Agreed.Haha I don't hate Ali, but I think people look at him with rose coloured glasses. He gets looked at as this courage anti-war hero who selflessly gave up his prime years to protest an unjust war. Bull shit. He had no problem with the war when he wasn't eligible for draft for flunking that intelligence test. He wasn't speaking out against it when he didn't have to fight. It was only when they lowered the standards and he was drafted that he became an activist against it. I think his motivations were always self interest, as opposed to fighting for others.
The stuff he said about Frazier, the uncle tom stuff, turning black people against Frazier, that was a scumbag move and went too far. He was a jerk in a lot of ways.
But he was also a very special athlete and an incredible personality. Very gifted guy, the greatest HW of all time, heart of a warrior, you have to tip your hat to the guy.
I remember seeing an interview forever ago where Frazier almost takes pride in Ali's medical downfall. His answering machine used to allude to being the one that put him there. And it seems cold and crude, but if it has been shit talking it would have been fine. But Ali went for the gut against a guy that loaned him money, that championed his return, that backed Ali when he was hated by white America. Totally fucked up.
That's the only time I think Ali went to far. It was too personal to a guy that was personally really good to him. The rest of Ali's antics are smart fight IQ like Conor McGregor -- Can I get the young bull of Foreman to get over anxious? To make mistakes? And in the end both fighters got paid way more for the drama.
I don't have an issue with Ali over draft dodging (PS I'm still part-time Army to this day). He was already well despised by much of white America and didn't have full access to society. Maybe the most recognized American on the planet for a period and he was still second class in many ways. I'd tell the country to go fuck itself too if it expected me to go fight in Asia.