RIP Muhammad Ali
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<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="kiwiinmelb" data-cid="585867" data-time="1465447880">
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<p>One thing that very rarely gets mentioned , Ali had a huge motivation for the dollar , </p>
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<p>All that trash talking was part of the show ,he was the best self promoter in the business </p>
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<p>Much like Mayweather in recent times , and on a smaller more local stage Mundine , </p>
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<p>They all divided the public , its interesting in the fight game , how public enemy number 1 quite often gets paid the most </p>
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<p>I'll freely admit to not being much of a tennis fan but the principle is the same ie man on man or woman on woman......save for John McEnroe and to a lesser extent Andre Agassi I can't think of any real self promoters ( obviously hot female players help hugely ) but the guys who are always number one and make a fucken shitload are generally bland and boring as batshit ( Sampras, Jokovich, Federer etc )</p>
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<p>What I'm getting at is why does one sport ( Boxing ) need it's good and bad guys but another ( Tennis ) not ?</p> -
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<p>Maybe because one is just a sport. No-one dies from playing tennis.</p>
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<p>Well apart from fat old farts with heart problems but they're one foot in the grave and one foot on a banana skin anyway.</p> -
For example I like watching Olympic boxing - no build-ups, bad mouthing etc and plenty of skill on display. However my interest is on another level when you've got the "back story" and you want one boxer to rip the other a new one.<br><br>
I guess either:<br>- there is something primal about boxing that brings out the savage in us, or<br>
- in other sports you support a team you have invested your emotion into, and boxing is no different
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<p>I think with any of the combat sports , because they are actually fighting , it becomes so much easier to promote the event , if people actually believe they dont like each other , </p>
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<p>And if one can assume the role of the villain, so people really do want to see him get beat up , good guy vs bad guy , bingo </p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="kiwiinmelb" data-cid="586197" data-time="1465590865"><p>
I think with any of the combat sports , because they are actually fighting , it becomes so much easier to promote the event , if people actually believe they dont like each other , <br><br>
And if one can assume the role of the villain, so people really do want to see him get beat up , good guy vs bad guy , bingo</p></blockquote>And by all accounts Ali polarised people at a time when being heavyweight champ was as big as anything in sports. So half of the people rooted for him and the other half wanted to see him get smashed which generates much more interest -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="canefan" data-cid="586198" data-time="1465591258">
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<p>And by all accounts Ali polarised people at a time when being heavyweight champ was as big as anything in sports. So half of the people rooted for him and the other half wanted to see him get smashed which generates much more interest</p>
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<p>Thats it , I was a kid at school in NZ , and kids would argue and fight over Ali non stop , half hated him the other half loved him , </p>
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<p>At that time it was widely accepted , he had the most recognised face in the world </p> -
Found this on imgur - footage from his fight against Ernie Terrell who had a height and reach advantage.
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@antipodean said in RIP Muhammad Ali:
Found this on imgur - footage from his fight against Ernie Terrell who had a height and reach advantage.
You may have read that Muhammad Ali studied his opponents' characteristics closely, including their reach, and became adept at judging where that measure fell, plus a little - so that he could successfully duck, weave and avoid them, without discouraging them from continuing to throw punches and tiring themselves, in their mistaken belief that they were only just missing him.
