January 2002 - March 2004 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

point I made in my last post. It is not me who is in denial about Ali. But his
fans who cannot be objective, and are stuck in a child like awe of the boxer.
The guy was a class A hypocrite.|
|12/24/03 10:41:39
AM|Roadscholarette|Chicago||roadscholarette@hotmail.com||||10|My husband
remembers Ali mocking punchy fighters. Also, the laughable trip to Africa. Ali
was told he wouldn't be around hostile action in Vietnam, but didn't believe it.
He was fed all kinds of scare scenarios by the Muslims who wanted to control
him, and believed them. I don't see Ali as having the depth to opt out of the
war for the reasons he gave, and know what it really meant. He could do
nice things, and he could be cruel and sadistic. He also seemed to enjoy being
cruel so much more. The cohabitation of both tends to negate the former. Could
he have been told how bad it was to carry and torture inferior fighters? What to
say re the war, in order to look good? Other little PR moves? Whoever told him
to denigrate Frazier, and emphasize black stereotypes was a real genius, or
maybe the real Ali was coming out. Once more, when such radical opposing
behaviors both present themselves, you're usually right to look to the dark side
as the real person. Star-struck America, and really the whole world is so
desperate for idols, custom-made ones yet to whom they assign God-like
qualities, that Ali's legend will only grow. I don't know which is worse
- waaay back, olden times, when record keeping was shoddy or non-existent, or
today, when it's slick and smooth, and history is edited and reshaped,
fictionalized even, till it becomes sufficiently legendary or fulfills some
agenda. |
|12/24/03 10:47:27 AM|Angelo|Washington, DC||funktron@yahoo.com||||10|Forest:
Ali is a paradox---but I'd stop short of calling him a Class A hypocrite. I'm
sure that 25 years ago, when I was younger and more in awe of him as an idol and
an athlete, I would find no fault with Ali and would be in the total denial you
talk about. Now, I can stand back and agree with you on some of your
assertions. Ali made some mistakes and did exhibit some hypocricy at times---
He's not "Saint Muhammad" by any means. I still regard him as a great boxer and
sometimes great man who in a lot of ways, changed pro sports. He and Cosell
weren't just in the right place at the right time---they MADE it the right place
at the right time. |
|12/24/03 10:54:09 AM|Angelo|Washington, DC||funktron@yahoo.com||||10|One thing
they CAN'T change about history is the films (Well, on second thought, they
probably can do that too!). But when you watch Ali and Frazier "get it on" you
see what heavyweight boxing used to be! The tape doesn't lie: These guys put it
on the line like very few fighters today ever will. It was a different time---
and it makes me laugh when I read the posts claiming that Tyson would be so
scary to someone like Joe Frazier. Tyson couldn't gut it out against Holyfield.
FOREMAN---OLD FOREMAN---gutted it out against Holyfield and damn near beat him.
HOLMES---OLD RETIRED HOLMES---gutted it out against Holyfield and took him the
distance. Put Tyson in with one of the in-prime 70's heavies and provided the
fight went more than a few rounds, he'd lose the battle of the wills. |
|12/24/03 12:29:51
PM|Roadscholarette|Chicago||roadscholarette@hotmail.com||||10|Lots of times,
people fall into the "good old days" syndrome, a trap where things from the past
gain an aura and take on qualities they really didn't have when they were
actually happening. However, 70s boxing isn't that way - top champions for any
age, top tenners all, with contenders who would have been champions in many
other eras. Every single champ & contender had the guts and fighting heart of a
timber wolf, did in fact, raise the bar in that regard. Sometimes too,
people will do the reverse, and devalue past athletes and events in comparison
to the star of the present. I like Evander Holyfield immensely, and think he was
a great champion. Tyson had his time as well, and was a devastating boxer.
However, what two "old men" did with them indicates that the going might have