If I went to five Jackie and Thurgood Marshall would be on my list. If I get to ten people like Marcus Garvey and Elijah Muhammad likely are on it. Back to Muhammad. At one time he was the most recognized man on the face of the earth .
He absolutely transcended boxing, IMO a lot of people who don’t look past the ring can’t or won’t comprehend that. He also was absolutely a flawed man in some ways as has been discussed here. What needs to be remembered is people aren’t just one thing.
Ali actually became more famous after losing the FOTC. Joe had every right to be bitter but his bitterness was amplified because he couldn't convince most folks to be as bitter as him, especially Black folks. That was never going to happen.
I am remiss. Mea culpa. Any list of the most important African American figures of the twentieth century has to include Joe Louis.
Of course he belongs on that list. Back to the topic. Howard Cosell had Parkinson's. Joe didn't like him either. He said that Cosell drank from the same chalice as Ali, a metaphor for Parkinson's. I lived that era. Cosell was an instigator, kind of like a WWE host but he was never disrespectful to Joe but Joe hated him too. Somebody mentioned an instance with Jimmy Ellis. Maybe he didn't like Jimmy because he was supposed to be Ali's friend.
Richard, you and I are about the same age. Do you remember Cosell ever being disrespectful to Joe? Maybe Joe didn't like the "Down goes Frazier" but that was an iconic call. It reminds me of Bob Sheridan hollering "It is over' after Ali knocking out Foreman in Kinshasha.
In my post I focused on the way Ali treated Joe Frazier who is presumably the person Barff set up as the main focus in this thread. I admire Ali for many things including his fighting ability and his courageous stands on public issues (and I have so stated in other threads), but not for the way he treated Joe Frazier.
I am 64 years old, I do remember that Joe Frazier did not like Howard Cosell, I think it was because Cosell backed Ali during his unfair exile because of Ali's refusal to submit to military induction in April 1967. Cosell often referred to Ali as the champion, I think that it infuriated Frazier, who can forget that supposed staged fight scene on live television between Ali and Frazier days prior to Ali vs Frazier II in Jan 1974?
Nobody admires him for that. It's abominable. Ali was a complex guy. One of the tenets of Islam is humility. It's actually one of the tenets of every religion. Ali had an ego the size of nation. Given his ego and the tenor of the times the clash between him and Frazier seems unavoidable.
We're the same age. Joe told Ali he put him in the hospital. Ali told Joe he was ignorant for bringing it up because he put him in the hospital for a month. That really ticked him off and they started wrestling.
I saw that live on ABC's Wide World Of Sports before their Jan 28 1974 bout in Madison Square Garden, my older brother and I saw it on Closed Circuit Television, $10.00 dollars a seat.
I saw it live too. Rahman was there. Didn't Joe say something like, " you want a piece of me too?" LOL