Ali at an Elvis show,1973

[drjohncarpenter]

Neither were "chased away." Post about Elvis. It's fun!

Not for everyone I guess. That's too bad.

It's fun for most of the nearly 9,000 registered members here. If one person left almost two years ago, it doesn't matter. What matters is the input on Elvis that each current member chooses to make. Post about Elvis. It's fun.

[elvisalisellers]

who cares if Ali never said he saw Elvis in concert.

Because Muhammad Ali was one of the most interviewed athletes of the twentieth century, an American icon who was never at a loss for words. That he was an unabashed admirer of Elvis, yet apparently never once spoke of seeing him perform, is significant. At least for thinking people who care about facts.

You gotta love the willful ignorance.

Ah, the internet.

[James27]

Last night I watched the first Frazier-Ali fight again, and no matter how many times I've seen this and know the outcome, it remains such an incredible night in boxing. Unforgettable, and one fight that even far exceeded the not inconsiderable hype before it. Watching these 3 uninterrupted fights between these two warriors, is like watching suspenseful thrillers with a clear beginning, middle and end. No messing around or dull moments like most boxing fights are. Round 9 is from the 1st fight probably my favorite of this fight.

Time hasn't diminished the impact of either fighter and I don't buy into the crap that fighters "evolve". As if today's fighter are somehow genetically beter than those from the 60s and 70s. It's not that because most heavyweights today are longer, fatter = much less conditioned/toned and often doped up, that the boxing is any better or the punching more powerful, in the contrary: big muscles, big weight and height have nothing whatsoever to do with boxing superiority OR power, just ask similar oversized, muscly types who lost to Dempsey, Louis, Marciano, Frazier or Ali, just to name a few normal looking heavyweight champions.

Except for lack of conditioning, lack of an engaging public personality, lack of advanced boxing technique, an lack of unpredictability, the big difference with today's HW fighters is that today they seem to all lack speed, they're mostly very slow and cumbersome. When you watch the cheer speed in which Ali and Frazier fought, there's no comparison with today's lack of pace, which resembles slow-motion. No wonder MMA is up and boxing is down. At least there, with far fewer rounds, is some fast explosiveness to be seen now and then, as well as occasional suspense, although again too often fighters lack endurance. They're huffing and puffing after 1 round. Suffering to get to the top and remain there, means enormous physical sacrifice and that seems to be something fewer want to do, let alone for 2 decades, like Ali or Louis. Watching Louis' fights are also eye-openers for those who haven't seen them, far from the slow slugger he is often portrayed as (also by Ali who knew better), he was very skilled (prob the most technically skilled of all HW), fast (hand-speed), tough, strong fighter with amazing recuperative powers and an enormous will-to-win. He would break fighters up, tear them apart. Very hard, fast and precise hitter. The ultimate KO artist. But also so much more. Great stamina. Amazing to behold. I have all his filmed fights and they are a delight.

[mrt]

Just watched parts of the 16 hour documentary "Elvis - the definitive collection", and in the chapter "The Las Vegas Years" Ali's business manager, Gene Kilroy, said that Elvis introduced Ali like this: "He's in the audience tonight, we have a fella who says he's the greatest, and he is the greatest - Muhammad Ali - stand up. Ali stood up and said: "Elvis, you're the greatest!" Afterwards they met backstage.

Interesting. - A backstage meeting is also mentioned by Sherrill Nielsen in the Elvis Up Close book.

(..) Muhammad Ali is backstage with Elvis, and no one has a camera?

I think this one may have been shot backstage,

[MikeFromHolland]

I like this one, didn't see it in this thread:

image.jpeg

[DEH]

any shots of Elvis and Ali at Ali's training camp?

[James27]

Not to my knowledge. Too bad Mike Douglas (M.D. show) didn't have the foresight to film and record the short phone conversations between Ali and Elvis and/or him and Elvis (he mentions this during the broadcast with Ali as his guest), that would have been entertaining to see and hear. Then again, Elvis might not have approved it being broadcast if he had done it. Ali, to his credit, never bragged about meeting Elvis, and was even a little bit reluctant to talk much about it on Douglas' show. He did agree with Douglas however that Elvis was one hell of a man. There is a picture with Ali and Vernon on which Ali had written some consoling words towards Vernon concerning Elvis (after Elvis' death obviously). I think it's there if you search the internet.