Mohammed Ali the greatest? Hogwash

Many continue to think Mohammed Ali, the former Cassius Clay, was the greatest boxer of all time.

To which I say -- hogwash.

How can he be the greatest when he got whupped five times?

Sure, like most other up and coming fighters, Clay fought a lot of bums. So did Rocky Marciano. The difference is Marciano wound up with a perfect 49-0 record after having got in the ring to face several world class fighters himself.

Not so with Ali. He was defeated by Joe Frazier fair and square in their first bout. True, Ali would come back to avenge that loss, twice, but it was still a loss.

Ken Norton beat up Ali in their first go-round. It was said at the time that Ali suffered a broken jaw in the early rounds of that fight, but continued to soldier on anyway. Again, I consider that hogwash. It was likely a ploy to make him out as some sort of hero.

Hey, I watched that fight when I was in high school on a black and white TV. Anybody that has a broken jaw, and continues to absorb blows, would see their face blow up into grotesque proportions -- not to mention nobody could withstand the excruciating pain that came along with it.

I saw no evidence of that, hence I consider it little more than a myth to further enhance his image. He got beat, Period.

Yes, he would avenge that loss as well, but still it was a loss.

Leon Spinks -- that's right -- LEON freaking SPINKS whupped Ali. Forget Ali won the rematch. Does that sound like something that should be on the resume of the "greatest of all time"? I hardly think so. Leon Spinks???

Though a former sparring partner, Ali made the horrible mistake of getting in the ring with one Larry Holmes, who was a more accomplished version of Ali even during his heyday. Holmes was just as fast, perhaps faster, and packed harder punches. He would absolutely demolish Ali in the ring. Loss #4.

Let's not forget the Rumble in the Jungle when Ali rope-a-doped a clearly physically superior George Foreman into punching himself out, and came back to knock out the future grill man.

Notice Ali never offered Foreman a rematch. He likely knew George wouldn't fall for the same trick again, and was too scared to get back in the ring with him. Yet every time Ali had been whupped, his opponent gave HIM a rematch. Except for Holmes, who was probably willing, but even Ali had enough sense not to challenge him again.

Finally, pitifully, Mohammed Ali limped out of his career with a loss to Trevor Berbick. He stuck around too long, like so many others.

In the end, it still adds up to five losses, a couple of them very lop-sided, and at least a couple others shameful.

So tell me one more time how this guy, may his loud mouth rest in peace, is even in the conversation among the greatest of all time? Because he said he was? And had his media mouthpiece, sucker Howard Cosell hyping him all along the way? I'm sorry, that's not good enough. Not even close.

The official record says Rocky Marciano was 49-0, with 43 knockouts.

Mohammed Ali was 56-5, with only 37 KOs.

Decades ago, the computer folks compiled a simulation of what would have happened had Ali and Marciano met in the ring during their primes. I watched that and regret to this day I didn't tape it for posterity.

They foresaw Rocky getting cut and otherwise dinged up for several rounds, not able to catch up with the elusive Mohammed to slug it out.

But they also predicted Marciano would eventually outlast Ali through sheer determination and toughness, to take him out in the later rounds.

At the time, many were outraged. NO WAY could this have happened, they screamed from on high -- or down low -- depending on how one wishes to look at it. Ali was/is is the greatest, everybody knows that. Well, not quite everybody, including yours truly.

Thing is, you can bet that particular video segment has been buried deeper in the vaults of the TV folks than your average rock plummeting into the depths of the Marianas trench. We'll never see it again -- but it was there once upon a time. I witnessed it personally.

Clay/Ali brought a lot of attention to boxing, and he was an OK champion, when he wasn't losing the title, only to regain it. It is likely nobody has ever been a more self-serving pitch-man than Ali was, though the Mayweather/McGregor dynamic duo of late are certainly worthy of Hall of Egomania Shame mention.