Ali and Billy Cannon are my all time greatest athletes. Cannon led LSU to the national championship in 1958 and won the Heismann in 1959. I used to watch him at track meets at LSU. He ran a 9.4 hundred yard dash(the world record was 9.3, set by Jesse Owens in the '36 Olympics.) After winning the 100, Cannon would switch to field events and win the shot put. It was said of him if he concentrated on speed, he would be the world's fastest; strength, he would be the world's strongest.
Ali has been my pick as the greatest for a long time. He would drop his arms, stick his face at his opponent and the best boxers in the world couldn't touch him. You're looking at him doing this and it's almost impossible to believe. He made them look like old men. A combination of speed, agility, coordination and strength unmatched present or past.
Also, by keeping his hands low Ali conserved energy and was able to hide where his punches were coming from, as with the "phantom" punch that knocked out Sonny Liston in their second fight. Also, Ali was a boxing genius who, according to Angelo Dundee, invented the rope-a-dope method during his fight with George Foreman, who seemed invincible before the fight: seven years younger, 40-0 wit7 37 knockouts, with 11 of the last 12 KO's in the first two rounds, and the other in the fourth, including Joe Frazier and Ken Norton.
Ali and Billy Cannon are my all time greatest athletes. Cannon led LSU to the national championship in 1958 and won the Heismann in 1959. I used to watch him at track meets at LSU. He ran a 9.4 hundred yard dash(the world record was 9.3, set by Jesse Owens in the '36 Olympics.) After winning the 100, Cannon would switch to field events and win the shot put. It was said of him if he concentrated on speed, he would be the world's fastest; strength, he would be the world's strongest.
Billy Cannon was a great, great athlete. But of course Ali transcended his sport, so I would have to give him the edge.
Ali has been my pick as the greatest for a long time. He would drop his arms, stick his face at his opponent and the best boxers in the world couldn't touch him. You're looking at him doing this and it's almost impossible to believe. He made them look like old men. A combination of speed, agility, coordination and strength unmatched present or past.
Also, by keeping his hands low Ali conserved energy and was able to hide where his punches were coming from, as with the "phantom" punch that knocked out Sonny Liston in their second fight. Also, Ali was a boxing genius who, according to Angelo Dundee, invented the rope-a-dope method during his fight with George Foreman, who seemed invincible before the fight: seven years younger, 40-0 wit7 37 knockouts, with 11 of the last 12 KO's in the first two rounds, and the other in the fourth, including Joe Frazier and Ken Norton.
Maybe he's even better than I thought. I never liked boxing, but Ali was like watching lethal ballet.
"Lethal ballet" is a good way to describe it. I may steal that one!
History in the making! Suburb writing and stellar article, thank you, my Dad would have enjoyed reading it! All blessings, Geraldine
Thanks Geraldine, I'm glad you and your father approve!