Comments Thread For: It's Another Big Fight Anniversary, But This One's Not So Happy

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Lyle Fitzsimmons - It's pretty amazing to think about. Seems as soon as one high-profile championship fight anniversary from the late 1970s or early 1980s passes, another one comes rolling through within a week or two. So when people refer to that stretch as one of boxing's golden ages, it's not exactly hyperbolic. Case in point, two weeks ago Wednesday was the...
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[Rapscallion]

Nice try; however, if you really believe that the Ali that fought Spinks (either fight) wasn't already well on his way to Parkinson's disease, you are kidding yourself. Any objective fight fan who had closely followed Ali's career knew that Ali should have retired before he fought Leon Spinks. Ali's entourage sold him out for years before his bout with Holmes. It's the ugly, sickening truth.

[Boxingfanatic75]

Nice try; however, if you really believe that the Ali that fought Spinks (either fight) wasn't already well on his way to Parkinson's disease, you are kidding yourself. Any objective fight fan who had closely followed Ali's career knew that Ali should have retired before he fought Leon Spinks. Ali's entourage sold him out for years before his bout with Holmes. It's the ugly, sickening truth.

That wasn’t said in the article.

“the Ali who danced rings around Leon Spinks in September 1978 was far healthier than the one who turned from Holmes two years later but stubbornly refused to fall.“

That is a factual statement. He did dance circles around Spinks and he was healthier than the Ali two years later against Holmes.

[Monty Fisto]

I don't think Dundee walking away would have changed anything. Someone less competent would have taken his place.

Dr Ferdie Pacheco did the right thing : he told Ali to retire after the Thriller in Manila and walked away when Ali refused. But it didn't stop Ali continuing.

When so much money was involved, there were plenty of enablers ready to join the team and keep Ali going.

[Deleted]

I don't think Dundee walking away would have changed anything. Someone less competent would have taken his place.

Dr Ferdie Pacheco did the right thing : he told Ali to retire after the Thriller in Manila and walked away when Ali refused. But it didn't stop Ali continuing.

When so much money was involved, there were plenty of enablers ready to join the team and keep Ali going.

Well said!

On top of all that, athletes tend to think they still can perform past their prime. We're wired to believe in ourselves even under impossible odds. Took me years to be able to even jog after a brain injury and cracked bone in my head. Almost 50 now and I still believe I can hang with the young cats. Sometimes we need someone really really close to us to save us from ourselves (child, parent, wife).

On a side note, I remember an old boxer turned night club manager or owner having a drink at the end of the night, this 20 something acts up and all you saw was a short one two and a big young guy go to sleep lol.

[The D3vil]

Yeah, it's sad, but I've always felt that Ali being in the middle of the struggle between the old guard in his camp guys like Angelo Dundee & Ferdie Pachenco versus the Nation of Islam guys like Wali Muhammad was his downfall.

I really do think that just like Don King manipulated Mike Tyson to get him away from Jimmy Jacobs, Bill Cayton, and all the Catskills guys that got him to where he was, I think a lot of the Nation guys did that to Ali to use him for their purposes.

In both cases, by the time these guys realize what's happened, it's too late to stop the decline in both men's careers & lives.

As the saying goes, "It's always your own people"

[LoadedWraps]

Interesting article indeed.

[Rapscallion]

That wasn’t said in the article.

“the Ali who danced rings around Leon Spinks in September 1978 was far healthier than the one who turned from Holmes two years later but stubbornly refused to fall.“

That is a factual statement. He did dance circles around Spinks and he was healthier than the Ali two years later against Holmes.

Have a friend set you up to watch both Spinks/Ali fights again without specifying fight number one or fight number two. Then try to tell me which as which. Ali stunk out the joint in both fights, and he didn't deserve victory in either despite being gifted the decision in the second fight (the fix was in, and people in the know predicted it). This was done to keep the Ali fight revenue rolling in. Also, if Ali had fought Holmes on either date of the two Spinks fights, he would have performed no better than he did once he got around to fighting Holmes. Compare Ali vs Norton # 3 to Norton vs Holmes and see the vast difference in skills and ability to employ them throughout the fight that Holmes brought to the ring (versus those of Ali at that period of his career). Ali should have retired following his victory over George Foreman, and but for the control and influence those who mismanaged and manipulated him maintained over him, I'd like to think that he would have.