The Greatest Ever turns 70

It's TRUE:deal

When i was a kid i'll always remember all of my all school teachers talking to each other non-stop about the up coming Liston re-match in the corridors between lessons. I'am not sure if it was on the radio over here back then, but i recall my late father saying that 100's would flock to U.S airforce bases in England so they could pick up the short-wave signal which was what was beamed too the U.S forces overseas & that was the only way to get it live.

Yeh it was CLAY/ALI & the BEATLES that where going global. Boxing back then was covered by all daily papers, no satalite TV then or even TV in some homes. Yeh boxing today is now just the toy of the Cable/PPv companies, Pacquiao has got some modest coverage globaly due too his Philipino roots & success in America. But in the main you never had to publicise an Ali fight, different/difficult & turbulant times back in the 60's & sport/music/politics/race issue's all over lapped each other unlike today.

 

Stevie, just been watching channel 4 about Ali, what a ****ing scream, when i was younger as i said i was'nt that keen on him, but now mellowing with age i'am glad i can really apprieciate the great man, he was an incredible human being & as we all know it's all depending from what angle his looked at.

Des Lynem & Barry McGuigan are doing the show & total quality. Yeh he is def the main man with regard to being the greatest sporting icon of all time. Definetly a man of his times, he single handedly had the attention of the whole wide world, no doubt he's loved & hated in equal measure & for whatever reasons/opinions they be!! One thing is for certain he was UNIQUE & thats an understatement:smoke

 

Very true,Duranimal. Most of the top contenders fought each other too.

 

:good I've been watching those Ali progs too,Duranimal. Very good viewing. McGuigan definitley knows his stuff !

 

Happy (belated) Birthday to the GOAT. :rasta

 

Sounds amazing.

 

hmm don't overreact he ?? allthough i am a big fan of ali and in my opnion he is the best HW ever. calling him the greatest sportsman ever is way to far.

first of all ali isn't even the greatest boxer ever. second i think there are some athletes in other sports who where far more outstanding in there sport then ali was in boxing.
for example : pele or eddy merckx

 

not nuthugging or anything but i wasnt around when these guys are talking bout Ali and the beatles, but pele was, and with the greatest respect to the greatest footballer ever, he wasnt bein mooted like these guys, even he would admit he takes a back seat to ali. Ive never even heard of the other guy but thats MY ignorance.

Just have a look at all the stuff thats goin on for Ali's 70th, i dont think pele got all this outside his own country when he turned 70, but thats not his fault. He was great in his own right. You'll be hard pushed to name a greater sportsman who transcended not only sports but popular culture.:good

But thats just my opinion

 

ah well then it was my mistake. i thought it was ment as greatest sportsman only. i agree that if you look at everything around it then ali made a tremendous impact. i thought when he was called greatest sportsman it was only based on his achievements in his kind of sport. so thats why i said it if you look only at sports achievements there are athletes who achieved more (allthough it is difficult to compare different sports).

ps the other guy you never heard of try and google him then you can see what he achieved in his sport

 

The fact that Ali has been suffering from Parkinsons for about 30 years now, and has just turned 70 and is still making public appearances .. is just more confirmation that he might just be one of the toughest human beings of the modern age.
He's an incredibly tough man.

 

I could not agree more. Determination and heart in spades.

 

An inspiration to all.