Ali interview tidbit LOL

Yeah, I saw Ali do something similar in David Frost interview around 2002. I dont think his wife did the Joe Frazier routine, but I remember Frost asking her what he should do, Ali just "fell asleep" on him mid-interview. It's good how Ali can make his illness into a joke, and a joke on OTHER people at that !

As for whose punches did the damage, Ali sparred thousands of rounds in training where he'd just let young fighters wail away on him. Could be a factor.

 

Ali himself was quoted as saying that his disease was given to him by God to teach him that he was wrong in claiming that he's the greatest because God is the the greatest, not him.

And that happens to be the same thing that Frazier said about Ali's condition.

They both definitely sounded serious to me and I admit that I seriously think that there is lots of truth in these words..

 

Agreed.

 

Load of **** I reckon.

 

It's not like an allmighty bearded old man had punished Ali with a thunder from the sky to revenge because he felt offended by his words..

Try to look at it this way:

Ali was so overwhelmed by belief that he's the greatest that he wouldn't quit in a fight even when he felt that he was close to DEATH. He just couldn't accept that he is not superman - he was denying almost every sign of weekness in him (like aging before Holmes or Berbick) which led him to take huge amounts of punishment during his way too long career. That alone is one possible explonation of his disease.

Besides who really knows if the roots of Parkinson's disease are not, at least in part psychological..

IMO Ali had a tendency to reject compulsively any kind of critisism, any idea that didn't fit his perfect imagination of himself. The stronger such tendency is the bigger is the stress with that you have to live every day - cause nobody's perfect and when you try to believe and convince others that you are, you live in constant fear that it will turn out that you aren't.. Can't it after years, at least in part, cause some physical disorder with nervously-like shaking hands..?

I don't know for certain. It's just my feeling which I believe is similar to the one that Ali had when he said what he said. It's like being punished by the forces of nature for being unrealistically confident..

And I'm not trying to offend Muhammad. By no means. I love the man and wish him the best.

 

Good points..but when they were both at thier best (or very close!)...Frazier was just a little bit better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

What you're saying is fair, but has more to do with human nature and psychology than a higher being, I would think.

 

Maybe.. I meant that a higher being works in the forces of nature. To me, to say that God gave it to Ali is much like saying that nature gave it to him cause he was living against her laws.

Anyway.. I'm glad you basically understand me now. :good

 

When Ali was at his best he was the best Heavyweight of all time. Make no mistake about that.

 

No.

He wasn't.

BTW, they never met when they were both at their best.

 

Frazier lost against the best version of Ali he met (in 1974), and that was an Ali somewhat past his prime.

Anyway, the qualities that many admire in Frazier (his no-nonsense approach and matter of factness "just a man doing his job") are exactly those that deny him the status of an icon for the great masses. Had he been more flawed (like Tyson for example) he would probably also be more famous. As it is, he seems to be universally admired by those who know boxing though, and for a pro boxer that should be something to be proud of. So I don't really feel that he's been sold short, even though he himself might believe so.

 

Oh I see...Ali was in his prime....then was barred from boxing....then he was horrible the night he fought frazier, way out of his prime and then 2 years later rediscovered the magic...I should have known!

 

Ali was great the nite he fought Frazier and did great to beat Quarry and Bonavena after such a long lay-off. But pre-layoff Ali beats them all more easily. The difference between 1966 Ali and 1970 Ali is huge. Where do i start? Footwork, Accuracy, Combinations, Conditioning, Timing, Distance.........1974 Ali was better than 1970/1 version in all the above. 1974 Ali beats 1971 Ali and 1966/7 Ali beats them all.

 

That's more or less how I see it as well. I wouldn't call the difference "huge", because Ali's punching was still very sharp in FOTC, but his movement just wasn't the same. He stood right in front of Frazier or leaned against the ropes, and that he wouldn't have done 4 years earlier. But the Ali Frazier beat in 1971 was still very good, and Frazier put in a classic perfomance. No doubt about it.

But Ali was no more in his prime in that fight than Tyson was when he met Holyfield in 1996.