And not one of those exciting rocks I mean a boring quiet dirty rock. Plus on top of that he didn't speak English. Would he still be the greatest ?? Is Ali's "act" what made him the greatest more than anything ?
Great question. Still, based purely on huge wins, Ali would have the finest heavyweight resume in my book.
Ali was the Perfect Blend of Style AND Substance...But Take Away the STYLE & Ali's Political Stances & He WOULDN'T B Held in the Same Regard WORLDWIDE...The BOXING Accolades Would Remain the Same, but the Degree of Ali's CELEBRITY would B Greatly Diminished... REED:dancingBaby:
Even astute, hardcore boxing fans overrate Ali based mainly on his charm and historical significance. I'm by no means an Ali hater, or even an Ali disliker, but it amazes me how overrated he is. If he had the personality of a rock and no historical significance, people listing him as one of the best fighters ever P4P would get laughed at.
Ali also would not have had the same effect if he had been a basketball player, a baseball player etc. The individuality of boxing, the sheer lonesomeness of it, has always lended itself well to the making of "stands" or political points. That and smashing somebody in the face is always a good way to help get ones point across. I am sure that guys like Chuck Wepner had good points to make about social and industrial decline in New Jersey, but being sort of bald, ugly and fat and not a champion would have made him hard to take seriously.
His personality helped no doubt but to call him overrated is asinine. People, at the time, were comparing Liston to Marciano and Joe Louis and Clay came along and dominated him. People had never seen a 210+ man move the way Clay did, with that handspeed, elusiveness etc. He was a phenomenon. He then proceeded to dominate the division for the next 3 years. He comes back in the 70s after losing the very attributes that made him outstanding the first time around...movement, elusiveness...and beat guys like Frazier, Norton, Ellis, Chuvalo, Bonavena, Quarry based on toughness, heart and his offensive talents. Then he dares to fight Foreman who was a MONSTER even compared to Liston (most saw him as a bigger, stronger younger version of Liston) and Ali became the first and only man to ever knock him out. Ali's old, mute, riddled with parkinsons nowadays and people forget how great he was. When the cats away the mice will play. His personality helped make him the superstar, but his abilities and achievements in the ring are what made him.... The Greatest!
The truth is that Ali's success in the ring and his personality were direct byproducts of each other. I don't think either would have existed separately or at least not to near the same level.
