Did Ali duck anyone?

Yes very true, I seem to remember he was mostly overly complementary about most people in the book. But then isn't he always.

 

I loved Norton's tongue-in-cheek excuse for losing to Foreman - "I kept backing up and backing up and backing up...and I stumbled." Classic.

 

I read somewhere that Ali was afraid to fight, of all people, Duane Bobick (before Bobbick had the Norton debacle). Early in his career he Bobbick had a great record and was knocking everyone out. He was even managed and trained by Joe Frazier.

 

As Bonavena said, Ali was a "chicken," who fattened up his record on tomato cans and stiffs like Shavers, Norton, Foreman, Frazier, Young, Lyle and Quarry and Chuvalo, or ne'er do wells like Liston, Patterson, Cleveland Williams, Folley, Mac Foster, Bob Foster, Jimmy Ellis, London, Moore, Cooper, Bugner and Mathis.

When he identified an opponent who was a particularly easy touch, he'd carry that sucker to dupe the public into thinking that sap was a genuine threat to beat him. Since he discovered that his easiest prey was Frazier and Norton, he maneuvered his way into not one, but TWO rematches with each, for a total of four more easy paydays.

That cowardly punk should have given Wepner a rematch, but instead, he ducks a second encounter with the heavyweight Jim Driscoll to cruise his way to yet another easy win over that warmed over corpse Frazier. (What a pansy!)

He wanted no part of Rudi Lubbers a second time around, and Blue Lewis nearly made him **** in his pants before the whole world. Southpaw Mildenberger made him **** bricks.

Much to Ali's dismay, he discovered that he couldn't duck Bonavena forever, but he did manage to evade Ringo for three years, until he had a chance to build himself up to the point where Oscar might not blow him completely over, as the Argentine nearly did Frazier. How scared of Bonavena was he? Well, he finally couldn't avoid signing a contract to face that deaded bull in Tokyo, so he bribed his local draft board to reclassify him from 4F to 1A for military induction. But when he learned to his horror that the military was going to release him to meet his contractual obligation to Bonavena, he refused to be inducted, and begged the authorities to lock him in prison so he'd be safe from Ringo. Unfortunately, he didn't have sufficient funds to adequately bribe them, so that terrified kid wound up in the ring with Charley Goldman's other protege, Marciano. Eventually, Ali gunned down Bonavena outside a Las Vegas whorehouse, so he wouldn't have to face him again.

When Rocky realized how easily he could take Ali, even at 45, he decided to challenge him to a real fight. Knowing that he would otherwise be doomed, Ali bribed an airport mechanic to sabotage the plane Marciano was flying in.

It wasn't just Bonavena, Lewis, Marciano, Lubbers and Wepner that he was afraid of, but he didn't want any part of Evangelista in a rematch either. Finally, after he saw Mike Rossman thrash Galindez and Traversaro, he decided to quit, rather that have to defend his ill gotten title against the Jewish Bomber.

Now that I've studiously set the record straight, who's the real mallard?

 

Ali's 'The Drake'. :yep

 

LMAO, and we know the title in trashbin man is known as "Chicken" Bowe. Tyson paid Lewis to step out one time, could he be the "Goose"

:hey

 

Teddy Brenner speaks of that ill fated Ali/Bobick fight in his book "Only The Ring Was Square" and you can get the actual matchmaker's views on why that fight didn't come off after it was signed and ready to go for MSG in early 1977

 

Aw jeez, now this is becoming an ornithology threadatsch.

 

Does that have something to do with horniness?

:hey

 

Hey mate, get a room in the Lounge! (Then again, we are discussing birds.)

 

Ali did duck George Chuvalo in 1963. That's about it.:good

 

Nope. You name a top 10 heavyweight anytime from the early '60s through the late '70s, and the odds are Ali fought them. There has never been a heavyweight champion who cleaned out the top ranks of the division so thoroughly as Ali did.

 

I think Ali probably ducked Larry Holmes prior to Holmes winning the WBC belt. Ali knew that Holmes was a good fighter from all of the years that they sparred together. Holmes was a rated contender for quite a while before he fought Norton in '78. Ali fought guys like Richard Dunn, Jean Pierre Coopman, Alfredo Evangelista and Chuck Wepner; Larry Holmes was better than all of those guys put together! Ali fought Holmes in 1980 because he had to, as Holmes was the legitimate champion. But when Ali had the belt and Holmes was a contender, I don't think Ali was too interested in swapping punches with Holmes!

 

Yeh, the nearest Ali came to "ducking" anyone was prolly delaying Holmes. Ali always had trouble with tall, long armed fighters with good jabs. And by the time Holmes was a top contender, Ali had already been threatening to retire after every tough defense. He probably thought it was too much risk after struggling against Norton. A younger Ali against a prime Holmes would have been interesting.