The Greatest

[PaulWinch again]

He was the perfect balance of a showman who had great courage.

[rob_bridge]

I'll leave it at the best heavyweight. I can't think of anyone who missed the prime years and was still That Good.

Ray Robinson probably best boxer though one or two others could lay claim.

As others said though the Most Influential Sportsman and doubt anyone will ever surpass him in that sense.

[KevinGage]

Prob not the best thread for this, but not even sure he's the best heavyweight.

Rocky Marciano, Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis have phenomenal records -at a time when boxing was much harder. Mike Tyson before he went off the rails would have to be in contention. The speed at which he'd just bulldoze opponents will probably never be repeated.

If boxing is the art of hitting and not getting hit,  Ali falls down on that as well. Sugar Ray Leonard and Floyd Maywether were consistently at the top of the tree during their time, and rarely even got cut, never mind put down.

But they would have both said Ali is the greatest.  And aside from Joe Louis -who galvanized a nation against the Nazis with his success in the late 30s - no other boxer has had such a popular impact on popular culture as Ali.

[UK Redsox]

Trump 

[Flamingo Lane]

Here (hopefully) is the story of why Ali was a frequent visitor to a council estate in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, including some great photographs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-16630467

[tomd2103]

Prob not the best thread for this, but not even sure he's the best heavyweight.

Rocky Marciano, Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis have phenomenal records -at a time when boxing was much harder. Mike Tyson before he went off the rails would have to be in contention. The speed at which he'd just bulldoze opponents will probably never be repeated.

If boxing is the art of hitting and not getting hit,  Ali falls down on that as well. Sugar Ray Leonard and Floyd Maywether were consistently at the top of the tree during their time, and rarely even got cut, never mind put down.

But they would have both said Ali is the greatest.  And aside from Joe Louis -who galvanized a nation against the Nazis with his success in the late 30s - no other boxer has had such a popular impact on popular culture as Ali.

A boxing pundit on the radio yesterday was saying that Marciano and Tyson at their peak would have beaten Ali at his.  His ability as a boxer was only part of his appeal though.

[Ron Manager]

Prob not the best thread for this, but not even sure he's the best heavyweight.

Rocky Marciano, Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis have phenomenal records -at a time when boxing was much harder. Mike Tyson before he went off the rails would have to be in contention. The speed at which he'd just bulldoze opponents will probably never be repeated.

If boxing is the art of hitting and not getting hit,  Ali falls down on that as well. Sugar Ray Leonard and Floyd Maywether were consistently at the top of the tree during their time, and rarely even got cut, never mind put down.

But they would have both said Ali is the greatest.  And aside from Joe Louis -who galvanized a nation against the Nazis with his success in the late 30s - no other boxer has had such a popular impact on popular culture as Ali.

A boxing pundit on the radio yesterday was saying that Marciano and Tyson at their peak would have beaten Ali at his.  His ability as a boxer was only part of his appeal though.

His opinion. Marciano and Tyson were sluggers with huge firepower. Ali would have treated both with distain just as he did Liston and Foreman who were also
huge punchers. Tyson would have hit low when he found he couldn't knock Ali out and got himself disqualified.

[passport1]

He struggled with Joe Frazier who was nowhere near the level of Marciano or Tyson.

[dave.woodhall]

He struggled with Joe Frazier who was nowhere near the level of Marciano or Tyson.

Frazier would have beaten them both.

[passport1]

Ahem no.

[dave.woodhall]

Ahem no.

Very definitely yes. Unless you can tell me any opponent either of them beat who at the time was as good as Frazier's wins.

EDIT: I should probably have said "could" rather than "would" beat but the point remains that Frazier's best wins were much better than the other two's and at the very least he was at their level, which is to say behind the Greatest.

[timeoutbigbar]

Sadly missed.  Fantastic sportsman.

Never sat right with me, the build up to the Frazier fight in Manilla, that went beyond trash talk.  Still a unique personality we won't see the like of again.

[thick_mike]

Here (hopefully) is the story of why Ali was a frequent visitor to a council estate in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, including some great photographs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-16630467

Lovely story...the last quote, "he was greater outside the ring than he was in it" hits the nail on the head. Arguing about who was the greatest boxer is irrelevant, Ali was the greatest sportsman.

[olaftab]

He struggled with Joe Frazier who was nowhere near the level of Marciano or Tyson.

Frazier would have beaten them both.

And Ali was not at his peak when he met Frazier.

[olaftab]

Bradman was the best, but Ali was the greatest.

Not sure I agree. Bradman was dominating a sport essentially played by two countries, England and Australia, whilst cricket in West Indies , India and South Africa was still developing. Even if you count them cricket was not and still is not a world sport. There are other better examples to do a comparison on the best sportsman in my opinion.