Ali's All Time Heavyweight Champions.

Puritanical is puritanical in the literal sense of the word. There are no degrees to purity. Boxing, in a somewhat Shakespearean way, took a little bit of time to die to me, but it did die to me a very long time ago now, and might as well be like talking about the Soviet Union or Yugoslavia in terms of politics today.

 

I don't understand how anyone can have Floyd Patterson in a top 10 list.
That's not the first time I've seen it, but it mystifies me.

 

I don't know if he ever spoke to that, or even cared by then. He simply wasn't following boxing much anymore (like Larry Holmes and Joe Frazier), and the final demise of the championship distance happened to coincide with his decline in speech. I don't recall him specifically acknowledging any heavyweights who came after him following Tyson (who he probably didn't think of much in his own mind after the ease with which he managed Patterson twice).

Ali actually remained a friend and promoter of boxing when he smilingly participated in that ceremony placing a crown on Tyson's head, but Lonnie Ali has indicated he doesn't watch boxing much on television at home, if at all. (He likes viewing Bat Masterson reruns, and may be more of a gridiron fan when it comes to sports.) Largely silenced, he may well be having second thoughts about the impact boxing's had on his health. (Ironically, he didn't play on the gridiron because he considered it too rough.)

Tyson's always been the best chance boxing has to regain some former popularity on the strength of its history since Mike's rise to prominence, but he wasn't his late biographer Jose Torres in terms of personal conduct. If he'd learned to write competently early enough, he might have become the most important, knowledgeable and influential author of any boxing champion. He didn't need Gene Tunney's way with words to achieve this.

 

I really enjoy Anubis comments , that said Ali did a good job in 79 and yes Charles and Walcott were excellent. Tnanks