was ali really the greatest?

[Ringlife]

The best at yapping his mouth

[Larry the boss]

Alis the best heavyweight hands down..fought in the best heavyweight era,beat the best comp,had the best skills

[sweetpea87]

Best heavyweight for sure, one of the best ever in any division for sure as well. Also one of the greatest icons even if you aren't talking about boxing.

[niceyboo3]

maybe he's only the second greatest or the greatest 1b?

It doesn't really matter. He's one of the most popular figures in not only boxing[he's the most popular boxer to ever live], not only in sports, but also ranks as one of the most popular figures in america and in the world, period. We're talking in the same sentence as babe ruth, michael jordan, michael jackson, hulk hogan, elvis presley, clint eastwood, al pacino. Ali is in that list and he's among some of those.

So instead of trying to question how great he is, you should appreciate how good he was/still is for the sport[in memory].

I have worked in the yankee stadium, and i was once working in a merchandise store within the stadium, where they were selling giant ali posters. We're talking about a baseball stadium.

^^^ this^^^^ all the way

[Kagami Taiga]

the reason i side with ali is because he bought soooo much more to the table. alright if you are talking sports in 20th century, as far as world renown athletes through that whole list, you are mentioning only a few pppl.

ppl like jordan, pele, babe ruth. the only name from boxing that you will find high on that list is ali. he was a walking billboard. i mean if he had been in his prime in the last decade of the century and into the new millennium, we would be wearing ali's on our feet, not jordans. there are not many athletes that have the power to impact culture like this guy. to me that makes him the greatest.

im sure others have different criteria, but as a historian, more than anything this is what i look at.

[jrosales13]

Ali is the greatest HW of all time. But, P4P GOAT? No.

Ali is borderline top 10 ATG P4P.

SRR, Greb, Langford, Armstrong, Charles, B. Leonard, are all greater than Ali. Better resumes and accomplishments.

Pep and Ross are arguably greater as well.

Fitzsimmons and Duran can have a case to being greater as well.

[-Kev-]

The best at yapping his mouth

That's why he makes it to top 3-5 greatest athletes of all time on almost every top 100 list.

[jrosales13]

Alis the best heavyweight hands down..fought in the best heavyweight era,beat the best comp,had the best skills

I think Ali was the GOAT at HW. I have him #1 at HW. But, I wouldn't say "hands down" I mean Joe Louis wasn't so shabby himself.

Also I wouldn't say Sugar Ray Robinson was hands down the P4P GOAT either. I mean both Greb and Langford have just as good if not better resume and accomplishment than SRR. And, both have a case to being rank higher than SRR.

But, really P4P GOAT is only a 3 man race. Between SRR, Greb, and Langford. You can't go wrong with either guy in any order

[niceyboo3]

Ali is the greatest HW of all time. But, P4P GOAT? No.

Ali is borderline top 10 ATG P4P.

SRR, Greb, Langford, Armstrong, Charles, B. Leonard, are all greater than Ali. Better resumes and accomplishments.

Pep and Ross are arguably greater as well.

Fitzsimmons and Duran can have a case to being greater as well.

SRR is the only one of those names above Ali. Lmao @ Willie pep. sorry...

[jrosales13]

Nope. I've never talked to a hardcore boxing fan who thinks he is. Although 99% of people who aren't boxing fans will probably tell you that he is.

Very true.