RIP Muhammad Ali.

[Arya]

The thread title says it all.

A few things I did not know about:

1. He supported the efforts to combat child pornography.

2. As much as he publicly seemed very big talk and smug, he did not want his charity work publicized. Thus, some things he did for charity were not known until later in life.


Sincerely,
Arya

[Not Batman]

This man was my hero. I don't know how to process this. I have like...20 autographed fight posters, met him more times that I can count. This...is hard. Every time I met this man, I was inspired. He was the reason I went from some pansy assed little shit when I was a kid to fighting back against my bullies in middle school. There was no single greater inspiration for me in my life than Muhammad Ali. The first time I met him, I was five years old and I remember being awe-struck with this giant of a man picked me up in one hand and lifted me up like I as fucking Simba or something. I had never met a sweeter, kinder man than him. The man was polar opposites incarnate, he was a fucking wrecking machine in the ring and a real damn warrior, but outside of it he was a teddy bear. You know you're something special when even Mike Tyson admits you're one of the greatest men to have ever lived, and even MIKE FUCKING TYSON admits you would beat him into submission without lifting a finger.

There was a great story that summed up Muhammad Ali told by Chuck Wepner. Wepner was the man whose life was the basis for the Rocky movies. When Ali gave Wepner a shot at a fight, he wanted Wepner to get crazy and angry at the press meet before the fight. Ali wanted Wepner to call him all kinds of racial slurs to get the audience pumped up and ready for this fight. Wepner of course refused, we wanted nothing to do with making the fight anything about white versus black. When the conference started, Ali told the press that Wepner was calling him the same slurs that Ali wanted him to call him. Wepner was shocked the entire time and couldn't get a word in to debunk Ali's claims. When asked later on why Ali took it to that level, all he wanted to do was give people a good show. Ali wasn't the man who was bothered by hate, bigotry, racism, nothing. The man was a damn mountain and all of the gods who will hear you help you if you wanted to move him on anything.


A real legend has left us, a modern day mythological figure. You rest in peace, Ali.