10 Reasons Why Muhammad Ali Really Was The Greatest

Like so many boxers before and since, Muhammad Ali stayed in the sport far, far too long.

A combination of relishing the attention and adulation that were his divining lights, the burden of supporting a ludicrously large entourage, several divorces and having no mind for money saw Ali extend the circus several years past the high-water mark of Zaire.

A year after the Rumble, Ali would square off against Joe Frazier for a third time in the Thrilla in Manila. Locked at one win apiece, the old rivals took years off each other in one of the most gruelling contests boxing or any other sport has ever witnessed. When Frazier’s friend and trainer Eddie Futch refused to let his near-blind fighter out for the fifteenth and final round, Ali’s hand was raised, for he could barely raise it himself.

Ali lost his belts to the tenacious tyro Leon Spinks in February 1978 but emerged victorious in the rematch seven months later to become the first man to win the world heavyweight championship three times. Not for the first time he retired, yet two more distressing bouts – both losses – followed in the early eighties.

Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome in 1984; there can be little doubt that the repetitive cranial trauma he endured over decades was a significant factor, if not the sole cause.

There can be even less doubt that Ali accomplished far more in his remaining years than most manage in a lifetime.