Does the Morality of Champions Matter?

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by Jimmy Conway, May 29, 2015.


  1. BillB

    BillB Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Can you reference a quote where Ali renounces N.O.I?
    Can you refer me to a quote of Ali renouncing his racism?
     
  2. kingfisher3

    kingfisher3 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    no, i don't give nearly enough of a **** to search for something totally irrelevant to boxing when i could actually be watching it.

    is he still a member? if not you don't need a quote.

    i might not have worded it perfectly but if he isn't as extreme as he was then good for him to actually evaluate himself and change, most people die as ignorant as they are born.
     
  3. kingfisher3

    kingfisher3 Boxing Addict Full Member

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  4. BillB

    BillB Well-Known Member Full Member

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    You worded it falsely.
    Ali left the N.O.I. because he was on the losing side of a power struggle after Elijah Muhammad died.
    It had absolutely nothing to do with Ali recognizing any mistakes and saying he was wrong, which you claimed he did.
     
  5. kingfisher3

    kingfisher3 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    fair enough, i guess i was wrong. (tho there is a difference between the words admit and said, i never wrote he did it publicly, i just assumed becoming a member of mainstream islam meant he had admitted the wrongness to himself)

    since i may as well learn something;
    when was the last obviously racism promoting quote/action from ali?
    did other noi members on the losing side form their own group/s, and was ali a member?
    has he ever spoken about why he became a normal muslim instead of following the not actually muslim noi teachings after leaving?
    for that matter, was i even right that he became a member of mainstream islam?
     
  6. BillB

    BillB Well-Known Member Full Member

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    When Elijah Muhammad died, his son Warith Deen Mohammed and Louis Farrakhan battled it out for the leadership of the N.O.I.
    Farrakhan won. W.D. Muhammad formed his own splinter group and Ali went with him.
    Ali and Farrakhan had personal animosity going back to the early 1960s when Farrakhan had tried to get Ali booted out of the movement.
    W.D. Muhammad's group floundered and never amounted to much.
    Ali went to mainstream Islam because there was nowhere else for him to go.

    I'm not aware of Ali making any racist statements since the late 1980s.

    Here is a hint why he hasn't:

    When asked his thoughts on Al Qaeda, Ali said:
    I've opened up businesses across the country, selling products and I don't want to say… the wrong thing and hurt my business
     
  7. kingfisher3

    kingfisher3 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    cool. when i was getting into classic boxing my friend was too, he really liked ali and was genuinley ****ed off the day he learned what the noi was because he said they didn't follow the qu'ran(things that aren't even open to interpretation like not having to visit mecca) and shouldn't have used the name islam. we took that to mean ali had made a major change in his thinking.

    i wouldn't read to much into that quote either way tho, a businessman not wanting to damage his business by saying anything critical of the U.S is fair enough and doesn't mean anything as far as views on extremism goes (since there are some real reasons at the root of those guys hatred of the west).
     
  8. Jimmy Conway

    Jimmy Conway Member Full Member

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    Drew, agreed on the last part - he is my pick for ATG at heavyweight.

    I just never realized some of his positions were so extreme, and held toward the end of his career, as well. I could conceivably give someone a pass for actions in their 20s, but when that person is around 40, it becomes more difficult.
     
  9. Jimmy Conway

    Jimmy Conway Member Full Member

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    Your knowledge is impressive, Bill. Great background.
     
  10. OvidsExile

    OvidsExile At a minimum, a huckleberry over your persimmon. Full Member

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    Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter actually wasn't a bad movie. I would go so far as to say, for an action film, it kicked ass. It definitely makes me want to read more of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the other book by that writer. Now, the movie wasn't Casablanca or Goodfellas but I'd watch it again.
     
  11. OvidsExile

    OvidsExile At a minimum, a huckleberry over your persimmon. Full Member

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    I didn't know there was a Hot Tub Time Machine 2. It looks terrible. I liked the first one though. It was by the guys who wrote Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, one of my favorite movies. Without having seen the sequel, which looks bad, I have to say at least it has Rob Corddry in it, so it's bound to have at least one or two good moments.

    Actually, when I saw Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, it was right around the time Cowboys and Aliens came out and I was comparing it to that. The Lincoln picture was much better.
     
  12. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    It has been whispered that some champions like to put their winkies into the tinkles of ladies they are not married to ,any concrete proof of this would of course result in their removal from the HOF.:nono
     
  13. OvidsExile

    OvidsExile At a minimum, a huckleberry over your persimmon. Full Member

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    You know, it just occurred to me that Ty Cobb was no angel.

    A few years ago, when Ben Roethlisberger was going through his thing and the Steelers went to the Super Bowl, a friend of mine made a post on facebook. "Hurray, the ****** lost!" To which I replied "This is football. There is bound to be one or two rapists or murderers on the opposing team." And sure enough, I was right. "Every week it's The Rapists playing The Rapists and the rapists always win."

    Then you have that business with Kobe Bryant in basketball. It makes me wonder if there are more felons and racists in boxing than in other sports.
     
  14. Jimmy Conway

    Jimmy Conway Member Full Member

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    Bill, since he was retired by then, does that mean he made racist comments throughout his entire boxing career? And if so, why do you think the media and public gave him a pass?

    Jimmy