What's the difference between Muhammed Ali's trash talk & athletes now trash talking?

[jadillac]

Anytime you watch anything about Ali, the media(most of whom happen to be white ) always talk about his brashness and how they loved it, and his cockiness, etc.

But then nowadays, athletes may trash talk or exhibit an outward confidence and they're viewed as being "disrespectful to their sport/disrespectful to their opponents, etc"

If a superstar boxer today stood over their knocked down opponent like that famous Ali picture we've all seen, Jim Lampley or whoever would be like, "What a pathetic display of classlessness & poor sportsmanship by (boxer name)!"

I was not around in the 60's-70's, so did the media hate Ali back then for his trashtalk(nevermind his religious/political beliefs) like they hate athletes now? If so, when did the view change to being all positive like it has been for most of my life?

 

[MMS]

they hated ali back then, who you kidding

 

[jilla82]

difference is Ali was a showman...and was actually speaking up about real problems.
and like dude said, dont get it twisted, they didnt like him (not all of them at least) at the time.

Ali came off as intelligent, but a lot of these cats just come off as full of themselves.

 

[jadillac]

they hated ali back then, who you kidding

ok...but my question is, when did it change to being overly positive like it is now?


For someone who has been hailed the most polarizing athlete of all time,
I haven't heard a negative word from the media about Ali in the past 20+ years or so that I've really know about him.

 

[MMS]

when he got dementia

 

[jwinfield]

they hated ali back then, who you kidding

Yeah. Sure there were people that liked it, but Ali was hated by a lot for that shyt.

And being arguably the GOAT of the sport and having Parkinson's will make it easier for people to look back at the stuff he did and go when back then people were going

 

[PortCityProphet]

sign of the times really. back then you couldn't escape any type of controversy because of the wars (racial and non) and that whole era was about speaking your mind. now days we're more conservative and politically correct (part of america getting soft) and try to avoid conflict

 

[Majestic Pape]

They hated Ali in his time and only started really showing him love once that Parkinson's hit and he was no longer a threat to anyone. These same people will speak incredibly fondly of Floyd in fifteen years while at the same time shytting on whoever is the young brash cocky guy of that time. Hell, you already see people switching the narrative on Bernard Hopkins, a guy who was hated by a lot of people earlier in his career. And look at the live Tyson gets now compared to the nineties.

 

[jilla82]

also, Ali was the first to really have that type of swag.
Now its old...but back then folks didnt know how to deal w/ it.

 

[Chief Beef]

Ali's da gawd?

 

[Gravity]

when he got dementia

Exactly. Ali became beloved by white America when his mouth was no longer a threat.

 

[iPod Raheem 2.0]

The difference is Ali was much better. Nobody like him as far as promoting fights. Personality, intellect, and mouthpiece unmatched.

Compare Floyd, who is a pretty damn good promoter and is probably considered to be the most brash and cocky fighter of our generation. He and Ali are simply not in the same class and not cut from the same cloth when you really assess who they are and their ability to talk.

Also, Ali's legacy exceeds the sport of boxing. Floyd will likely only be known as a great boxer who made a shytload of money from boxing.

 

[iPod Raheem 2.0]

They hated Ali in his time and only started really showing him love once that Parkinson's hit and he was no longer a threat to anyone. These same people will speak incredibly fondly of Floyd in fifteen years while at the same time shytting on whoever is the young brash cocky guy of that time. Hell, you already see people switching the narrative on Bernard Hopkins, a guy who was hated by a lot of people earlier in his career. And look at the live Tyson gets now compared to the nineties.

Agreed re: the Parkinson's. I think one of the pivotal moments that changed the public perception of Ali was when he held the Olympic torch in '96. shyt had people like .

With that said, I don't know if Floyd will ever have that same kind of moment, even if he one day gets Parkinson's himself. Just two very different people. For the most part, Floyd talks about how much money he has and that he has never lost a professional fight. Ali, on the other hand, spoke about religion, politics, war...and that he was better than everyone else in boxing. Floyd is about to spend 90 days for domestic violence and harassment charges. Ali was banned from boxing for 3 years for his religious/political beliefs.

 

[That Singer Guy...]

they'll love Floyd in 10-20+ years just like they do Ali, just like they hate Floyd now just like they hated Ali back then.

People will talk about how bad boxing is then and how good it was now, just like people bashed hiphop in the 90's and now try to call it the golden age.

 

[STAN JONES]

Exactly. Ali became beloved by white America when his mouth was no longer a threat.

Yup