Did anyone see

"When Ali came to Britain" last night?. To my mind after Cassius Marcellus Clay boxing was never the same I now no longer take any interest at all.

The Louisville lip was an out and out showman and in the ring was magic to watch. The only time I remember wanting him to lose a fight was when he boxed "our Enry" Henry Cooper in 1963 I listened to that fight on the radio in the seven stars pub at Tamerton Foliot.

I will admit to having a lump in my throat seeing the man as he is today.

Floats like a butterfly stings like a bee

Indeed. Years ahead of his time. I quite often watch ESPN Classic when his fights are on. Great entertainment still.

Ali fanatic here,i can see my DVD box set of Ali fights and a couple of books about the man as i type and the "Thrilla in Manila" is on ESPN classic at the moment-if there's ever been a better fight between two all time greats,i'd love to see it.It seems to be an Ali day on ESPN,his fights against Bugner,Cooper,Lyle,Foreman etc are on today,probably for his 70th birthday.If he hadn't been stripped of his title in 1967 i don't think anyone would have beaten hm for years and years-just an all round class act,a talent of almost super human class and a personality to match.When i see Ali now,i just wish it was 1964 and he was starting out all over again- he certainly enriched my life and that of many others.

There's a special programme about Ali on 5Live tomorrow night. I'm not a huge fan of boxing now, but he was something special

On the subject of modern boxing, anybody else shocked at what the man in the hat had to say for himself?

It's an industry and travelling circus in the old fashioned fairground sense. Kent Walton should have been working now ... he would have had a great career.
I remember the Freddy Mills boxing booth turning up at Corpus Christie every year in Penzance. Not much has changed,

Showman, great fighter and potential cheat.

Out on his feet fighting Smokin' Joe, then all of a sudden a rip in his glove.......yeah right.

Can't take it away from the man though. He wasn't afraid to speak his mind and backed up his mouth with his fists in the ring. How successful would he have been if he hadn't wound up all his opponents before and during the fight? Was he an out an out 'compleat' boxer? Compare him to Joe Frasier, Henry Cooper and even Tyson. To me, they were fighters. Ali, used psychology for perhaps the first and last time as a successful weapon.

Cerbera wrote:

Showman, great fighter and potential cheat.

Out on his feet fighting Smokin' Joe, then all of a sudden a rip in his glove.......yeah right.

Can't take it away from the man though. He wasn't afraid to speak his mind and backed up his mouth with his fists in the ring. How successful would he have been if he hadn't wound up all his opponents before and during the fight? Was he an out an out 'compleat' boxer? Compare him to Joe Frasier, Henry Cooper and even Tyson. To me, they were fighters. Ali, used psychology for perhaps the first and last time as a successful weapon.

The ripped glove was against Cooper and the break between rounds was extended from 60 to 65 seconds.He would have been successful even without the psychology,fast hands,great footwork,superb defence,astonishing reflexes and an underrated KO punch-just ask Liston,Williams,Folley,London,Dunn,Foreman and Patterson.Apart from all of those attributes,he was crap.

You are of course, quite correct. I was a little distracted yesterday.

I still think despite his fast feet and fists, he relied a lot on the psychology - more than any other fighter before or since. A legend in his own lifetime for sure. I'm just not as impressed as many by him.

Angelo Dundee died today,aged 91,pretty good innings.He also trained the almost- as- great- as-Ali Sugar Ray Leonard,always remember his fights with Duran,Hagler and Hearns.Great cornerman,played a vital role for Ali,especially against Cooper and Liston.Fair to say that his career coincided with a golden era for the sport,he couldn't have lived at a better time.RIP Angelo.

Grumpy wrote:

"When Ali came to Britain" last night?. To my mind after Cassius Marcellus Clay boxing was never the same I now no longer take any interest at all.

The Louisville lip was an out and out showman and in the ring was magic to watch. The only time I remember wanting him to lose a fight was when he boxed "our Enry" Henry Cooper in 1963 I listened to that fight on the radio in the seven stars pub at Tamerton Foliot.

I will admit to having a lump in my throat seeing the man as he is today.

Floats like a butterfly stings like a bee

I used to work there, I was only born in '63 so wasn't allowed out that night.

Seven Stars in Tammy was one of the first pubs that me and my mates drank in as a group. There were about 6 - 8 of us. A couple of them ordered a beer and on getting back to the seats the glass was swimming with flies (backstroke I think). One took it back to the bar. The landlord immediately replaced it. He got back to his seat to discover the flies swimming again. At that point we gave up and left. The landlord obviously didn't want us there. Well, we were only 15 or so at the time.