comments from bread
Bread I know how you felt about Muhammad Ali. But tell me a few things. How did you become such a fan of his? Is he truly the greatest? Why do so many people bring up the negative things about him like his taunts of Joe Frazier? Anything else you can add I would appreciate it.
Bread’s Response: Obviously I have been bombarded with Ali questions. But this was the best and most simple. Before I talk about Ali I have to talk about when I was born, where I was born and who helped raise me.
I was born in 1976 in Philadelphia, Pa. I bring that up because Ali’s biggest rival was a Philadelphia resident, Joe Frazier and it’s relevant as to where I’m going. My grandfather helped raised me. He was a Korean War Veteran. Ali didn’t believe in the war. My grandfather had 8 children by the same woman. Ali had several wives and several children by them. My grandfather was a Baptist. Ali was a Muslim. My grandfather was about 10 years older than Ali.
Despite some differences there were more similarities. And shockingly to some readers, he absolutely revered Ali! I found out what the meaning of the word reverence meant when my grandfather told me he revered Ali. A deep feeling of respect tinged with awe. My grandfather was no easy man to impress. He was a college graduate and a successful business owner. But he thought Ali was the greatest human being he had ever seen in his lifetime.
If you had a bad word to say about Ali, he would unfriend you. If you disrespected Ali too much in front of him a brutal fist fight would take place. He often cried when he talked about Ali’s courage. He couldn’t believe a man could be that courageous. Despite being a War veteran he agreed with Ali’s stance on the war 100%.
This reverence for Ali was embedded in me as a child. As I grew older I realized it was all justified. From both a humanitarian point of view and a boxing point of view. From a boxing point of view Ali is the only modern great who does not have 1 miss or duck on his resume. Even his most staunch critics can’t come up with a relevant fighter that he didn’t face during his career.
Ali often fought fighters multiple times just to prove his superiority. Henry Cooper. A man who knocked Ali down in their first fight before Ali won his first championship… With controversy surrounding the first victory Ali gave him a rematch for the title. Ali was one of the most honorable fighters in the history of boxing when it came to that. He also fought Cooper twice in the UK and Cooper was from the UK.
He gave the great Sonny Liston a rematch after defeating him for his title. Liston claimed he hurt his shoulder in the their first fight. So Ali made his first defense against guess who, Sonny Liston.
He also fought Floyd Patterson twice. Liston and Patterson were the best two heavyweights of the post Marciano era.
Ali fought Joe Frazier 3 times, Ken Norton 3 times, Jerry Quarry 2 times, Joe Bugner twice and Chuvalo twice. All in all Ali fought 8 men multiple times. The remarkable point of that statistic he often fought them in their hometowns or after they gave him trouble. Ali was the always the A side but it didn’t matter.
Ali fought 10 men who were past, current or future heavyweight champions of the world. Four men who were Olympic Gold Medalists. Two men who were the light heavyweight champions of the world. And 8 Hall of Famers. He did this all in the best era ever of heavyweights.
In my opinion he’s the greatest heavyweight who has ever lived. Historians say he’s amongst the top 5 or 6 p4p fighters ever. There is a difference between being the best and being the greatest. There are a few who have arguments of being better, even less have arguments of being greater. From my personal point of view I rate him as the second best p4p fighter ever. If you factor in the eyeball test of him from 64-67. His top victories of Liston, Frazier and Foreman. His ability to overcome adversity, and his willingness to consistently fight the best competition. Only Ray Robinson can trump Ali. Ali admitted Robinson is the best fighter ever pound for pound….
As a man Ali made some mistakes but in my opinion he more than made up for them. His good outweighs is bad by a long shot. A lot of his bad decisions came at a very young age when society was not very accepting of black people. Ali rebelled. He was a fighter at heart. He didn’t always say and do the right thing but he was a product of the times. As he grew older he became wiser and he not only admitted his mistakes but he became one of the most celebrated humanitarians ever.
The criticism he receives the most is some think he was a draft dodger. But Ali didn’t dodge the draft. He didn’t run to another country and hide until it was over. He refused to go because of his religious beliefs. Those who use that term to criticize him fail to mention the change of his draft status despite no retesting of Ali. They also fail to mention the US Government’s insistence of calling him Cassius Clay at the induction formality when his name was Muhammad Ali.
I believe Ali’s views on white people at the time was a more valid criticism than him not going to the war. He has openly admitted he was wrong…Ali evolved quickly. By the 1970s he knew he was wrong for his view of whites in the 60’s.
You can’t fake the constant crusades Ali went on. You can’t fake the constant trips around the world to aide the poverished people of the world. You can’t fake the hours among hours of talking and signings just to cater to the people. You can’t fake the 3 and a half years he gave up from 25years old to 28 years old. In my opinion Ali is the greatest human being of my lifetime.
The Ali vs Joe Frazier rivalry in retrospect was unfortunate. It especially wasn’t fair to Joe Frazier. White America identified with Joe Frazier and I don’t believe Joe Frazier was an Uncle Tom or any of those terrible words that were used to describe him. I think Joe Frazier was used as a pawn by several groups of people. But he wasn’t equipped to deal with certain things. Ali was. Joe Frazier was a great fighter, Ali was a great fighter and then some.
Frazier was not conscious of certain things... One was his relationship with Frank Rizzo. Rizzo was police commissioner and later Mayor here in Philadelphia. There were unfortunate incidents in this city while Rizzo was in control. There several incidents of note where police dogs were made to attack blacks on the street. Rizzo was not well like by a large portion of the black community. Frazier was openly friendly with Rizzo…Ali in turn had very strong ties to Philadelphia. For some reason he was always here in Philly and if I’m not mistaken he had a few homes in the area. He was beloved here. I think Ali used Frazier innocence against him. It wasn’t right but it was a war. As Bryant Gumbel said it was “us vs them.” That’s how it was back in those times…..
The one time I got to meet Ali was in 1981 or 82. There was no internet but word had spread that he would be at a drug store called Leoff’s at a busy intersection in the Wynnefield/West Philly section of Philly. Leoff’s was about a half of mile from my home with a few streets to cross. At 5 years old I wasn’t allowed to cross the street alone. My mom and my baby sister were walking too slow. I broke free of my mom like a crazy man and I ran towards Ali like a bat out of hell. I crashed into the crowd pushing my way to the front just to play fight with him. He looked huge to me back then.
As a kid your child hood hero’s always seem bigger in a literal and figurative sense. Ali is the only one I had as a kid who still seems that way.
The greatest assessment of Ali I ever heard was by Cus D’mato and my grandfather. They both said the same exact thing at different times in my life. They both said Ali would have defeated everyone in his prime because of his character. His character would not allow him to lose. When I first heard the statement by grand pop I didn’t understand how important character was. When I heard D’mato say it many years later I understood exactly what he meant. Stand up Mr. Ali!
