Muhammad Ali

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Ford Fairlane

Ford Fairlane

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Feb 21, 2002
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LeoMessi said:
Not quite. If you want to use that analogy, then we're not dodging any shots like Ali was. A lot of shots are getting through.
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If you think 32 year old Ali leaning on the ropes letting Foreman hit him means he was dodging shots then you weren't watching closely.

 

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Canoogs said:
Just an fyi, Ali didn't quite say that. Boy wasn't exactly a "nice" term.
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I thought they were allowed to use it amongst each other :p
 
grosh147 said:
'Is that all you got boy'? Those words terrified Foreman after he had unleashed all he had on Ali
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"They told me you could punch, George!"
"They told me you could punch as hard as Joe Louis"
"Is that all you got, George?"
"Hit harder! Show me something, George"
"That don't hurt. I thought you were supposed to be bad."


oh and the "boy" bit is an interesting term as in "cowboys" was only a term used for "blacks", which is very different to the generic term understood today of cattlemen.
 
Canoogs said:
Just an fyi, Ali didn't quite say that. Boy wasn't exactly a "nice" term.
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No, Foreman actually said that when describing the fight in an interview when he first started selling his grills, and I reckon he was in earshot of Ali. If I recall Foremans exact words were "I hit him harder than I have ever hit any man and Ali whispered in my ear 'Is that all you got boy?' and I knew I was beat. I can't recall where I saw it, probably Letterman or Oprah or one of those type shows
 
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  • #8
Don't call Ali boy ... Bert Newton will attest. ;)

 
Yeah..Ok I apologise to all re Foremans comments, after extensive research(I googled a couple of times), all I got was that Ali said 'George' and not 'boy'. My memory now formatted and reloaded. Watching that match, you can see Ali talking to Foreman several times goading him. What a boxer he was, back when the Triple Crown was a magical honour
 
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  • #10
The Norman Mailer account of The Fight is a great read.

Ali did the unthinkable in the fight, he leaned back on the loosened ropes, covered up as best he could and let the most fearsome puncher in boxing history (think a 194cm Mike Tyson) punch himself out. Then Ali knocked George out.
 
Ford Fairlane said:
The Norman Mailer account of The Fight is a great read.

Ali did the unthinkable in the fight, he leaned back on the loosened ropes, covered up as best he could and let the most fearsome puncher in boxing history (think a 194cm Mike Tyson) punch himself out. Then Ali knocked George out.
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I use to have a vhs of this fight, I think I lent it to someone I know longer know. Was a classic, worth having in your library if you are a boxing buff
 
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grosh147 said:
I use to have a vhs of this fight, I think I lent it to someone I know longer know. Was a classic, worth having in your library if you are a boxing buff
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I put the youtube of the fight on a previous page. Also worth getting When We Were Kings. Like Ali v Frazier I and III watershed moments in heavyweight boxing.
 
Ford Fairlane said:
I put the youtube of the fight on a previous page. Also worth getting When We Were Kings. Like Ali v Frazier I and III watershed moments in heavyweight boxing.
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I was only a kid growing up in the '70s, but I remember that people were in awe of Ali, I remember my mother who wouldn't usually give a damn about boxing, except for probably Lionel Rose as he was a legend in Australia, watched Ali claim his 3rd triple crown on TV
 

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grosh147 said:
I was only a kid growing up in the '70s, but I remember that people were in awe of Ali, I remember my mother who wouldn't usually give a damn about boxing, except for probably Lionel Rose as he was a legend in Australia, watched Ali claim his 3rd triple crown on TV
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Ali was larger than life. He was a personality who was bigger than boxing, maybe bigger than sport.

In the 1970s they said he was better known than the Pope.
 
Ford Fairlane said:
I put the youtube of the fight on a previous page. Also worth getting When We Were Kings. Like Ali v Frazier I and III watershed moments in heavyweight boxing.
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Have you seen the show that had Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Norton (or was it Holmes, or both?) all discussing their fights. There is one bit that sticks in my memory where Joe Frazier is talking about their first fight and Ali kept saying "you can't hurt me Joe" even through to the end of that epic.

The interviewer then turns to Ali who simply responded with "I lied".
 
Phhht said:
Ali is one of my favourite sportsmen. He was a unique individual with insane athletic abilities. His clever persona changed sport forever. Some might say for the worse but he is a true great of sports.
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He was a champion, like Joe Louis before him. To rise above and defeat everything in your way..get knocked down, and have the strength of character to do it again
 
Phhht said:
Ali is one of my favourite sportsmen. He was a unique individual with insane athletic abilities. His clever persona changed sport forever. Some might say for the worse but he is a true great of sports.
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I use to think the same thing but after watching a documentary called "Facing Ali" I couldn't help but think he was a bully who taunted guys who were mentally challenged.

Could you imagine teasing the mentally challenged (ie Joe Frazier, Spinks)?

He was also a dirty fighter and would poke guys in the eye during the clinches (ie Ernie Terrell).


That said, it is all part of the sport.
 
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Garibaldi Red said:
Have you seen the show that had Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Norton (or was it Holmes, or both?) all discussing their fights. There is one bit that sticks in my memory where Joe Frazier is talking about their first fight and Ali kept saying "you can't hurt me Joe" even through to the end of that epic.

The interviewer then turns to Ali who simply responded with "I lied".
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Saw that, great viewing.

There is a terrific documentary called Facing Ali where 10 former opponents of Ali are interviewed and talk about fighting the legend. There are also insights into all of the fighters which makes it all the more fascinating. Great heavyweight names from a golden era including Joe Frazier, Ron Lyle, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Leon Spinks, Ernie Terrell.

SBS occasionally shows the Joe Frazier documentary where he made his dislike of Ali plain - Joe never forgave Ali for some of the things he said about Joe over the years. Joe had a phone message recording that said Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, I done the job, he knows, look and see.

 
Legendary US broadcaster Howard Cosell and Ali had a great relationship. He had a unique style that was originally ridiculed, then many copied him. He was a lawyer, journalist, author, columnist, radio broadcaster, tv broadcaster and tv personality. He had a great relationship with Muhammed Ali. Called him that when most still called him Cassius Clay and backed him when he went to court to not go to Vietnam and was stripped of his world title. Cosell was a Jew, finished his law degree, went off to Europe to fight Hitler and was very strong about eliminating racism from sport. He took stances against racism is his commentator and analysis long before it was accepted by the mainstream public. He loved Jackie Robinson, the first black American to play in the major leagues, who played for his team the Brooklyn Dodgers. His TV career was limited until the 1960's because he was Jewish and the bigwigs at ABC didn't mind him on radio but didn't want him on TV.

He championed Smith and Carlos at the 1968 Olympics and their black power salute. They went and talked to him as he was working for ABC the official US broadcaster. He went to the 1972 Olympics with ABC as the US broadcaster. It would have been tough for a Jew to cover the massacres but he covered it as a big news story not an angry man. At 1976 Olympics he did the boxing and fell in love with Sugar Ray Leonard like he did with Muhammad Ali. He backed Kurt Flood a black American sportsman, who took MLB to the Supreme Court over the decades old reserve clause which meant players couldn't move clubs and had to accept the terms of a new contract offered by the team owner. It lead to free agency in baseball.

Highlights of his interviews with Ali over the years. The first 55 seconds is general Cosell commentary then the Ali stuff starts.




and about 75% of the famous Norman Gunston interview with Ali.

 
Some of Howard Cosell's famous quotes

This is Howard Cosell telling it like it is.

What's right isn't always popular. What's popular isn't always right.

Sports is the toy department of human life.

The importance that our society attaches to sport is incredible. After all, is football a game or a religion? The people of this country have allowed sports to get completely out of hand.

The ultimate victory in competition is derived from the inner satisfaction of knowing that you have done your best and that you have gotten the most out of what you had to give.

I was right to back Muhammad Ali, but it caused me major enmity in many areas of this nation.
 
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  • #23
Michael Parkinson's 1974 interview with Muhammad Ali, after Ali had beaten George Foreman.

 
That is a classic interview with , unusually, Parko getting something painfully wrong. Having been a fan of Henry Cooper I too was miffed when Joe Bugner beat him for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight title as obviously Parko was. Unfortunately for we 'enery fans Bug was a far superior boxer and not in his prime yet when he beat Cooper. Bugner went on to fight anyone who would take him on but his defensive sharp snapping style saw many appear to avoid him including big George. He was big, fast, hard to hit and tough and probably would have been champ had Ali and Frazier not been around. To say Bugner had no class is so wrong it defies logic.
 
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  • #25
It's a great interview because Ali is still mentally acute but Parko provokes him enough to see beyond the faultless testimonials we hear now. He was The Greatest and a spiritual leader, but he was also a man of many contradictions who could be brutally cruel to those he didn't like.

And Parko's Bugner comment was way out of line. He was peculiarly unloved by the Brits, the press in particular, and as you say probably because he beat Henry Cooper (by a quarter of a point) and 'Our 'Enery' was so loved.

Foreman and Bugner were likely to fight in 1977 but both lost key heavyweight fights, George against Jimmy Young and Joe against Ron Lyle. George had his epiphany after the Young fight and was effectively finished until his comeback 10 years later.
 
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