Zaire and Manila were two amazing wins for Ali, and those alone rank him pretty highly. But I do think he is overrated in the sense that people choose to see him in a God-like light. I agree with the thread starter that a lot of Ali fights were boring. But I would say more emphatically that many of his victories were UNSATISFYING...controversial, questionable, dubious, uneventful. Rooting for Ali was always like rooting for the New York Yankees to me. But it's true, when he dies, he's going to be jammed down our throats forever and ever...and it's gonna suck!