Why is Muhammad Ali so revered?

Yes. I've read that too.

How was Ali a racist? Can you back this up?

And just to be clear, boxing has been and always will be the most corrupt sport. Yes being heavyweight champ meant more back then. Boxing was even more corrupt than it is today and there are many conspiracy theories about Ali and boxing. From people whom I know in boxing, they claim that there is no way that he could have beaten Liston. They claim that fight was set up for Liston to lose. I have met guys who were around back then who claimed to have known that the fight was set up and that Liston was going down. Either way, Ali was a jerk. Great fighter but a loud mouthed jerk. What an amazing guy. I mean yeah he called a darker skinned more ethnic looking Frazier a gorilla and said he was stupid and ugly. Let's get it straight, if Ali were Hispanic or White and said what he said about Frazier he would be viewed very differently. Karma is a bitch and Ali got served a big slice of humble pie.

Did you see the fight? No? I did. You're talking out of your arse.

Someone who risked his life and career to stand-up for something he believed in. He took on the powers that be in this country and pretty much the entire white population when he took the brave and principled stance to refuse induction into the army.

He had no quarrel with the VC. As he so eloquently put it, they never called him N*gg^r.

I cannot think of a single rich and famous person today with such balls. Nobody wants to lose his cushy life. Only previously unknown heroes like Bradley Manning, J Assange, G Greenwald, and E. Snowden have shown such courage in recent years

Style, grace, courage, humor. Charisma to spare. Brilliant in the ring. He stood up to power and backed up his convictions no matter what.

I thought George Foreman would take him apart but Ali won that match! Although the fight against Joe Frazier in '71, which Ali lost, was really amazing.

Ali was, and is, a symbol of truth and justice throughout the world. He set a great example for people of African descent throughout the world, and for Africans themselves. There are not many people about whom you could say they inspired billions. Ali is one of them.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of champions: those who are totally dominant and those whose wins come with great struggle. Ali basically had one career of each, the former before his four-year absence from boxing and the latter after. Add in what he symbolized in the most turbulent time in recent US history and you've got the guy who a plurality of observers will call the greatest.

You had to be there but he transcended sport. Unlike Pre Ali won Gold medal in the Olympics. Ali was the Beatles and Michael Jordan combined. We don't seem to have celebs like that any more.

Google "Ali K K K meeting"

Completely agree with the OP.

Ali is, by reasonable boxing fans accounts, is not a top 3 heavyweight.

AND...his own "cause" happened to be a self-serving one. The guy was a draft dodger plain and simple. If the consequences of his "stance" had been to go to war he wouldnt have had that stance.

Cause he's the greatest of all time. Rent "When they were kings."

The reverence people have seems to be getting a bit shaky.

One other story-20 some years ago, he was being driven across the country. His car had mechanical troubles in Summit County, Colorado-a small community-couple second tier ski resorts, but not exactly Vail or Aspen. Anyway, the mechanic says we'll get your car fixed in 5 hours or whatever. Ali calls the local high school and has an impromptu assembly where he gave a motivational speech.

Absolutely true story.

Does anyone seriously believe Ali was a better boxer than, say, Larry Holmes?

Ali lost many more fights than most boxers who are considered top fighters. He was able to beat several boxers in rematches when there were either less than ideal conditions or the opponents were on the downside of their careers.

FWIW, I met Joe Frazier on several occasions and he was a very humble gracious man. RIP Champ.

Ivan Drago wrote:

Google "Ali K K K meeting"

Ok, now what about it makes Ali a racist?

Boxing was the big show in those days. It's hard to convey just how big it was. I drove a hundred miles to watch Ali-Frazier 1971 on a big movie screen in a coliseum. I think I paid $100 for a ticket. That was in 1971 dollars. The coliseum was packed, as were dozens of others around the United States and the world.

In the weeks prior to the match, part of the pre-match show was the weigh in and the psych job boxers would try to do on each other. Ali would say, I'm so pretty. He'd pretend to try to pull off Howard Cosell's toupe. Ali called Fraser a gorilla and said Liston smelled like an old bear, or something like that. It was so over the top that it never occurred to me that it was anything more than showmanship.

Ali would pretend to get mad at Cosell and pretend to throw a punch at him. Ali would occasionally talk in rhymes.

Blacks loved Ali. Most whites loved Ali, too. I lived in the south and I never met anyone who didn't love him. Ali was bigger than race. Bigger than any athlete that had ever lived. Ali was the most well known person in the entire world. Let that sink in. The. most. well. known. person. in the world

He gave up millions of dollars with no guarantee he would ever fight again for his convictions. Whether you agree or not, you have to respect that.

fisky wrote:

Ali was bigger than race. Bigger than any athlete that had ever lived. Ali was the most well known person in the entire world. Let that sink in. The. most well known person in the world

He gave up millions of dollars with no guarantee he would ever fight again for his convictions. Whether you agree or not, you have to respect that.

If you were not around to experience the Ali era at its zenith you missed something special. There was no sports figure like him before, or since, with such immense worldwide stature.

Right on about the Cosell interviews. They were great entertainment. Once Ali said in a pre Frazier fight interview something like, "While Frazier is calling Hell I'm gonna jump out the ring and take care of Cosell!" And like you said, the trash talk was just part of the Ali show that everyone enjoyed. Who in their right mind would call Joe Frazier a gorilla, or taunt Sonny Liston, who really was a mean guy?

He often stated:

"I am the greatest"

and he conned enough people to believe that.