Recently re-watched 'When We Were Kings' and listened to Norman Mailer wax lyrical about the rumble in the jungle against Foreman. Was he the greatest of all time? I'm not sure but I suspect he's the most influential sportsperson to have ever lived. Oddly though, I have this vague memory of watching a fight whilst at VFL Park where he took on a judo expert who never left the ground. Either my imagination or mid 70's.

Regardless, Ali bomaye

 

Great boxer and a real showman ... in pure sporting terms he was as big as they get.  Still have vivid memories of the 2 Frazier fights & the Foreman fight ... especially the rumble in the jungle.

Saw him in person at the MCG when he went around the ground in an open top car ... might have been the '97 GF or one of those GF's in the mid to late 90's. 

RIP to a true champion.  He really was the greatest.

 

Here's some highlights of the 'Thriller in Manila' ...

 

He had his faults.

Self belief was not one of them.

i think he may have been the most famous man on the planet around the 1980s.

Surely one of the Greats.

Not the greatest.