Why do people idolise muhamad ali so much?

[APryor]

Another aspect of Ali's myth (as opposed to the reality) is the ignoring of the gift decisions he received in the ring. Ken Norton could easily have a 3-0 record against Ali but instead went 1-2. How different might both of their legacies be?

Norton was an incredible athlete and a legit HOF heavyweight in his own right, but today he would be a cruiserweight. He probably beat Ali 3 times but was only awarded the win once.

If you want to understand how hard it was to beat Ali by decision, you need only listen to the mad ramblings of Ali fanboy Howard Cosell during Ali-Norton II. I remember watching it on ESPN Classic and I was stunned at what I was listening to.

One round featured Norton battering Ali for the first 2:30. In the last 30 seconds Ali started doing the "Ali shuffle", feinting punches and running away. Cosell began screaming "Look at Ali move! ALI IS STEALING THE ROUND!". Ali was literally landing no punches and had been beaten up for the first 150 seconds of the round. Apparently he could win rounds by just dancing and running away. Norton weighed in at 205 for that fight and Ali still needed a gift.

Clearly Ali is a HOFer and an all time great fighter. He was a legit heavyweight champ. Amazingly, he's still vastly overrated. Somehow he ascended to mythical status.

Speaking of being overrated, Cosell has to be the worst sportscaster of all time.

[Humble fighter]

It comes from partisanship, ignorance, lack of intellectual honesty and racial hatred. Mostly it's pure ignorance as the majority of his admirers know next to nothing of his actual history.

The reality is that Ali was a low-IQ pawn of a racist, murderous cult. The Nation of Islam at that time taught that white people were not created by god, but were creations of an evil wizard. They were/are Black Supremacists. They were much worse back then than they are even today. They also killed (black) children.

Elijah Muhammed was the leader of the NOI for 40 years. He was your standard evil cult leader. He preached hatred, impregnated his followers' early teen daughters, ordered the murders of people who dared to leave the cult... you get the idea. Ali was his puppet and dupe.

Imagine if a white athlete had once belonged to a hate group that murdered the families of those that crossed them. Imagine if this white athlete's mentor was a child rapist, baby killer and evil cult leader. Is there any way this white athlete would be considered anything beyond a piece of human garbage? Yet Ali is considered a saint.

Anytime Ali showed courage by being on the "correct" side of a social issue, it was on the orders of Elijah Muhammed. For example, Ali opposed the Vietnam War. So did the Soviets. The fact you are on the "correct" side of a social issue does not make you a saint.

Now I can give Ali a pass for some of this because America was a racist country at the time, he had a poor upbringing and he grew up with no educational opportunities. Of course he was ignorant and it's not surprising he would join a cult that preached black supremacy and racial hatred of his oppressors. I can't consider him a saint though. He was a puppet and a dupe for a truly terrible organization.

thank you!

[HandsofIron]

I think it was because of the Parkinson he came down with.

As for me, I wasn't a fan of him, too much clinching for my taste, like W. Klitz. He's like the KISS of boxing, lot of it was exaggerations/hyperbole.

[taavisaarme]

i love Ali !

[alexguiness]

Overall Ali did achieve impressive things in and out of the ring.

I think the legend thing started with his trash talking and grew when he suffered Parkinson's.

He was a great boxer and a unique, talented and charismatic personality in a very progressive period of modern history. That said he had many faults as well.

[GhostofDempsey]

Another aspect of Ali's myth (as opposed to the reality) is the ignoring of the gift decisions he received in the ring. Ken Norton could easily have a 3-0 record against Ali but instead went 1-2. How different might both of their legacies be?

Norton was an incredible athlete and a legit HOF heavyweight in his own right, but today he would be a cruiserweight. He probably beat Ali 3 times but was only awarded the win once.

If you want to understand how hard it was to beat Ali by decision, you need only listen to the mad ramblings of Ali fanboy Howard Cosell during Ali-Norton II. I remember watching it on ESPN Classic and I was stunned at what I was listening to.

One round featured Norton battering Ali for the first 2:30. In the last 30 seconds Ali started doing the "Ali shuffle", feinting punches and running away. Cosell began screaming "Look at Ali move! ALI IS STEALING THE ROUND!". Ali was literally landing no punches and had been beaten up for the first 150 seconds of the round. Apparently he could win rounds by just dancing and running away. Norton weighed in at 205 for that fight and Ali still needed a gift.

Clearly Ali is a HOFer and an all time great fighter. He was a legit heavyweight champ. Amazingly, he's still vastly overrated. Somehow he ascended to mythical status.

Speaking of being overrated, Cosell has to be the worst sportscaster of all time.

Other gift decisions he received were:

Doug Jones
Chuvalo II
Jimmy Young
Ernie Shavers

Add in the two fixed fights with Liston, the glove-incident with Cooper, and the fact that he fought quite a few opponents who were much smaller than him, and the legendary Ali isn't so legendary.

Television was a powerful medium back then. Him shouting that he was the greatest over and over into Cosell's microphone stuck with the general public and casual media. It became his Mantra (similar to a TBE self-appointed fighter) and he was able to sell his image.

As I said in an earlier post, he came along at a time when boxing was hurting for ratings. There was money to be made by propping him up. Timing is everything.

On a P4P basis he did too many things wrong like leaning back from punches, fighting with his hands at his sides, moving straight back, fighting off the ropes, taking a lot of punches. He had a great chin, and good speed and reflexes to be dominant over some of those slow lumbering HWs, but much of his career was smoke and mirrors.

[TonyGe]

Seriously? Read a damn bio of the man and you'll get it.

One of the most charismatic athletes of all time, one of the greatest boxers of all time (I don't think he's the undisputed GOAT of boxing like so many people blindly claim - although he's arguably the greatest HW boxer of all time - but he's certainly up there), and he played an important role in the Civil Rights movement and helped give a voice to the blacks and represent them at a time when they needed it. There was a time when more books had been written about Ali than any other human in history other than Jesus. That shows what level of influence he had.

It isn't just blacks that needed him there were young men from different backgrounds that were being shipped off to fight for causes they didn't believe in or understand. He was one of a kind. I'm not an American but I think Americans should be proud of him for standing up to the establishment.