Muhammad Ali's Irish Ancestry Debunks "Whiteboys can't fight" Myth?

Ali's wife, Yolanda, said her husband's Irish blood might help explain his legendary ability to bludgeon his opponents with blarney as well as punches. She stayed close at Ali's side throughout the public events, talking to him and steadying him as they walked arm in arm. "When you look at Muhammad's pugilistic skills and his loquacious ways, I am sure if his great-grandfather was alive, he would swear it came from him. If he were alive today I bet he would be in every pub talking about it too," she said. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=4437539&campaign=rss&source=BOXINGHeadlines

Comments (20)

Special_K

You're from Scotland and you use the word soccer? Scotland must be going to shit. :nonono: It is, just not near as bad as England:thumbsdow Most posters are in the US where football means men in helmets.

16y ago

Special_K

The Irish are historically an athletic race. A tall strong people. Just look at the number of soccer players they've produced, and soccer is probably only the third or fourth sport in Ireland. Roy Keane and Liam Brady, the two best players of their generation in Europe, not bad for a small nation of 5m. The lad Tyson Fury is Irish descended, so it continues... Ali's Irish blood gave him something extra in my opinion.

16y ago

slimshandy69

er carl froch completely debunks the myth since hes been spanking black americans and cannadians since day one...

16y ago

Jim_Jeffries

There isn't much difference at all. They are the exact same people. No difference between Barack Obama and http://www.angelfmonline.com/uploads/news/Joshua%20Clottey.jpg And of course there are varying colors of blacks in Africa. Semitic peoples have been mixing with them for thousands of years and whites for hundreds.

16y ago

hugh_grant

I have to say as Ali gets older he looks less black. He looks like a south american cuban right this time. I suppose he used to talk like a ghetto kid. But now we cant hear his voice.... Just an observation having seen him in ireland.

16y ago

jpitt

joe calzaghe, kelly pavlik, klitschkos, adamek, froch, abraham, kessler, marciano, lamotta, dempsey, graziano, zale, basilio, demarco, willie pep, billy conn, tunney, greb, micky walker, benvenuti, stevie collins, pender, fullmer, marcel cerdan, etc, etc, etc, etc. Fvck sake, even guys like gatti, ward, hatton, paz, haugen, mancini, etc, etc, etc, etc. Can we put this fvcking foolishness to rest once and for all? Seems self-evident to me too.

16y ago

Steak

There isn't much difference at all. They are the exact same people. Not all black people are dark. You need to get out more. This is down to nutrition and training. Gives Africans same amount of training and nutrition and they would dominate us Americans. Aren’t Irish tough people. Average Irish man would punk on anyone from Britain youre just an idiot.

16y ago

Songbird

I thought he got rid of his "slave name" going to Ali from Clay, but his white name was not that of a slaver? Im not exactly sure, just have the outlines of the story so far, but i hope to find out more soon Aren’t Irish tough people. Average Irish man would punk on anyone from Britain Too general of a statement i think, good and bad, tough and not so tough in all peoples imo, i think ireland is a progressive modern western euro country, in the past it was pretty tough im sure down to poverty etc, but not so sure now

16y ago

The_Italian

well, if you go back far enough, everybody is from africa... "no. ur from africa...im from the crenshaw mafia" haha.

16y ago

SMM

Too late, Willie Pep already debunked this myth about 70 years ago.

16y ago

Bad_Boy_Dazza

Interesting story, irish guy goes to the states and marries a former slave girl and down the line out pops the greatest boxer of all time. I heard a funny good natured comment where someone says thats funny i didnt realise ali had a drink problem. But now im sure the irish will tell us that ali is the greatest irish boxer of all time, here we go!! I thought he got rid of his "slave name" going to Ali from Clay, but his white name was not that of a slaver?

16y ago

Songbird

16y ago

Smash

In ireland they might say that he "had the gift of the gab" and he certainly had that!! Ali really is a hero whereever he goes :afro:

16y ago

jpitt

he definatley had the gift of the gab thats for sure. he had an irish tongue, normally that would be enough for us to claim him as our own, and he probably could play football for ireland, but where was the drinking problem? A real irishman would have drank himself stupid once he got rich and famous. ppfftt, staying sober, typical yank................. Saw a bit of it on the news earlier today, he got a great reception. Got treated like the legend he is. Hope he enjoys his stay here, its a privaledge to have him. Fvcking love the Irish baby.

16y ago

pasquas

16y ago

gingeralbino

16y ago

Steak

yea..look at joshua clottey and look at say..andre ward or andre dirrell exactly, good example.

16y ago

TheGreatA

Being part-Irish must have given him his chin. In reality race has little to do with it. Just look at his brother Rahman, a very mediocre boxer in comparison.

16y ago

Tmann400

most black people have white/spanish/arab ancestry in them somewhere. theres a pretty darn big difference between a natural guy from Africa and your typical American black person, if you think about it yea..look at joshua clottey and look at say..andre ward or andre dirrell

16y ago

Steak

16y ago