I am very sad to hear this. I admired him for his activism, much more than his boxing. He was unapologetic. I am loving the tributes, but I wish folks would learn how to pronounce Louisville!
@skieurope, it’s stil spelled wrong. Muhammad, with an A before the D at the end, not an E.
@oldmom4896 corrected
I cannot say when I became aware of Ali as a boxer but I can recall my father listening to boxing matches on the radio back in the days long before cable TV and premium pay for view events. I do recall when when he refused to serve and his boxing title was stripped, he went on a nationwide college speaking tour. I was likely a freshman or maybe a sophomore and I can recall sitting in the Old Main auditorium of my campus and hearing him speak.
As an aside, when I began a career in publishing I worked at a publishing company that published Cosell’s book, maybe autobiography, not sure. Seeing the news clps of Cosell and Ali I was reminded that Cosell himself was a very tall man but in comparison to Ali and the other athletes he interviewed or was shown with, he looked small.
I remember being home on break from college in the early 70s and visiting family friends with my parents. Muhammad Ali was a neighbour and came over while we were barbecuing in their backyard. I remember how physically powerful he looked and what a nice smile he had. I’m not sure how long he lived in that Cherry Hill house but he was very active in the community and admired by all.
^Wow, that’s so cool. Didn’t he throw our his Olympic gold medal?
He was an extraordinary athlete and a fascinating person.
But his sport was one in which the goal is to incapacitate your opponent through a traumatic brain injury, and he and many others have suffered devastating permanent after-effects from years of repeated concussions. Moreover, it’s a sport that attracts some of our society’s most vulnerable, disadvantaged young men.
I wish boxing didn’t exist and that Ali had had the opportunity to dazzle us all in some other sport or activity.
Nicely put, Marian. I never thought of it that way but I agree.
Subtle difference of opinion. The goal of boxing seems to be to win the rounds and/or to knock out the opponent. Don’t think then that they were aware of the potential devastating long term effects. Don’t think anyone’s goal was to caus a TBI and permanent damage, but simply to knock out the opponent and win the match. The TBI was an unfortunate consequence. That said my, it is a brutal, aggressive sport. Not sure it should be considered a “sport”.
I agree with you, @jym626, that the long-term consequences of punches and knockouts were not understood when Ali was boxing.
But they’re understood now.
Yet boxing still exists.
Yes that was my point- I don’t consider it a “sport”. It is distasteful to watch people pummeling each other. also dislike equally dangerous “sports” like mixed martial arts. There are lots of very dangerous “extreme sports” that are a areal adrenaline rush for some-- before they croak.
Friends met him at a business event that included children (I think from the daycare on prem.) He was already quite disabled, but yes, they said he was so approachable, so charming to each and every person there. And stiill very witty with comebacks. They were so impressed.
But the big thing they mentioned was that because he moved so slowly and spoke so softly, the little kids gravitated to him, clung to him. Beautiful.
The long term affects of boxing have been known for a long time, terms like “punch drunk” have been in common vernacular for a long time. I wonder if Ali’s family will allow the brain to be studied, to see if he had CTE (would be big odds IMO if he didn’t).
May he rest in peace, and may he find Howard Cosell and give him more of a hard time:)
Football exists too, and the road to a professional career in that brain-damaging sport is through college.
“…and may he find Howard Cosell and give him more of a hard time.”
Who could ever forget …“Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!”
Me :-). Never paid attention. The only boxer I paid attention to was Rocky since I was from Philly and the movie was huge there!!
I remember listening to a computer-simulated boxing tournament on the radio in the late 60’s. The computer projected who would win matchups between Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Rocky Marciano, John L. Sullivan, and a few other heavyweight champions. The two finalists, Ali and Rocky Marciano, met in a Super Fight that was a radio play with an announcer and commentator. Rocky knocked out Ali in the 13th round according to the computer’s projections.
He may have been more memorable to those of us who lived through the days of the draft. He refused his army induction in 1967. I remember it pretty clearly.
*ETA- he was convicted of draft evasion and banned from boxing for 3 of his prime years. He returned to the ring, I believe, in 1970-71, and in 1971 his conviction was overturned by the supreme court. Admitting my age here, but that was when I graduated HS, so I recall that piece of history. The less aged/ non geriatric folks here may not recall all this
^^I recall it and I, and many of my friends, admired him for his stand.