Don't forget Thomas Hearns. The first to win four world titles in four weight classes. It don't get much more impressive than that particularly considering the talent during his era.
B.S. He DID NOT change his name to avoid the war!!!! If that were the case he would have dropped the religion as soon as the war was over. He is still a very active member of his religion, and he was simply standing for what he believed in. Going to war would have almost been easier then the crap he had to go through not going!!!!!
Ali is the greatest fighter of all time. Keep in mind we never saw Ali at his best. His best years were wasted with the whole not going to war thingy. Before his time off he was so fast he hardly ever got hit. When he came back, he was never that fast again. He was still extremely fast, but not as fast as he once was.
My second favorite fighter is "The Warrior", "The Real Deal" Evander Holyfield.
And my third favorite is Roy Jones. If you saw "The Chicken Wang" you'd be a fan too.
I think he got hit plenty. He can't hardly talk, walk, or see.
I'm with Joelcool he used his religion to not fight for his country. Piece of shit the way I see it. He was a Chicken shit loud mouth.
In his day "Joe Lewis" was the best in my opinion.....best of all time.....that would be a hard question to answer since these fighters were from different time periods.
B.S. He DID NOT change his name to avoid the war!!!! If that were the case he would have dropped the religion as soon as the war was over. He is still a very active member of his religion, and he was simply standing for what he believed in. Going to war would have almost been easier then the crap he had to go through not going!!!!!
Ali is the greatest fighter of all time. Keep in mind we never saw Ali at his best. His best years were wasted with the whole not going to war thingy. Before his time off he was so fast he hardly ever got hit. When he came back, he was never that fast again. He was still extremely fast, but not as fast as he once was.
My second favorite fighter is "The Warrior", "The Real Deal" Evander Holyfield.
And my third favorite is Roy Jones. If you saw "The Chicken Wang" you'd be a fan too.
Funny, he converted to Islam after being notified he was eligible for the draft!
Vietnam War
In 1964, Ali failed the U.S. Armed Forces qualifying test because his writing and spelling skills were sub par. However, in early 1966, the tests were revised and Ali was reclassified as 1A. This classification meant he was now eligible for the draft and induction into the U.S. Army. This was especially important because the United States was engaged in the Vietnam War. When notified of this status, he declared that he would refuse to serve in the United States Army and publicly considered himself a conscientious objector. Ali stated that "War is against the teachings of the Holy Qur'an. I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger. We don't take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers." Ali also famously said in 1966: "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong ... They never called me nigger."[6][7]
From his rematch with Liston in May 1965, to his final defense against Zora Folley in March 1967, he successfully defended his title nine times, an active schedule for that period. Ali was scheduled to fight WBA champion Ernie Terrell in a unification bout in Toronto on March 29, but Terrell backed out and Ali won a 15-round decision against substitute opponent George Chuvalo. He then went to England and defeated Henry Cooper and Brian London by stoppage on cuts. Ali's next defense was against German southpaw Karl Mildenberger, the first German to fight for the title since Max Schmeling. In one of the tougher fights of his life, Ali stopped his opponent in round 12.
Ali returned to the United States in November 1966 to fight Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams in the Houston Astrodome. A year and a half before the fight, Williams had been shot in the stomach at point-blank range by a Texas policeman. As a result, Williams went into the fight missing one kidney and 10 feet of his small intestine, and with a shriveled left leg from nerve damage from the bullet. Ali beat Williams in three rounds.
On February 6, 1967, Ali returned to a Houston boxing ring to fight Terrell in what became one of the uglier fights in boxing. Terrell had angered Ali by calling him Clay, and the champion vowed to punish him for this insult. During the fight, Ali kept shouting at his opponent, "What's my name, Uncle Tom ... What's my name?" Terrell suffered 15 rounds of brutal punishment, losing 13 rounds on two judges' scorecards, but Ali did not knock him out. Analysts, including several who spoke to ESPN on the sports channel's "Ali Rap" special, speculated that the fight continued only because Ali wanted to thoroughly punish and humiliate Terrell. After the fight, Tex Maule wrote, "It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty."
Ali's last fight in his first reign as world heavyweight champion was on March 22, 1967 against the 35-year old Zora Folley who was seen as something of a journeymen fighter coming into this bout. Folley was knocked out in the 7th round.
Appearing for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces on April 28, 1967 in Houston, he refused three times to step forward at the call of his name. An officer warned him he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Once more, Ali refused to budge when his name was called.
As a result, on that same day, the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and stripped him of his title. Other boxing commissions followed suit.
At the trial two months later, the jury, after only 21 minutes of deliberation, found Ali guilty. The judge imposed the maximum sentence. After a court of appeals upheld the conviction, the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court. During this time, people turned against the war, and support for Ali grew. Ali financially supported himself by opening a restaurant chain called "Champburger" and visiting many college universities to give speeches across the country. Joe Frazier, who had become champion during Ali's absence from the ring, often gave financial assistance to Ali during this time.
From what I remember, Rocky Marciano was the best, beat the best, and fought and won more fights than most of the top choices combined, and he did that without anyone knowing about steroids at the time.
Chuck I saw several fights with Tommy "The Hit Man" Hearns. I can not remember who it was he took his first title from but it was a Spanish fighter when he was a lightweight. I had a small wager on the fight. Hearns smoked his ass despite being a slight underdog. Hearns had such a long reach and like Foreman, very few fighters even made it to the middle rounds without being knocked out by either of these 2 meatgrinders.
No one liked Jordan more than me. But Kobe is better. Kobe is the best best baller on the planet. And his peers will tell you as much. And that goes for the commissioner, other GM's around the league, as well as players. After it's all said and done; count his rings and compare his stats to Jordans, and remember this post.
Mike Tyson was the greatest fighter of all time. The heavyweight division has been in shambles since his reign. Who would have ever thought that 10/15 years ago we would be sitting around today debating which was better, the UFC or boxing? Love him or hate him. He was boxing. And he made the sport for a very long time. Had he one viable brain cell sitting next to his only brain cell he would have ended his career as a great. But idiocy reigns supreme in his mind. And his ego got the better of him. Happens to some greats. They feel like no one can beat them. And they don't feel the need to train. They don't feel they need a trainer. Kinda like Roy Jones being so bored with boxing that he would run full court basketball games, in a basketball league no less, the night of his fights. Hours before he would get in the ring. Firing Kevin Rooney was the beginning of his end. And let's not even talk about Don King's roll. And some of you may say, "Well if my grandma had a dick she'd be my grandpa." Well to each his own. He fought everyone there was to fight. Even fought Donovan "Razor" Ruddock twice. And he was undefeated and beating everyone at the time. Couple guys had his number at the end. And that's that. That's boxing. Oscar's about to fight that nobody from the show The Contender. That's boxing.
Floyd Mayweather is my favorite boxer. Rack that player. He and Oscar have single handily saved boxing if you ask me.
I'm suprized no one mentioned the "Mannasus Mauler" Jack Dempsey.
Not only was he one of the hardest hitters of all time, but he wrote what is arguable/ly the best book on how to throw killer punches ever. It's hard to find, but I have a copy I downloaded from online. The actual hardcovers of the book go for 200-250 bucks or so if and when you can find em. For anybody who's into martial arts or who just likes to hit the heavy bag, I highly recommend it.
