another one gone this year

Me too,not a boxing fan but he was such a great, larger then life character, sad to see him as ill as he was, Parkinsons is such a debilitating disease.
My sympathy to all his family and friends RIP Ali
 
Oh no, sad news
But parkinsons must have been difficult for him to cope with.
 
Gutted.

For anybody that knows somebody or has to battle with things themselves.......
 
Just woke to the news I expected. Great boxer and a profound character.
 
He said he was The Greatest and went and proved it. Truly one of a kind.
 
Such sad news, he was an amazing guy both in the ring and out.
This is very close to home for me too.
My dad had Parkinsons plus lewy body dementia and in the end it was respiratory problems that took him.
Its a cruel and long drawn out disease.
 
RIP Ali :(
 
A true legend
 
He was the man. Will there ever be a sportsman like him again? Fought everyone there was to fight at a time when there were some truly great heavyweight boxers and the world heavyweight champion meant something. RIP
 
Had principles and stood by them.it was extremely brave thing to do against the US government but took his stand and was proved right.
RIP champ,you've earn't it.
 
Great character and athlete, treated like dirt by his own country for a long time.
Always seemed to deal with his Parkinson's with great grace.
RIP.
 
He was a cracking bloke and did a lot for charity and good causes.
stayed in the ring a bit to much and did get to many hits which didn't help.

Intersting he was a devout Muslim, Sunni Islam
RIP old chap.
 
A great man gone :( RIP.
 
Firstly - A sad loss and a tragedy for his loved ones.

Secondly and not that it matters a jot but I had zero respect for the mam I saw on TV. He was IMO a bad sportsman and there simply was no need for the cruel and insulting vitriol he came out with. It didn't matter to him if you were a life long friend or if you'd helped him both financially and with moral support he'd still say the vilest things and that to me just isn't the mark of a true man or role model.

So, I'm sad for the man and his loved ones and I do to an extent admire his achievements but not his methods which IMO did his fellow professionals and himself a disservice and were on numerous occasions simply bang out of order and I wonder what would happen to a boxer who acted the same today.
 
woof woof said:
Firstly - A sad loss and a tragedy for his loved ones.

Secondly and not that it matters a jot but I had zero respect for the mam I saw on TV. He was IMO a bad sportsman and there simply was no need for the cruel and insulting vitriol he came out with. It didn't matter to him if you were a life long friend or if you'd helped him both financially and with moral support he'd still say the vilest things and that to me just isn't the mark of a true man or role model.

So, I'm sad for the man and his loved ones and I do to an extent admire his achievements but not his methods which IMO did his fellow professionals and himself a disservice and were on numerous occasions simply bang out of order and I wonder what would happen to a boxer who acted the same today.
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That's an over exaggeration. He said himself that most of it was hype. He apologised to Joe Frazier about the comments he made about him and to others.

He was so much more than a boxer and yes, in his younger days, was loud and brash but he respected his opponents. More importantly he stood up for his beliefs. Gave the best years of his boxing life for them. Would you do that? Could you do that? I couldn't and wouldnt and very few people would. You ask what would happen to a boxer who acted the same way today? Compared to the utter crap that's spouted by Tyson Fury for example Ali would do just fine.

Do you think the way he was treated by Americans after he won Olympic gold was acceptable? That was vile.

But your entitled to your opinion. I was waiting for the first post to rubbish him. Didn't have to wait long.
 
Gaz J said:
That's an over exaggeration. He said himself that most of it was hype. He apologised to Joe Frazier about the comments he made about him and to others.

He was so much more than a boxer and yes, in his younger days, was loud and brash but he respected his opponents. More importantly he stood up for his beliefs. Gave the best years of his boxing life for them. Would you do that? Could you do that? I couldn't and wouldnt and very few people would. You ask what would happen to a boxer who acted the same way today? Compared to the utter crap that's spouted by Tyson Fury for example Ali would do just fine.

Do you think the way he was treated by Americans after he won Olympic gold was acceptable? That was vile.

But your entitled to your opinion. I was waiting for the first post to rubbish him. Didn't have to wait long.
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All you're doing is excusing bad behaviour and airbrushing his darker side from history.

I'm not rubbishing him but I remember the good and the bad and unlike you I have no intention of trying to rewrite history. I wonder if you're old enough to know what you're talking about or if the latest news reports are all that's forming your views. The guy was at times an artist in the ring but that's where the hero worship stops for me and I'm not interested in going down the route of celebrity worship.

Yes, Ali took a stand on humanitarian issues but he also used and abused people when it suited him. The discrimination that Ali and others endured was appalling but the people Ali wronged as a boxer were mostly of the same race so I don't see what you're driving at here. Does being good at sport and having been discriminated against give you a blank cheque to behave badly? I suppose you'd be equally defensive of a badly behaving footballer? Sorry, but I call it as I see it and if someone does good then the world's a better place for it but if someone behaves badly I couldn't give a flying how good at sport they are and I'm not going to brush it under the carpet.

As for me boxing, well, hell no but what has that got to do with anything? I don't see that as any measure of being either a man or a sports man and I find this air brushing of history and hero worship more than a little distasteful. It's what happens though so get on with it.

He was a great boxer and it's a sad loss and I'm sad for his loved ones but other than that we're not at his funeral so the hero worship and airbrushing isn't for me so I'll shake my head at views like yours and walk away.
 
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