Can anyone tell me why Muhammad Ali is so revered outside the ring?

Agree with this, and would add that vast majority of people are mindless sheep who are unable to seperate man from myth. People on tv call someone a great boxer and it's mistook for great man in general. Once the larger than life myth sets in, people are willing to forgive almost anything ie. O.J., Tyson, M. Jackson, etc. obvioulsy I have put up a wide range of negative examples, purposely done to show what people are willing to look past when they believe they are witnessing greatness.

 

Beats me. He was a great fighter though.

 

Haram is sin in Islam.

Boxing is one of those sins, because it isn't allowed to hit his opponent into the face. That's the reason many Muslim countries have so much wrestlers, oil wrestling as national sport etc.

 

Can I suggest all of you people claiming to know all about Ali get hold of a book Muhammad Ali My Life & Times by Thomas Hauser. Hauser spent 3 yrs with Ali & Lonnie & interviewing many many people researching this book.
It tells the true story of Ali warts & all. Its not a book glamourising his life but a factual account. Read of the things Ali has gone through and had to endure.
Folk castigating him for throwing his Olympic gold medal into the river without knowing the story. On his return from Rome Olympics Ali was invited to the White House for dinner with the President & was a very proud man. Two weeks later he was refused service in a diner in Louisville Ky due to the color of his skin. Who were the racists there???
Please read that book it will change your views about not only the Greatest Fighter in the world but a hell of a great human being too

 

Ali is an Icon, a true legend, a true world champion

 

In some ways, Ali was like the white Jack Dempsey.

 

And add that he thought some black women where too black for his liking tell it all.Great fighter but a sorry man.

 

Joe Frazier was a decent human being and an honorable man but he didn't go broke from taking care of his family but because he didn't know how to handle his business.

 

That is absolute fiction . As Ali says in the book he was pursued by many many beautiful white women. But right or wrong he believed that to mess with a white woman was wrong and he never did..
Ali was not perfect he was no saint, but he stood solid for what he believed in . He stayed to face whatever punishment he would receive for refusing induction even imprisonment. A certain gentleman named William Jefferson Clinton fled to England to avoid the Vietnam draft. What was his punishment??? You made him president on the united statesatsch

 

:-(

So easily verifiable, that one. Get ****ing real. :-(

 

Ali's been alive for 71 years; and for the last half of that period, he's repudiated the teachings of the NOI in favor of a more moderate form of Islam, displayed grace and dignity while struggling against Parkinson Syndrome, and not allowed it to prevent him engaging in numerous charitable activities around the world. Hell, he even risked traveled to Iraq of his own accord to meet with Saddam Hussein, and managed to secure the freedom of some of the hostages being held there.

In his youth, he could be arrogant and obnoxious and unforgiving. As he aged, he become a much more mature, wise, and generous. If we hate the person he was and wonder why he was revered, we should at least acknowledge the person he became and admit that this is someone worth celebrating.

 

Joe was another great guy as well as a great fighter. I was honored to have met both Ali & Joe and shook their hands over the years:happy

 

Were you even born in those days???? . No I was around then
Read that book then spout your BSatsch

 

Your points irrelevant, as it has nothing to do with an incredibly arrogant man making claims about himself, and whether or not they're verifiable. They are not.

There are so many unflattering stories that are no less legitimate than an Ali claim about himself that I wouldn't know where to start.

You I'm sure will concede nothing negative however.

How about having an affair, having a child with one of those women and refusing to admit it or support the child?

School me on why that's ok, what with your senior wisdom that I lack.

Tell me why it's ok to incite racial hatred towards Joe Frazier while promoting peace and being anti-war at the same time?

Tell me beating your wife around for wearing a skirt you deem too short ok because you turned a new leaf later in life.

I'm eagerly awaiting your justifications that you've gained through the ages.

 

Last I checked, no one on this planet had achieved lasting perfection, Russell. Ali made a bunch of mistakes and was hardly perfect. But he's done some good things as well....especially in the latter portion of his life. He's never been a saint...But he's not a demon, either.