Cassius Clay vs Brian London (August 6, 1966)

Interesting indeed.

Only a few months later he used being called by his original name as an excuse to hand out a sadistic beating on Ernie Terrell, who had known him for 10 years and had always known him as Cassius.

Not that I condemn Ali for being a sadist, that's part of the game.
But the self-righteousness and hypocrisy is pretty hard to ignore.

 

And that's his right..no fighter is sacred in this forum, as fans of Jack Dempsey and Rocky Marciano will attest to.

 

Cassius (1966)????

The last person you can bull sh!t is always
your own momma.

 

Ali defended his title 5 times in 1966 despite troubles in the US, including a 4 month span during which he defended the title 3 times. I'll forgive him for whipping poor Brian London in spectacular fashion.

As for Ali's use of the name, he did seem to be more forgiving when his previous name was not used in an insulting manner, such as when Patterson called him Clay, as he always did.

Terrell did it as a way to get to Ali, which he was successful at, it just didn't pan out as he hoped it would. Previously, Terrell had made a mocking song using the name Ali. All a part of fight promotion and hype.

 

Not sure what you're saying about Patterson and Clay, but Clay wasn't at all forgiving of Patterson.

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Patterson[/ame]

 

There was a lot more to it than Patterson calling him "Clay", such as Patterson writing critical articles about Ali's political and religious beliefs. After their fight, there was never much bad blood though.

Ali himself said that he was unable to score an early knockout over Patterson, as he would have potentially tired himself out early in trying to do so (and he did honestly try) and chose the less risky approach which was to conserve his energy. People underestimate how motivated Patterson was not to be knocked out and make it all about Ali merely playing with him.

 

Ali had his way with Floyd and London, to be sure.

The last 2 minutes of the fight with London were sickening, but instructive-That's what a champion should do, when confronted with an opponent who is several levels beneath him; Light him up, and put him away conclusively. That jackhammer combo that ended it is beautiful.

 

There have been many less deserving challengers than Brian London,and you're wrong the fight was regarded universally as a title fight.

 

Anyone would think that Ali was the only one to have soft defences every now and then. What about a Pepe post on Joe Louis Bum of the Month Club ?

 

but that looks like it's to his mom

"only my momma calls me _____" etc

 

if it was so bad why didn't the ref stop it? atsch

 

I remember watching the Ali-London fight. It was one of the least competetive matches that I ever witnessed. Can't imagine paying the price of a ticket to go to see it. I watched it for free in the comfort of my own home and if I had to do it over I would have found something better to do with my time.