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dead at 76 YO

82birds wrote: ↑21 Mar 2025 22:06 pm dead at 76 YO

RIP. He won his second title twenty years after he lost it. Crazy

He knocked down Joe Frazier six times, creating Howard Cosell's memorable "DOWN GOES FRAY-ZHAH!!! DOWN GOES FRAY-ZHAH!!!". https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/spor ... -dead.html

One of the ten greatest heavyweights of all time, a real hard puncher...and a real gentleman. Olympic champion who enthusiastically waved the flag.

Had 5 sons, naming them all George "so they would have something in common."

Made millions from his grill. Became a minister.

RIP Champ.

Pink Freud wrote: ↑21 Mar 2025 22:40 pm He knocked down Joe Frazier six times, creating Howard Cosell's memorable "DOWN GOES FRAY-ZHAH!!! DOWN GOES FRAY-ZHAH!!!". https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/spor ... -dead.html

One of his punches actually lifted Frazier up off his feet.

:Best fight i ever saw from him was against Holyfield when he was about 40 years old. Fight went the distance, before the final round started Foreman whispered into Holyields ear, when later asked what he said, George replied, "I told him, thank you for the opportunity". 100% classy professional.

Melville wrote: ↑21 Mar 2025 22:59 pm

Pink Freud wrote: ↑21 Mar 2025 22:40 pm He knocked down Joe Frazier six times, creating Howard Cosell's memorable "DOWN GOES FRAY-ZHAH!!! DOWN GOES FRAY-ZHAH!!!". https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/spor ... -dead.html

One of his punches actually lifted Frazier up off his feet.

He hit like a truck, easily dispatching Frazier and Norton, both of whom gave Ali fits. Either he or Earnie Shavers was the most devastating heavyweight puncher I saw. And after a ten year layoff he had probably the best comeback in any sport.

JohnTudor1985 wrote: ↑21 Mar 2025 22:43 pm One of the ten greatest heavyweights of all time, a real hard puncher...and a real gentleman. Olympic champion who enthusiastically waved the flag.

Had 5 sons, naming them all George "so they would have something in common."

Made millions from his grill. Became a minister.

RIP Champ.

A truly good man. When Johnny Carson asked him why he gave all of his sons the same name, he said "Johnny, when you're a boxer, you have to allow for eventual brain damage."

I can agree; I have 17 pets, and have to scramble sometimes to think of their names.

When George first won the title the Beatles released the White Album. When he won it again Kurt Cobain was dead.

Think about it.

Watched the Ali Foreman fight not more than a few months ago.

It was incredible fight. Even knowing the end result and having seen it a few times at many points seems no way will Ali be victorious.

And then The Greatest does his thing. A shocker nonetheless.

Yet, I find myself grimacing watching many an Ali fight. Recognizing that the punishment he intentionally took as a part of his strategy in tiring his opponent before taking over the fight I have little doubt contributed most significantly to his brain issues. Sad.

Dazepster wrote: ↑22 Mar 2025 14:03 pm Watched the Ali Foreman fight not more than a few months ago.

It was incredible fight. Even knowing the end result and having seen it a few times at many points seems no way will Ali be victorious.

And then The Greatest does his thing. A shocker nonetheless.

Yet, I find myself grimacing watching many an Ali fight. Recognizing that the punishment he intentionally took as a part of his strategy in tiring his opponent before taking over the fight I have little doubt contributed most significantly to his brain issues. Sad.

P S. Yes. That needs some sentence reconstruction. Lol Too lazy. You get the drift.

His interviews were always classic. RIP Champ

Well the thing about Ali you can say is, he took the best of Frazier Foreman Shaver and Norton. Took their best punch. And won. Ali was bad.

Mort Gage wrote: ↑21 Mar 2025 22:35 pm

82birds wrote: ↑21 Mar 2025 22:06 pm dead at 76 YO

RIP. He won his second title twenty years after he lost it. Crazy

He was way behind in that fight - and ended it with a single punch.

Melville wrote: ↑22 Mar 2025 18:52 pm

Mort Gage wrote: ↑21 Mar 2025 22:35 pm

82birds wrote: ↑21 Mar 2025 22:06 pm dead at 76 YO

RIP. He won his second title twenty years after he lost it. Crazy

He was way behind in that fight - and ended it with a single punch.

Moorer peppered him with his southpaw jab and straight left throughout. George was a swollen mess at the end. But two jab-right hand combos laid Moorer out. That was the greatest old man feat I witnessed live. He didn't let comeback losses to Holyfield and Morrison deter him.

sikeston bulldog2 wrote: ↑22 Mar 2025 15:57 pm Well the thing about Ali you can say is, he took the best of Frazier Foreman Shaver and Norton. Took their best punch. And won. Ali was bad.

Ali was dead at age 74 - although his health had been ruined by the time he was 38 and already suffering from symptom's of Parkinson's.
Was he "bad"?
Or just stupid?
Frazier was dead 67.
Norton dead at 70.
Foreman dead at 76.
The latter three aged far, far better than Ali did.
But all 4 died fairly young by current stands.
In America, males who are alive at 60 can expect to live another 22 or 23 years.
On average then, boxing took at least 10 years of life from them.
Enjoyed watching all of them.
But it is a brutal profession.