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By Lyle Fitzsimmons - It’s a week of Muhammad Ali celebration.
He’s on the cover of Sports Illustrated again, and writers of all shapes, sizes and stripes are recalling where they were or what they’ve heard about his most legendary victory.
Forty years ago this past Thursday, in the Philippines, where he ended his trilogy with Joe Frazier by beating the rugged Philadelphian into a corner-orchestrated surrender.
But amid the nostalgic revelry, another awful anniversary has come and gone, too.
Oct. 2, 1980. Thirty-five years since the beating “The Greatest” need never have taken.
That night in Las Vegas – with television cameras extending front-row seating far beyond the Nevada desert – nothing less than a crime was committed against the best heavyweight who ever lived.
And rather than paying for it with the suspensions and lifetime bans circumstantially tossed around for other infractions, its perpetrators escaped punishment and got a free pass to act magnanimous while continuing to ride ******* to the man who fed their families in his heyday.
The three-time ex-champion met a devastating career Waterloo at Caesars Palace – taking an unnecessary 10-round bludgeoning from a prime Larry Holmes in an ill-advised try for reign No. 4 as the division's best fighter. [Click Here To Read More]
He’s on the cover of Sports Illustrated again, and writers of all shapes, sizes and stripes are recalling where they were or what they’ve heard about his most legendary victory.
Forty years ago this past Thursday, in the Philippines, where he ended his trilogy with Joe Frazier by beating the rugged Philadelphian into a corner-orchestrated surrender.
But amid the nostalgic revelry, another awful anniversary has come and gone, too.
Oct. 2, 1980. Thirty-five years since the beating “The Greatest” need never have taken.
That night in Las Vegas – with television cameras extending front-row seating far beyond the Nevada desert – nothing less than a crime was committed against the best heavyweight who ever lived.
And rather than paying for it with the suspensions and lifetime bans circumstantially tossed around for other infractions, its perpetrators escaped punishment and got a free pass to act magnanimous while continuing to ride ******* to the man who fed their families in his heyday.
The three-time ex-champion met a devastating career Waterloo at Caesars Palace – taking an unnecessary 10-round bludgeoning from a prime Larry Holmes in an ill-advised try for reign No. 4 as the division's best fighter. [Click Here To Read More]
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