Muhammad Ali has died at age 74...RIP to the GOAT

[va757va]

My biggest role model ever.... The things he did outside of the ring far surpasses his athletic prowess.... Add in he's one of the best ever at his craft, winning with two different styles in the face of adversity... One helluva man and may he rest in peace...


I get the pleasure of taking Ali's story all the time... Everywhere I go people ask me why did I name my son Cassius, and I gladly tell them why..

Rip.

 

[Belgium]

This man is a worldwide legend, not only for his achievements in boxing but his achievements and character outside of the ring as well.

RIP

 

[suberzat1]

 

[mr s j king]

Was wondering yesterday if the NBA would reschedule a Finals game if it coincided with an Ali memorial celebration

 

[bless]

RIP to one of the greatest men to walk this earth. Wow.

 

[suberzat1]

 

[mr s j king]

My biggest role model ever.... The things he did outside of the ring far surpasses his athletic prowess.... Add in he's one of the best ever at his craft, winning with two different styles in the face of adversity... One helluva man and may he rest in peace...


I get the pleasure of taking Ali's story all the time... Everywhere I go people ask me why did I name my son Cassius, and I gladly tell them why..

Rip.

Gave your son a true blessing by naming him Cassius.
That name stands for everything that's right in the world today.

 

[d nice]

The frightening thing is that were losing all of these legends but there's no one to take their place. They don't make em like Ali anymore. Rest in Power to a true king.

 

[halftime]

RIP.

side note: Never understood why people still called him Cassius...

 

[art vandelay]

The frightening thing is that were losing all of these legends but there's no one to take their place. They don't make em like Ali anymore. Rest in Power to a true king.

It is frightening and disheartening. The people we have been losing of late have been larger than what their talent was, they were icons of life. They fought for rights in their own way. They're irreplaceable. The "stars/icons" of today are all about branding, they turn a blind eye to social injustice because they want to appeal to all walks of life and they don't want to alienate certain demographics of consumers. IMHO it's a damn shame.

 

[the antihype]

RIP.

side note: Never understood why people still called him Cassius...

"His momma named him Clay, I'm gonna call him Clay."

 

[art vandelay]

I'm 38 and I feel bad because I couldn't witness his dominance in the ring first hand, or how he championed for causes that effected millions, but I hope these young "celebrities" don't start coming out of the woodworks with the RIPs just for notoriety.

 

[macbk]

Greatest promo of all time man.

Greatest combat sports heel of all time.

Had people so upset at him during the time leading up to fights that they paid their money to see him lose. People tend to forget that.

A practice copied by so many others. Flair, McGregor, and Floyd.

There is a good interview with Jim Ross and Mauro Ranallo that go in depth about Ali in the 70s.

I will post it later.

But yea man, damn.

Spot on with the comparisons. Bump so ya don't leave us hanging. Very interested in viewing the interview .

 

[AEA18]

RIP

 

[stillin729]

the Great One respecting the Great One
View media item 2055816

 

[LA Diggler]

Damn RIP champ. Transcendent athlete, will never see another.

 

[supermanblue79]

Ali is the greatest champion of our time. His fight for human rights outside of the ring impacted the world even more than his own greatness inside the ring. Thanks for showing us true greatness. Rest well Champ.

 

[picasso swerve]

The frightening thing is that were losing all of these legends but there's no one to take their place. They don't make em like Ali anymore. Rest in Power to a true king.

We got Broners and PBF's now. Embarassing.

 

[Mr.Guy]

Like many of you, this is a tough one for me.  

In reading through many of the tributes to Muhammad Ali, I find myself troubled by the tendency to minimize or restrict his legacy to his athletic achievements.


Muhammad Ali should not be remembered as a sports hero.  Muhammad Ali should be remembered as a hero, period.  


I'm too young to have witnessed Muhammad Ali box live, in real time.  My sports heroes, as a child, were athletes like Michael Jordan and Mike Tyson, whose stories were actively unfolding before me.  By the mid-80's, Ali's victories, it seemed, were all in the past.  His greatness, I thought, consisted of a bunch of musty footage and faded, iconic photographs, synonymous with triumph and glory.  In the current day, I would see him playfully posing for pictures with celebrities and world leaders.  Everyone over the age of 20 likely recalls Ali carrying the Olympic torch in 1996.  It had yet to occur to me that these mainstream celebrations of Ali were, in fact, fresh victories - not a victory tour.  

Whatever we might think, now, of Ali endorsing Ronald Reagan in 1984, the fact that Muhammad Ali - a man who refused to serve the United States military and vociferously decried the scourge of American racism and White Supremacy - would be invited to the White House was a victory.  

While the demagogue currently attempting to follow Reagan's footsteps responded incredulously to the notion of Muslim sports heroes ("Obama said in his speech that Muslims are our sports heroes. What sport is he talking about, and who?"), it seems worth noting that, during his 1983 visit to the White House, Ali presented Reagan with an autographed Muslim prayer book.  


We expect bravery from professional fighters, Ali's courage and resolve transcended his sport.  

Whereas Michael Jordan in his prime refused to openly support Harvey Gantt, a challenger to the notoriously racist Senator Jesse Helms, under the rationale that "Republicans buy sneakers, too", Muhammad Ali in his prime refused what would have been a purely ceremonial induction into the armed forces and faced the loss of his titles, banishment from boxing in his home country, and the scorn of millions to stand up for what he believed.  

Today, everyone with a few dozen social media followers worries about their "brand."  Wealth and fame are seemingly prized above all else and glorifying military service is viewed as an unquestioned act of patriotism.  

How many people - let alone celebrities - would risk what Ali risked on principle?  



Think about how Ali is revered today by people from all walks of life.  At the time, even Jackie Robinson publicly chastised Ali.  Today, people from all over the world will deeply mourn the loss of a conscientious objector, a proud, unbowed, unapologetic Black Muslim who refused to back down or sell out when it mattered most.  In 1967, Ali took on the United States of America.  Not thirty years later, he was asked to represent the United States and light the Olympic Cauldron at the '96 games in Atlanta.  

He won.


What others prop themselves up to be, Ali simply, effortlessly, was.  His exploits as a boxer were the stuff of legend before words like "legendary" and "epic" became threadbare from overuse.  Everyone knows about the "rope a dope."  Everyone knows "Ali bomaye."  Everyone knows the "Thrilla in Manilla."  

To many of us, though, his greatest achievements occurred outside the ring - and his greatest opponent was not Frazier, or Foreman, or Norton, or even MS.  

When Ali fought racism and injustice, he fought for all of us. 


He was, and will always be, our champion. 

[emoji]128079[/emoji][emoji]127998[/emoji][emoji]128079[/emoji][emoji]127998[/emoji][emoji]128079[/emoji][emoji]127998[/emoji][emoji]128546[/emoji][emoji]128546[/emoji] Great post..

 

[DCAllAfrican]

 
The frightening thing is that were losing all of these legends but there's no one to take their place. They don't make em like Ali anymore. Rest in Power to a true king.

Not to start an argument but there are plenty of current generation stars in all walks of life that will be legends in due time. I think this is a generationally biased statement. 

Ali is one of the greatest ever, of course it will be hard for anyone to be on HIS level; but to say we are losing legends and nobody is taking their place, nah, very far for the truth. 

 

[kiefurban]

I was a big Ali fan but people calling him the greatest is not accurate. Are people going to just pretend Joe Louis didn't exist?

 

[art vandelay]

I was a big Ali fan but people calling him the greatest is not accurate. Are people going to just pretend Joe Louis didn't exist?

Fam, start a Joe Louis appreciation thread, this thread isn't for comparing and contrasting.

 

[Betonblck]

I was a big Ali fan but people calling him the greatest is not accurate. Are people going to just pretend Joe Louis didn't exist?

Fam, start a Joe Louis appreciation thread, this thread isn't for comparing and contrasting.

This. Stop the foolishness. Hes unanimously top 3 all time in anyone's list of greatest boxers and at least top 5 in greatest athletes across all sports.

Dudes in here comparing and contrasting as if we are calling someone like Roy Jones the greatest.

 

[picasso swerve]

Dont feed the troll. Dude goes on these random nonsense posts every now and then.

 

[kiefurban]

I would put him in the top three heavyweights of all time but let's be real. He left the sport punch drunk and had serious brain injuries at the age of 40 from all the abuse he took. just because somebody dies it doesn't automatically make them the greatest.