Float like a butterfly.
Adam Rifkin stashed this in Boxing!
Source: imgur: the simple image sharer
Stashed in: The Sporting Life, #greatness, Reddit!, History!, Awesome, gifs, Best Videos, Will Smith, Chess, Muhammad Ali, Mindfulness
Ali was The Man, no doubt.
Let's highlight some other greats from combat sports:
This is a great highlight reel but it's a slow build -- if you want to get to the action skip to 2:50.
Love Ali. Love him as a boxer, a wordsmith, but most of all a civil rights hero--how many of us would have given up what he did for his beliefs? Probably not many--I think of the times I should have stood up for an injustice and failed to have the courage. He will always be The Champ.
I could talk about this for days--here's a couple links.
http://www.aavw.org/protest/homepage_ali.html
By uttering this famous quote, Ali took himself out of the category of conscientious objector and threw him square into the camp of political resistance. In addition to losing his title and having his boxing rights restricted, he suffered the loss of his prime fighting years in poverty. This is why his comeback was such a big deal, especially within the context of the fight being promoted in Zaire in order to spotlight African Independence (warlords notwithstanding).
Ali was put in the middle of the Cold War because he dared to be anti-War, not because of the conflict but because African Americans were not receiving justice on the home front--this was a HUGE but little studied piece of propaganda hammered home in the Soviet Union and China. Great stuff to study.
Here's the results of the Supreme Court case which set him free:
http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1970/1970_783
Muhammed Ali stood in the camp that advocated protest--in stark contrast to Joe Lewis who felt that by serving the nation in World War II, he would garner respect and help the cause of freedom. And for his stance, he lost a great deal. I would love to shake his hand.
I think Will Smith did his due diligence with this role.
Ali was awesome then and still exhibits courage and signature grace dealing with his Parkinson's disease. I used to see him often as a kid and get to shake his hand--got his autograph as world champ too.
Ali was also one of the best entertaining showmen and trash talkers of the day and never missed a beat in or out of the ring. He trained at the 5th street gym and would come into my parents' Lebanese restaurant in Miami Beach afterwards. He used to get the lamb shank and eat it with his hands--big hands. A guy in his retinue complained one time at the table, in sotto voce, "Champ, please use the silverware, this is a nice place!" And Ali said out loud enough for all to hear, "Shuf your mouth--I like eating it with my hands and I'm gonna eat it with my hands."
My Dad just smiled and said enjoy it any way you like it.
1:32 PM Sep 28 2012