrell had called Ali Clay to anger him and started a fight, when in fact they were best buds from way back, former sparmates, and brilliantly complicit in their staging of this little fuss for prefight publicity.

Alas, I was too poor then to afford the pricey tickets to the fight, but had I managed to jump in on the action, Ali would have loved it and surely given me a couple of tickets, only a split second of poor timing that the Fates cursed me with that kept me from meeting he and Ernie in the most personal way possible.

In Days of Yore, Ali Settles a Score

Re: A Tribute To Ali

Pardon me if I have f**ked any of your formatting over, Bobby. Thanks. Still in bits, personally..........

Re: Muhammad Ali dies

Feh.

Great boxer, but he was a draft-doging, womanizing, egotistical, adulterous racist. He blatantly cheated on his wife in public, he blatantly cheated in the ring, and his treatment of Frazier was inexcusably offensive. He was also a total pawn for Malcome-X.

"Other than THAT, Mrs, Lincoln, how was the play? "

Re: Muhammad Ali dies

Feh.

 

 

Great boxer, but he was a draft-doging, womanizing, egotistical, adulterous racist. He blatantly cheated on his wife in public, he blatantly cheated in the ring, and his treatment of Frazier was inexcusably offensive. He was also a total pawn for Malcome X.

 

 

"Other than THAT, Mrs, Lincoln, how was the play? "

Time and a place Cable...............:nono: Lets get the man in the ground please.

Re: A Tribute To Ali

--- Used up all my library time today writing the tribute.

 

Can't copy on my iPhone, but tribute can be accessed by googling The greatest in repose- Muhammad Ali-RIP or by my site name, Bobby Macs Straight Shooter. I really don't think words can ever do justice for what this moment means to yea or nay critics, but I tried.

Thanks for posting that. ;)

Re: A Tribute To Ali

Fantastic article on Muhammad Ali. Have pinched it for Ringnews24 as had nothing original about Ali passing on there. :)

The Greatest in Repose~~Muhammad Ali~~R.I.P.

by Bobby Mac

The Greatest in Repose~~Muhammad Ali~~R.I.P. - - Boxing News - Ring News24

Re: Rest In Peace to the "Greatest Of All Time".

Was upset when I heard the news. He's been ill for many years, so is in a better place now. His Legacy will out live us all. A truly inspirational man.