Its time we all start to "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee," because watching these so-called boxers of todays sport leaves me shaking my head and waving my white flag. Why must I be a victim of bad showmanship as well as craftsmanship? Boxing has officially been around since 688 B.C. and along the way the road was paved with some of the worlds greatest trained warriors the sport has ever seen to have walked this earth. From Jack Johnson to Joe Louis and Foreman to Frazier, the list is timeless and throughout the history of the sport, one thing is for sure, we as fans have never been without excitement. Todays new regime have all failed miserably at providing half of it.
Muhammad Ali, formerly Cassius Marcellus Clay, breathed some fresh air not only into boxing itself, but also into a world divided by color. Where an articulate black man knew how to speak well and how to manipulate the same people who tried their hardest to destroy what couldn't be destroyed. Even the men who were brave enough to step into a ring to face their demise couldn't figure him out either. For as long as fans have been following boxing, Ali appeared to be a new breed, a champion we haven't yet seen since... never before in our lifetime. For those of you who have been around long enough to have witnessed Ali perform live and for those of you who are like myself, and have to thank the heavens above for inventing dvd's. What Ali meant to the sport of boxing goes unheralded. We have been without great boxing for so so long that many of us have turned to MMA for that brutal hard hitting, exciting fights that Ali brought every time he stepped in front of a camera... yes, in front of the cameras because in the mind of Ali, the fight had already started and that's when the master of manipulation had begun his lessons. The things Muhammad did or said had zest to it and no matter who his next opponent was, he could always get underneath their skin and right into their heads.
You see... Ali got the people involved in the "trash talk" and everyone picked a side of who they thought had the biggest mouth and 9 times out of 10 Ali would win the battle of the mouths as well. But it was all good and that part of the fight leading up to the main event was sometimes as good as the actual fight itself ... I did say sometimes. Ali was definitely the greatest artist at bringing the anticipation of a fight to its highest peak, so by time the fight occurred, it was not only electric, but he lefted his opponent agitated and either ready to battle or eagered to throw in the towel before the bell had even rung.
Pure greatness at its finest in the ring. He never dodged a fighter like Mayweather is doing or dodged a civil cause by not speaking his mind outside of the ring. To me, Ali gained more points from the american people because he didn't go right when everyone else went right... Instead he chose to stand by his beliefs, which seems to be so difficult for todays modern athletes who ALWAYS shy away from POLITICAL ISSUES to take a stance and uplift a entire nation of people who are waiting to uplift a entire nation of people who are waiting to follow.
GREATNESS.
Back in the civil rights era when everything was color coded... oh wait, that sounds like today... well anyways. The sports world had the ALI'S, the BROWN'S, the JABBAR'S. Men of different sports who understood the importance of unity amongst each other. They didn't allow their BIG EGOS to get in the way of what was most important. Yeah, Ali will go down as one of the greatest if not the greatest boxer to ever slip on the leather gloves, but he was without a doubt THE GREATEST athlete to speak his mind on topics not associated with boxing. I always think of what this world would have been like if not for that disease that robbed all of us of the greatest voice of the sports world. Think of some of the worlds most current athletes and think of what important impact they have made on society??? Its hard to think of one isn't it? My point exactly.
THE GREATEST.
Every athlete in todays sports are content with where their place is and with heir positions in life. They made their money, they bought their big mansion and fancy cars and the rest is a wrap. Many stars in sports today have already earned more than Ali and his counterparts of his era did and yet it means squat compared to the impact they haven't made away from their sport. I guess we could give credit to the pros who drop some turkeys off every year on their way to their multi-million dollar homes or the cheesy "NBA CARES" commercials, but what is the substance behind it? As great of a boxer Muhammad was, it wasn't his boxing skills that made him so great... His mouth spoke louder and landed harder than any of his jabs or hooks ever could and thats not a bad thing what so ever. What that said, was Ali wasn't controlled by any one person or organizations or endorsing companies.
If Ali was still "ALI" how much of these spoiled athletes would we have endured? Would Terrell Owens be Terrell Owens? Or would Ali had punched some sense into this diva? Whats more is Ali wasn't the only man from his time that stood for something, we still have Jim Brown, Kareem and Russell. But what good are they if they remain silent and don't past on the greatest skill of all, free speech which Ali mastered and never took for granted. Athletes of today really need to study what made Ali the greatest of all sports. The price he paid to stand for something bigger than a contract or the number on his back. Ali definitely goes down as the greatest, but the greatest what?
