M8CKN Posted June 4, 2016 Report Share Posted June 4, 2016 Another genuine legend gone Boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies aged 74 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16011175 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted June 4, 2016 Report Share Posted June 4, 2016 Very sad, also very sad to see him the way he was due to Parkinsons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted June 4, 2016 Report Share Posted June 4, 2016 Another genuine legend gone Boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies aged 74 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16011175 Forgive my pedantic and fanatical correction ( ) - the greatest, the biggest, the most influential sportsman of all time and one of the greatest men of all time. A very, very sad day. My hero, basically, sad though that my sound. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calm Chris Posted June 4, 2016 Report Share Posted June 4, 2016 “I’ve wrestled with alligators, I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning And throw thunder in jail. You know I’m bad. just last week, I murdered a rock, Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean, I make medicine sick.” Biggest sporting legend of my lifetime. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garcon magnifique Posted June 4, 2016 Report Share Posted June 4, 2016 (edited) The greatest. Those two words say everything there is to say. Edited June 4, 2016 by garcon magnifique Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted June 4, 2016 Report Share Posted June 4, 2016 I dont know whether boxing would be different if he had never "happened", but i believe that the pre fight build up of "war of words" would certainly be different. I am not a boxing fan at all, but i agree that he was the greatest, if not sportsman then ambassador for sport, that there has ever been and possibly ever will be. Still dont like that he was wheeled out for public viewing on occasions, although im sure he agreed to these viewings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted June 4, 2016 Report Share Posted June 4, 2016 Ali saved the sport. When he arrived it was in very serious trouble. It was set to disappear from the main stream and blighted by corruption. His legacy goes far beyond sport too. Next to Martin Luther King, no man has ever done more in the public battle against racism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted June 4, 2016 Report Share Posted June 4, 2016 Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulboy Posted June 4, 2016 Report Share Posted June 4, 2016 He changed everything. He seemed overly arrogant in a more humble world.....but he was just ahead of his time. Heavyweight who moved like a middleweight. Used his head over his fists. Maybe the most famous sportsman (along with Pele?) of ALL TIME. RIP legend. When i was a kid.....you gave me a taste of the world to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuprabob Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 (edited) Watching Michael J Fox paying tribute to Ali was heartbreaking. What a cruel disease Parkinson's is. Michael J Fox 'shared common cause' with Muhammad Ali - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-36454087 Ali, we'll never see the likes of again. The definition of the term Legend. RIP Edited June 5, 2016 by Cuprabob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torino101 Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 From a total boxing luddite, Ali was incredibly fast and agile, not to mention smart but looking at his physique above which is pretty unimpressive compared to modern standards (oaf Fury as an exception), how would he cut it these days? I know this is probably an impossible question. Like a Borg / Sampras / Federer type comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torino101 Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 This is great, with Stallone picking up his Rocky oscar: https://youtu.be/8FyP4gs0p4Q 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 I remember my old man staying up late to listen to either the Rumble or the Thriller. I was 6 or so, but remember him saying about staying up! I realsied it must have been something big. Because of that, his name has stuck with me. Wasn't he also one of major reasons that TVs sold so quickly? As people wanted to watch the fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulboy Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 From a total boxing luddite, Ali was incredibly fast and agile, not to mention smart but looking at his physique above which is pretty unimpressive compared to modern standards (oaf Fury as an exception), how would he cut it these days? I know this is probably an impossible question. Like a Borg / Sampras / Federer type comparison. Physique is not really sought after in boxing. It's just a bi-product of the training. What's important physically is 'fast twitch' muscle response for explosive bursts (trained through plyometrics) while still maintaining slow twitch muscle for endurance. And huge amounts of stamina. Boxing is incredibly tiring. Boxers tend to call people who just aim to build muscle through bodybuilding (isolation training) 'counterfeit muscle'. Shorter answer. Yes Ali was the greatest. Physique doesn't necessarily count in boxing. Speed, technique, endurance and agility are more important. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 Torino after Soulboy's extremely interesting scientific answer (thanks for that btw, fascinating) here is my fellow Luddite take on it: Yes - undoubtedly yes. Even Ali wasn't exactly scrawny but people like Foreman, Frazier, Norton were huge and he put them all away with aplomb - and they had skills to go with their size Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 From a total boxing luddite, Ali was incredibly fast and agile, not to mention smart but looking at his physique above which is pretty unimpressive compared to modern standards (oaf Fury as an exception), how would he cut it these days? I know this is probably an impossible question. Like a Borg / Sampras / Federer type comparison. You've answered your own question. It has been asked a million times on boxing forums. However, and purely personal opinion, the likes of Ali could move into any era and do the same. I think he would. I don't think about it though. I think about the fact I was lucky enough to remember when Ali dominated. Not clearly, but well enough. I am privileged and remain eternally thankful to him for getting me interested in the sport I love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulboy Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 (edited) Agreed @Waylander post. To give it a bit more context, when Tyson was in his prime he didn't do any weights at all. His physique was obtained just through boxing training. When boxers do use weights....and most do and should. They seek strength not bulk. So they will use heavy ish weights, but doing a fast burst combination body exercise (eg thruster followed by overhead press) as quick as they can. They will NOT be doing a bicep curl, lateral pulldown, chest today - quads tomorrow type schedule. That's for bulk and posing. Boxers want strength and speed. And the fast twitch muscles are trained through plyometrics. This can be done just using a simple box/bench/step. Just fast Jumps onto/over/off/across etc to build 'explosiveness' in the lower body. Try it none stop for 10 minutes....you'll get the idea! I could go on, but I reckon everyone might have dosed off Edited June 6, 2016 by Soulboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 Anyone who wants to know if Ali could have dominated nowadays should probably look very closely at the Rumble. I don't just mean going straight to the KO either, which many do. I mean from start to finish. The entire fight and ring walk is on YouTube. The reason to watch it is to truly appreciate that the fight was much more than the rope-a-dope it has been media-classified as. The reflexes Soulboy refers to are shown in blistering clarity and the replays show the instinctive powers that Ali possessed. He belongs to a very short list of people that appear to have almost clairvoyant skills of knowing what is coming and when. Punches from every angle and the often forgotten power of his left jab. That punch alone drained his opponents very quickly. The ring craft, the footwork, the neck and, in a way only Ali could do, the speaking to his opponent. Whispering, talking, winking at commentators, yawning on his stool in the corner, he shows it all. Sheer brilliance. Then go watch the best demonstration of boxing ever in the Cleveland Williams fight. You'll not see anyone destroy someone so skillfully ever again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulboy Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 Typical boxing plyometrics https://youtu.be/AYxN-2jLlyk Boxing strength/weight training https://youtu.be/TI7EhenvQfQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulboy Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 He belongs to a very short list of people that appear to have almost clairvoyant skills of knowing what is coming and when. That is very, very true. It is an art that most casual spectators dont appreciate and it takes those select few boxers years to perfect. You get a feel for how it works in this short film study of Roberto Duran.... https://youtu.be/yFl0nh6FNXA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 Punches from every angle and the often forgotten power of his left jab. That punch alone drained his opponents very quickly. The ring craft, the footwork, the neck and, in a way only Ali could do, the speaking to his opponent. Whispering, talking, winking at commentators, yawning on his stool in the corner, he shows it all. Sheer brilliance. Then go watch the best demonstration of boxing ever in the Cleveland Williams fight. You'll not see anyone destroy someone so skillfully ever again. Indeed and straight after was perhaps the most misunderstood fight - the "What's my name" fight Misunderstood in that this billed as Ali being cruel although he just couldn't not the guy out despite throwing so many punches at him. "What's my name?!" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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