First off....I am SORRY that Clay/Ali is ill....as for him being the BEST ever.....NO WAY! He LOST the title almost as often as he won it....I also believe that his "people" had something to do with "Fixing" the 1965 fight against the late Sonny Liston....who died broke in the streets of Denver in the early 70's with a HUGE cloud of suspicion surrounding that particular fight. I think Clay/Ali is a Braggert and a bully...yes it helps to be that when you are a boxer....but I believe he is WAY overated. My pick for best of all time is Rocky Marciano....

I like Henry Cooper and Frank Bruno. Despite Bruno being the ultimate underachiever . . .  ::)

"Other".  Jack Dempsey. ;)  He's the pioneer of boxing!

Even though he "Quit" (No Mas) a fight with Leonard, I voted for the man they once hailed as "Hands Of Stone-Roberto Duran. I think Ali was the biggest self-absorbed bullsh*t artist there ever was  :P

I never really followed boxing. When Ali was at the height of his career, I didn't really like him because he was so full of himself and such. After he quit boxing, I realize that he is basically a comedian at heart and he was just trying to make people laugh. Over the years, I have come to admire him as he is trying to over-come such a disabilitating desease as Parkinson's. And yes, he is still a comedian.  :)

I also like George Foreman because he also seems like a nice person and a bit of a comic himself.

In terms of boxing ability, I can't answer that because, like I said, I never really followed it.



Cat

Other: Joe Louis

I have to disagree with you here, Mark.

Granted, there were question marks over the Liston fight, and also over Clay's fight with Britain's Henry Cooper when his glove was deliberately slit during the break in the round after Cooper floored Clay with his famous left hook ('Enry's 'Ammer). This gave Clay extra vital seconds to recover while a new glove was found and he went on to win the match.

But whatever else you say, Ali beat Frazier and Foreman at their formidable best in two of the greatest boxing matches of all time.
If only for the Rumble in the Jungle, which I remember watching with my Dad and my brother, Ali deserves his place among the boxing greats.

I have to disagree with you here, Mark.

Granted, there were question marks over the Liston fight, and also over Clay's fight with Britain's Henry Cooper when his glove was deliberately slit during the break in the round after Cooper floored Clay with his famous left hook ('Enry's 'Ammer). This gave Clay extra vital seconds to recover while a new glove was found and he went on to win the match.

But whatever else you say, Ali beat Frazier and Foreman at their formidable best in two of the greatest boxing matches of all time.
If only for the Rumble in the Jungle, which I remember watching with my Dad and my brother, Ali deserves his place among the boxing greats.
He does deserve his place....it's just NOT at the TOP....he was NOT "The Greatest" at all.... ::)

I had a business teacher who used to be a professional boxer.  Sonny Liston knocked him out, WAY back in 1954!

He said "Anyone who says Sonny was no good, just come and see how hard it is to knock ME out!".

Other: Joe Louis


Definately Joe Louis :)