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Muhammad Ali


Wolfbane

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Recently saw "Gentleman Jim Corbett" with Errol Flynn, interestingly made in 1942, the same year Ali was born. I don't know if anyone here saw this wonderful movie (imo), but it was striking the way Corbett's style of fighting was pretty much exactly the same as Ali's.  Now did Ali ever see the movie???, I suppose we'll never know and if he did, he probably wouldn't have said so. Great movie, highly recommended!!

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Military service @ 19 in 1969 wasn't on my wish list, but it turned-out to be the influence that screwed my head on mostly straight. I didn't like Ali's stance against serving, but I came to honour it through his persistence and over that time that he fought against it. It was one of those life lessons when I realized that I was wrong.

SSH

Also - Ali did serve...he chose to serve time.  He didn't use his money to get out of it, he didn't flee to Canada, nor did he have anyone in high places to put his name to the bottom of the list. Ali stood for his belief, and as a former Military member (6 continuous generations of service in my family), I say hat's off.  He chose not to serve and served time - paid his debt to society.  Prison can be just as bad as war sometimes. 

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I strongly disagree. Tyson just plowed through people - you can't run forever. I think people have forgotten just how powerful and devastating his punches were, and he had lightening speed combinations. I don't think Ali would have lasted five rounds with that animal.

Ali just wasn't fast - he could hit you as well.  I'm old enough to have seen most of Ali's fights and I've also seen Tyson. Bone-crusher Smith and Mitch Green are two people that took Tyson the distance in his prime. Ali in speed and punching power was in a different league. Ali could also take a decent punch (remember Ken Norton - my fellow cryptologist)!!!  Ali also fought in the days of 15 round fights...if Ali got passed round 5 without Tyson being mean, Ali would take him by round 15 :);) 

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Ali stood for his belief, and as a former Military member (6 continuous generations of service in my family), I say hat's off. He chose not to serve and served time - paid his debt to society. Prison can be just as bad as war sometimes.

 

Hear! Hear!  Well said.

 

Dave

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Lincoln made a car with a phonograph that folded out of the dash, I'm sure other car makes had one also. Great photo.

 

I still have my Allstate under dash unit.  Loved it.  Worked like a hose.  Tracked even on pretty bumpy streets.  Played 13 discs to a stack.  I've not seen one like Ali's.  It looks like a one at a time unit. 

 

Dave

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Ali served no time. His conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Standing on his principles cost many dollars and almost four years of his career, but no incarceration.

Edited by DizRotus
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Lincoln made a car with a phonograph that folded out of the dash, I'm sure other car makes had one also. Great photo.

 

I still have my Allstate under dash unit.  Loved it.  Worked like a hose.  Tracked even on pretty bumpy streets.  Played 13 discs to a stack.  I've not seen one like Ali's.  It looks like a one at a time unit. 

 

Dave

 

 

Some "Vinyl Head" might plague us again with this auto option if this thread continues.

JJK

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Ali served no time. His conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Standing on his principles cost many dollars and almost four years of his career, but no incarceration.

Thanks for the further info.  He still didn't dodge the draft.  He was convicted, fined $10,000, banned from boxing for three years. Hmm? I still don't consider him a dodger because he stayed here and faced his consequences.  If the Supreme Court overturned his imprisonment due to appeal...that's was the US saying that he was within his rights. I don't hold that against him.  

 

P.S. most of my family are war vets... Wars we've served in...Civil, WWII, Korea, Vietnam , Gulf War I (me and my brother), Gulf War II (my son). I'm the only sailor out of all of these ;) 

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While never a fan of Ali, mostly for how he beliitled Frazier, he did pay Smokin' Joe a compliment after the "Thrilla In Manilla" saying. "I hit him with shots that would have knocked down walls, & he kept coming." Ali also stated he wasn't sure he could make it off the stool for the next round when Frazier's corner threw in the towel. One of the greatest fights of all time.

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If the Supreme Court overturned his imprisonment due to appeal...that's was the US saying that he was within his rights.

:emotion-21: :emotion-21: :emotion-21:

Sort of . . .

The U.S. Supreme Court reversed his conviction, not merely the possibility of imprisonment. In an 8-0 unanimous decision, the Court found the State failed to demonstrate that Clay did not meet the criteria to qualify as a conscientious objector. They went on to offer that he was following the tenets of his religion as he understood them. It's worth noting that Thurgood Marshall recused himself, hence 8-0 was unanimous, due to involvement in the case at the lower court level prior to his appointment to Supreme Court.

FWIW, I feel that Ali followed his conscience rather than take the easy path of serving in a non-combat capacity, such as Joe Louis, Elvis, et al. Following his conscience cost him dearly. Nonetheless, he was a flawed man. His verbal abuse of Joe Frazier and his womanizing show his feet of clay. That said, he moved the needle on civil rights more than most sports figures or entertainers,

Edited by DizRotus
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