A great boxer, for sure. An inspiring speaker, no doubt. A real 'character' capable of selling ice cream to Eskimos, probably. A man of great integrity, I'm not so sure ?

It's funny how, when someone as complex and famous as ALI dies, he's lauded over almost like a saint, and 'saint' would be a most erroneous description one could ever use, when referring to this bloke.

Some may recall me telling you I fought four and six rounders at South Sydney Juniors (with permission of my police superiors) back in the mid to late seventies. And very few of the fighters I associated with, had much of a kind word for Muhammad ALI, let me tell you, and that's despite his great boxing talants.

o sung wu,

It is amazing isn't it how political correctness and marketers (the tabloid media helps them out with an eye for future advertising income) can make a 'hero' out of a self-promoting fighter who admittedly was good at his sport for a time, but got very well paid for it too.

I have been waiting for some of the Oz media clowns to edge a share of the reflected limelight by claiming some contact with him. They have no shame.

Today I was meeting with some locals, absolute salt of the Earth, who have lived a life of service to the community and are still putting in hard yards as well as regularly putting their hands into their own pockets to help out.

While some politicians and other knobs have claimed credit for their good work over the years, it has been rare for any of the men and women I am speaking about to get any public acknowledgement, except from the souls they help. Some will pop up with Australian honours, to make the other recipients like politicians look good.

As an ex-copper you wouldn't be surprised by their past occupations, which are mostly service oriented.

Dear paul1405,

“A NSW 'Watermelon' Green standing on the body of a dead man to score political points. Everything is political, eh?”

The rank hypocrisy of his statement is obviously lost on this nasty little so and so. You are a better man than I for continuing to engage with him.

Thank you for posting a thread to acknowledge the passing of Ali. Not only a great boxer and a great advocate for 'coloured' people but also someone who spoke the truth to government and the establishment.

And what a brilliant entertainer.

Dear o sung wu,

My father held his division title in the RAN. I still have the silverware on my shelf. His talents were recognised early in naval college when he put three senior boys on their arses when they had decided to give him a thrashing one night outside the normal bounds of acceptable bastardisation. Very luckily for him he had a sympathetic commanding officer who handled the subsequent report and saw some promise. One services tournament many years later he unwisely took a challenge to box the army champion several weight divisions above him. Though he seemed normal afterwards the next three days were a complete loss. That was when he decided to give it a miss.

I do recall how Ali was called a coward for refusing to fight in Vietnam. I think facing Liston, Foreman and Fraiser in a ring speaks for itself. Any man who steps into a ring at that level has to have a big heart.

G'day there ONTHEBEACH...

You're right, many of our political wannabes will claim to have known Muhammad ALI and attempt to obtain some capital from that.

And I also agree there are many good people who you could only describe as the 'quiet achievers' who are constantly helping those social outcasts without ever getting any recognition. Many like the Salvo's and other like minded groups with their little vans, going 'round the inner city parks late at night seeing our most disadvantaged, with a word of encouragement, together with a warm coffee or cup of soup or similar.

Almost ghost like, and their only real 'plus' is the (personal) knowledge that they've rendered some real good to these often belligerent, homeless old chats (derelicts), who even the coppers won't touch because of their pugnacious attitude (particularly towards coppers) and offensive body odour.

And you can believe me when I say, the only personal attention some of these poor buggers ever get, is when they die alone sleeping under a bunch of newspapers on a park bench usually in winter. Thus their final journey is to a lonely 'Potters Field', in a secluded corner at Rookwood. A really sad indictment on our society ?

Would you believe too ONTHEBEACH, amazingly many of these 'park carers' are young men and women - all of whom are the salt of the earth in my opinion. True they mightn't go 15 rounds with smokin' Joe FRAZIER or ALI for that matter, but in my opinion any one of them are worth ten ALI's !

Kimbo Slice is dead.

Left reaction:

Hey, he's black.

Bet he said something deep. Yes he sure did. He was referring to those corporations, right?

"A bird can fly as high as it wants but it eventually has to come down to earth and get some water... and when it comes down to get that water that's when you strike."

Definitely another HERO. Cut down in his prime. Sob, gushing, tears...

o sung wu,

Our posts crossed in the mail.

I have heaps of respect for any who take up roles* paid or volunteer where they can be of some service to the community.

*a better word would be vocations.