When iyo, would have been the perfect time for Ali to call it a day, for keeps? I know it's impossible to say at what point is best for any fighter to say bye, but for me, The Thrilla In Manila was the time for Ali to get out, that Fight would have capped off the greatest rivalry, would have missed those punishing fights with Norton, Shavers and Spinks 1.
Apparently doctors were warning Ali to quit boxing as early as the 1960s due to concerns about his health.
Legacy wise, after Futch threw in the towel for Frazier. Health wise, after he regained the title from Foreman.
The $10.000,000 question! He had very little,or nothing,to prove after winning the title for the second time on that unforgettable night in Zaire. Nothing that followed affects his legacy,positively or negatively,in my opinion because Muhammad had done it all - gone 45-2 and evened the score with his two losses. Convincingly beat the guy who thrashed the two men who put the 2 losses on his record. Maybe the third Frazier bout was a good encore but he did n't really need it. Who knows? Maybe Muhammad would have been healthy for quite a bit longer.
I agree,Fergy. First I've heard of that too. Only from those who preach the dangers of boxing to ALL boxers would have flagged this up to Muhammad in the sixties.
Can you elaborate Mel? I know Ali failed a prefight physical when he was 15 - Ali rested for 4 months, nothing came of it, and he began fighting again. Likely a benign heart murmur, which, it seems isn't all that uncommon. These details are included in this article. :- https://time.com/3537815/muhammad-ali-dead-the-dream/
Yeah, it was great that Ali regained the title, but he won it back from the same guy he really shouldn't have lost it to in the first place - Leon still very much a green pro by the time of the rematch. The real biggie in my book was beating and regaining the title from Foreman. Now that was a Hollywood ending. In fact, it was the literal Hollywood ending in Ali's film THE GREATEST released in 1977.
Yes pug, that would have been great, Ali kod the big bad monster again, then rides off in to the sunset. Leaving all his opponents to fight it out.
After The Thriller In The Manilla it seemed the most fitting anyway. The 3rd Ken Norton fight actually hurt Ali's legacy as did the Jimmy Young fight and the loss to Leon Spinks. Plus Ali's health seemed to deteriorate quite badly after all them hard shots from Shavers, so yeah after the 3rd fight with Frazier makes the most sense.
Yes the Norton and Shavers fights were more than likely damaging on his body. The Young fight. Shocking!
The Shavers fight definitely but the Norton, Young, fights I think hurt his legacy because of how controversial they were. Alot of people think Norton won the 3rd meeting the same with Young aswell, the Norton in particular is still hotly debated now. Take away those fights and just have Ali's very impressive performance over Norton in their 2nd fight instead of 3rd meeting, then Ali's loss to Norton in their 1st meeting just looks like Ali had a bad night at office and underestimated him.
