Muhammad Ali has died at 74

[BroncoWave]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/muhammad-ali-greatest-all-time-dead-74-n584776?cid=sm_tw&hootPostID=83ca86aabd79e6a9cecb3c293e83dbc2


Muhammad Ali, the silver-tongued boxer and civil rights champion who famously proclaimed himself "The Greatest" and then spent a lifetime living up to the billing, is dead.

Ali died Friday at a Phoenix-area hospital, where he had spent the past few days being treated for respiratory complications, a family spokesman confirmed to NBC News. He was 74.

"After a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74. The three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer died this evening," Bob Gunnell, a family spokesman, told NBC News.

[turftoad]

RIP, used to love watching him. There will never be another one like him.

[Magnificent Seven]

Rip, g.o.a.t

[Dapper Dan]

Wow. I'm surprised to see this. It's about time I guess.

[dogfish]

damn, this sucks. . . that dying sport will never produce another icon of his magnitude. . . he was a force in our culture as much as in the ring. . .

RIP the greatest fighter of all time!

:salute:

[Davii]

RIP Mr. Ali. Great fighter, better civil rights warrior.

[Poet]

Goodnight, sweet prince.

[aberdien]

https://i.imgur.com/LRZwzN5.gif

BAMF

[aberdien]

Chris Donovan ‏@chrisdonovan 27m27 minutes ago
If you read only one thing about #MuhammadAli, read what he wrote in his memoir about how he wanted to be remembered

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CkFWooSWYAApjda.jpg

[Magnificent Seven]

One of my favorite clips of Ali


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyGZHfQbbpI

[MOtorboat]

damn, this sucks. . . that dying sport will never produce another icon of his magnitude. . . he was a force in our culture as much as in the ring. . .

RIP the greatest fighter of all time!

:salute:

I'm not sure sports will ever produce an icon like him.

[Shazam!]

Loss of a legend.

[Davii]

I'm not sure sports will ever produce an icon like him.

This. Not just boxing, but sports in general. Imagine if Ali were in his prime today, the legend would be 10x more with how much we'd see, hear, know, etc.

[BroncoJoe]

Very sad to hear this. Loved him as a boxer, even more for what he did for mankind.

[Valar Morghulis]

Weird how he gets no hate for being a draft dodging pinko and Islamic convert.

[EastCoastBronco]

He was the greatest.
RIP.

[BroncoJoe]

From President Obama:


Muhammad Ali was The Greatest. Period. If you just asked him, he’d tell you. He’d tell you he was the double greatest; that he’d “handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder into jail.”

But what made The Champ the greatest – what truly separated him from everyone else – is that everyone else would tell you pretty much the same thing.

Like everyone else on the planet, Michelle and I mourn his passing. But we’re also grateful to God for how fortunate we are to have known him, if just for a while; for how fortunate we all are that The Greatest chose to grace our time.

In my private study, just off the Oval Office, I keep a pair of his gloves on display, just under that iconic photograph of him – the young champ, just 22 years old, roaring like a lion over a fallen Sonny Liston. I was too young when it was taken to understand who he was – still Cassius Clay, already an Olympic Gold Medal winner, yet to set out on a spiritual journey that would lead him to his Muslim faith, exile him at the peak of his power, and set the stage for his return to greatness with a name as familiar to the downtrodden in the slums of Southeast Asia and the villages of Africa as it was to cheering crowds in Madison Square Garden.

“I am America,” he once declared. “I am the part you won’t recognize. But get used to me – black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own. Get used to me.”

That’s the Ali I came to know as I came of age – not just as skilled a poet on the mic as he was a fighter in the ring, but a man who fought for what was right. A man who fought for us. He stood with King and Mandela; stood up when it was hard; spoke out when others wouldn’t. His fight outside the ring would cost him his title and his public standing. It would earn him enemies on the left and the right, make him reviled, and nearly send him to jail. But Ali stood his ground. And his victory helped us get used to the America we recognize today.

He wasn’t perfect, of course. For all his magic in the ring, he could be careless with his words, and full of contradictions as his faith evolved. But his wonderful, infectious, even innocent spirit ultimately won him more fans than foes – maybe because in him, we hoped to see something of ourselves. Later, as his physical powers ebbed, he became an even more powerful force for peace and reconciliation around the world. We saw a man who said he was so mean he’d make medicine sick reveal a soft spot, visiting children with illness and disability around the world, telling them they, too, could become the greatest. We watched a hero light a torch, and fight his greatest fight of all on the world stage once again; a battle against the disease that ravaged his body, but couldn’t take the spark from his eyes.

Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it. We are all better for it. Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family, and we pray that the greatest fighter of them all finally rests in peace.

[tomjonesrocks]

Weird how he gets no hate for being a draft dodging pinko and Islamic convert.

Someone had to say it I suppose.

[BroncoJoe]

http://www.fearlessmotivation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Muhammad-Ali-Quotes.jpg

[OrangeHoof]

Ali once gave a commencement address at Harvard:

"God grants to all of us a particular gift. Mine just happened to be beating people up."

He was not universally loved in his prime. Many thought him a braggart and a bully. He actually understood promoting a fight better than the promoters of his day did.

He knew that the one thing a monster like Sonny Liston feared was a crazy man so he made himself a crazy man that Liston couldn't understand. He sliced and diced Cleveland Williams into a pulp at the Astrodome but refused to knock him out because Williams kept referring to him as Cassius Clay. With each stinging punch, Ali taunted him: "What's my name?" What's my name?" He wanted to keep Williams upright so he could cut him up still more.

But, truly, there has never been a more gifted boxer, nor a more clever promoter and, outside the ring, someone who stood firm in his beliefs whether you agreed or disagreed with him.

You'd have to picture someone with two times the athleticism of Shannon Sharpe and three times the mouth. Today's trash talkers were all amateurs compared to The Greatest. But much of it was all part of the promotion.

[atwater27]

Weird how he gets no hate for being a draft dodging pinko and Islamic convert.

If only more muslims were moderate like him. Of course he was a great fighter, but I will never understand why people idolize people who beat other people up for a living.

[turftoad]

Q
If only more muslims were moderate like him. Of course he was a great fighter, but I will never understand why people idolize people who beat other people up for a living.

It's a sport and nobody makes the opponent get into the ring with anyone they don't want to. I agree with the first part of your post though.
Things were WAY different back then.

[atwater27]

A few facts a lot of people don't know about Muhammad Ali...
1. He dodged the Vietnam draft, refused with the quote "My enemy is the white people, not the Vietcong".
2. He was a member of the Nation of Islam, an violent, uber racist black militant group that despises and calls for the destruction of America and Israel.
3. He divorced his first wife because she wouldn't wear a burqa and dress like a 'good' Muslim woman.
4. He hated mixed race marriages. "No intelligent black man or black woman in his or her right black mind wants white boys and white girls coming to their homes to marry their black sons and daughters."

But boy was he good at beating people up. definitely someone worthy of honor.

[BroncoWave]

Of course he was a great fighter, but I will never understand why people idolize people who beat other people up for a living.

This is a strange stance coming from someone whose username is that of a player who basically made a career of beating up receivers across the middle of a football field.

[atwater27]

Well I see you haven't changed at all since your extended vacation.

Let's talk about the issue, not each other. You're better than that.

[BroncoWave]

Come on guy, we both know there is a difference between fighting and playing football. Wait. I might be giving you too much credit.

I'm not going to take any more of your trollbait in this thread. Have fun dancing on his grave though. :)

[atwater27]

I'm not going to take any more of your trollbait in this thread. Have fun dancing on his grave though. :)

Just one last thing, Broncowave... Was anything I said untruthful? You might want to do some research before you answer.

[BroncoWave]

Possibly the greatest sports photo ever taken:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/C_fEIVwjrew/maxresdefault.jpg

[aberdien]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CkFLjSNWUAAH8mv.jpg


When Muhammad Ali Visited Ground Zero—and Showed Us All What It Means to Be American
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/09/when-muhammad-ali-visited-ground-zero-and-showed-us-all-what-it-means-to-be-american.html?via=desktop&source=twitter

[Dapper Dan]

Possibly the greatest sports photo ever taken:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/C_fEIVwjrew/maxresdefault.jpg

This one was better.

9051

[BroncoWave]

This one was better.

9051

:lol: I've never seen that one before.

[aberdien]

On netflix is the ESPN 30 for 30 about him and his last fight with Larry Holmes. Definitely worth the watch.

[Dapper Dan]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CkFLjSNWUAAH8mv.jpg


When Muhammad Ali Visited Ground Zero—and Showed Us All What It Means to Be American
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/09/when-muhammad-ali-visited-ground-zero-and-showed-us-all-what-it-means-to-be-american.html?via=desktop&source=twitter

Interesting article.

[Dapper Dan]

:lol: I've never seen that one before.
What about this one?
9052

[aberdien]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CkHfzjoUkAA0R59.jpg

[Davii]

This is NOT the P&R forum folks, please keep that in mind.

[Dapper Dan]

This is NOT the P&R forum folks, please keep that in mind.

Yet

[Dapper Dan]

The real, unedited photo.

9053

[Valar Morghulis]

The real, unedited photo. <img src="http://www.broncosforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=9053"/>

Wooooo

[Denver Native (Carol)]

The Greatest is gone. We might never see one like him again.

Muhammad Ali, the lyrical heavyweight showman who thrilled the globe with his sublime boxing style, unpredictable wit, and gentle generosity – especially later in life – died on Friday. He was 74. Ali, the former Cassius Clay, was not just an athlete who embodied the times in which he lived. He shaped them. His conscientious objection to the Vietnam war, and reasoned rants against a country fighting for freedom on the other side of the globe, while its own black citizens were denied basic rights of their own, energized a generation. Ali refused to serve in Vietnam, was convicted of draft evasion, and stripped of the heavyweight crown he won from Sonny Liston in 1964.

AND


From Bike Theft to Boxer: Clay’s Beginnings

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., in Louisville, at 6:35 p.m. on Jan. 17, 1942. His father, Cassius Sr., was a sign painter “with minor artistic talents and a major taste for gin,” according to Sports Illustrated. His mother, Odesssa, worked as a household domestic. Clay’s ancestors were slaves on the plantation of his namesake, a Kentucky politician who was Lincoln’s minister to Russia. He had an Irish great-grandfather, named Abe Grady. But no trace of white blood could shield young Cassius from the slights of segregated Louisville. For example, Clay said that when he was 8 or 9, an old white man harassed him while he played with friends near the railroad tracks, dragging him by his collar and shouting “shut your mouth, little n—-r” as Clay resisted (another man, the story goes, interceded and saved Clay from further harm). “Why can’t I be rich?” Clay once asked his father. Cassius Sr. touched his son’s hand. “Look here,” he said. “That’s why you can’t be rich.”

full article - much more - http://time.com/3646214/muhammad-ali-dead-obituary/

[Denver Native (Carol)]

In 1979, Mile High Stadium played host to one of the more fascinating events of its time: an exhibition match between boxing legend Muhammad Ali and former Broncos defensive end Lyle Alzado.

Ali, who passed away Friday, was past his physical peak and admitted as much at the time, going as far as to acknowledge that he did no training to prepare for the 30-year-old, two-time Pro Bowl defensive end.

"I'm way overweight; I've done a little bit of runnin', but I have enough to whip any football player in the world in the ring," Ali said. "It took me 25 years to throw a left jab, to learn how to dance the moves to pace yourself. Ain't no man who can come out of football and jump into my field now and master Muhammad Ali."

But Alzado wasn't completely inexperienced; he was a talented amateur boxer during his college years, going as far as the semifinals in the 1969 Midwest Golden Gloves Boxing Tournament.

Alzado was an underdog, but like another underdog boxer going against a great, he thought he had a chance

rest - plus videos of fight - http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Remembering-Muhammad-Alis-boxing-match-with-Broncos-DE-Lyle-Alzado/05b2c1ab-06ad-4794-82d2-c8b63b805c7f

[weazel]

Weird how he gets no hate for being a draft dodging pinko and Islamic convert.

you obviously don't know a single thing about his story Dave...

I will just say RIP, The Greatest

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

you obviously don't know a single thing about his story Dave...

I will just say RIP, The Greatest

Dave is a liberal apologist. He was being sarcastic.

[Dapper Dan]

Dave is a liberal apologist. He was being sarcastic.

Weazel is Canadian. They don't sarcasm.

[Slick]

rest - plus videos of fight - http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Remembering-Muhammad-Alis-boxing-match-with-Broncos-DE-Lyle-Alzado/05b2c1ab-06ad-4794-82d2-c8b63b805c7f

I went to that fight with my Mom. 6 years old.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

from article:


Ali emerged on the national scene as a bombastic young showman, predicting in rhyme the round he would knock out his opponent. Denver became a small part of his complex, fascinating story just as Ali’s boxing prowess and fame was ascending. It was Nov. 4, 1963 when a heavyweight challenger named Cassius Clay rolled into Denver with his tour bus and shook up the residents of Monaco Parkway, if not quite yet the world.

Clay and his entourage first drove through the then-segregated neighborhood of 5 Points thinking this is where he would find the current world champion, Sonny Liston, a Denver resident.

“I’m Bear hunting,” Clay shouted, according to 5 Points News publisher Brother Jeff Fard, a leading historian of Denver’s African American heritage. “Liston’s too ugly to be champ. The champ should be pretty like me.”

It was a Monday, just before midnight, a time when not even a reputed nocturnal street-thug like Liston was hanging out. Clay and his mouth were directed up to Monaco Parkway, where Liston and his family had a couple months earlier bought a tan, brick corner home in an otherwise all-white Park Hill neighborhood.

The contract of a title bout between the two fighters was to be signed Tuesday, Nov. 5 at a news conference held at a Denver hotel, but Clay couldn’t wait a few more hours for formalities. He had to make an early spectacle.

His bus was called “Big Red.” Clay’s father, Cassius Sr., had painted two inscriptions on its side. One: “WORLD’S MOST COLORFUL FIGHTER: CASSIUS CLAY.” The other: “SONNY LISTON WILL GO IN EIGHT.’’

And now Clay was in front of Liston’s home.

full article - http://www.denverpost.com/2016/06/04/how-muhammad-ali-was-the-most-culturally-iconic-transcendent-sports-figure-of-all-time/

[ShaneFalco]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/muhammad-ali-once-talked-a-man-off-a-ledge-in-los-angeles-120902373.html


Muhammad Ali once talked a suicidal man out of jumping off a ledge

[weazel]

Weazel is Canadian. They don't sarcasm.

I'm Sheldon from big bang theory

[ShaneFalco]

A few facts a lot of people don't know about Muhammad Ali...
1. He dodged the Vietnam draft, refused with the quote "My enemy is the white people, not the Vietcong".
2. He was a member of the Nation of Islam, an violent, uber racist black militant group that despises and calls for the destruction of America and Israel.
3. He divorced his first wife because she wouldn't wear a burqa and dress like a 'good' Muslim woman.
4. He hated mixed race marriages. "No intelligent black man or black woman in his or her right black mind wants white boys and white girls coming to their homes to marry their black sons and daughters."

But boy was he good at beating people up. definitely someone worthy of honor.

so what.

He was fighting against the US government, and against white judges and boxing commissioners who stripped him unjustly of his title.

They even took his passport so he would not be able to fight abroad.

They tried to ruin him.

It was a war for him without a doubt.

[Dapper Dan]

I'm Sheldon from big bang theory

Damn. Didn't know you were sexy.

[Dapper Dan]

so what.

He was fighting against the US government, and against white judges and boxing commissioners who stripped him unjustly of his title.

They even took his passport so he would not be able to fight abroad.

They tried to ruin him.

It was a war for him without a doubt.

He also said America should do whatever it had to do to bring to justice anyone responsible for 9/11, according to an article posted in this thread. I'm sure you love that

[ShaneFalco]

He also said America should do whatever it had to do to bring to justice anyone responsible for 9/11, according to an article posted in this thread. I'm sure you love that

Why wouldnt i love that?

Justice was brought, but yet we are still there....

[Dapper Dan]

Why wouldnt i love that?

Justice was brought, but yet we are still there....

Was it tho?

[Denver Native (Carol)]

The best-kept secret in modern Olympic history slowly emerged from the darkness into a spellbound stadium. Someone in the upper deck suddenly yelled, “It’s Ali!” and a moment later one of the most recognizable faces on earth shuffled into the light and the throaty roar of 80,000 people.

A black man, taking the torch 20 summers ago at the opening ceremonies of Atlanta’s Centennial Games, was igniting the Olympic cauldron in the capital of the New South.

A three-time world heavyweight boxing champion – so fast, so pretty in his prime – was now in an endless bout against Parkinson’s disease, a foe much more debilitating than opponents George Foreman, Joe Frazier or Kenny Norton.

American swimmer Janet Evans, who had won four gold medals, handed him the flame. Concentrating on his every physical movement, he held the torch aloft in his right arm as his left arm shook. And shook.

Until the cauldron was lit, when much of the stadium and the 3 billion viewing at home began openly weeping, knowing we had just witnessed human majesty.

Muhammad.

Muhammad Ali.

With many of his motor skills already gone at 54, he somehow moved us again. Twenty years ago, he brought hope, love and a soulful defiance against that awful disease to Atlanta, stunning spectators and athletes at three different venues after his indelible moment at the opening ceremonies.

rest - http://theundefeated.com/features/how-the-greatest-shocked-the-world-again/

[Poet]

A few facts a lot of people don't know about Muhammad Ali...
1. He dodged the Vietnam draft, refused with the quote "My enemy is the white people, not the Vietcong".
2. He was a member of the Nation of Islam, an violent, uber racist black militant group that despises and calls for the destruction of America and Israel.
3. He divorced his first wife because she wouldn't wear a burqa and dress like a 'good' Muslim woman.
4. He hated mixed race marriages. "No intelligent black man or black woman in his or her right black mind wants white boys and white girls coming to their homes to marry their black sons and daughters."

But boy was he good at beating people up. definitely someone worthy of honor.

1. Whom he was speaking to is quite obvious. Without getting too far into P and R, it's pretty obvious in retrospect that a lot of people would agree with his stance on that war.
2. Where did he stand now on faith? Did he actually call for the the destruction of America?
3. If memory serves, he abandoned that stance later on in life.
4. This is an unfortunate stance that I vehemently disagree with.

He was a brilliant and talented tactician in the ring. To reduce boxing to just beating people up is as absurd as saying that linebackers and strong safeties are just good at beating people up.

When a celebrity dies we often flock to their highest and greatest moments; to celebrate a life naturally requires that. Ali was not a perfect man. He, like most if not all people, was nuanced and complicated.

[Valar Morghulis]

1. Whom he was speaking to is quite obvious. Without getting too far into P and R, it's pretty obvious in retrospect that a lot of people would agree with his stance on that war. 2. Where did he stand now on faith? Did he actually call for the the destruction of America? 3. If memory serves, he abandoned that stance later on in life. 4. This is an unfortunate stance that I vehemently disagree with. He was a brilliant and talented tactician in the ring. To reduce boxing to just beating people up is as absurd as saying that linebackers and strong safeties are just good at beating people up. When a celebrity dies we often flock to their highest and greatest moments; to celebrate a life naturally requires that. Ali was not a perfect man. He, like most if not all people, was nuanced and complicated.
Eloquently put

[Dapper Dan]

Eloquently put

He's a lawyer. He could make YOU sound like a decent person.

[Poet]

He's a lawyer. He could make YOU sound like a decent person.

Even I have my limits. I'll put it to you like this - I would not like who I was eight years ago. I am not that person. I wasn't the best or the worst man then, and I am a person who is incredibly flawed. I believe that Ali evolved a lot throughout his life. I would like to go back to mourning one of my favorite persons, though.

[Valar Morghulis]

He's a lawyer. He could make YOU sound like a decent person.

Maybe

[dogfish]

He's a lawyer. He could make YOU sound like a decent person.

that would take a whole team of lawyers!

[TXBRONC]

RIP, used to love watching him. There will never be another one like him.

Same here.


"Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee."

I remember first time I ever saw Ali fight. It was "The Rumble in the Jungle."

[OrangeHoof]

Amazing to think that Ali outlived Alzado by more than 20 years despite already being the older man.

RIP to both of them.