nimblemoose2 said:Look, I don't give a damn about his show, how good of a fighter he was, or the fact that someone tried to ship him off to Vietnam. The guy was trash and he insulted Frazier because he hated him until the day he died.
Calling a man "Uncle Tom," threatening his life, calling him a gorilla, saying he looks like a monkey, or claiming he isn't a "real Black man"—that kind of nonsense is basically fascism to me. It’s just like when some extremist in Mexico tells you you're a traitor to your people or some NATO mercenary or whatever bullshit. He also talked so much crap about Foreman in Zaire that I think he almost got the guy slaughtered by the crowd because of all the hate-hype he built up.
And seriously, stop with the stupid comparisons to Floyd. They aren't even in the same generation, so what? What does Floyd need to prove to anyone? His record is better than Ali's, he's got money for days, he took fewer hits, and frankly, who cares about your comparisons or the fact that he doesn't drive his kids to school himself because he has ten bodyguards?
Give me a break. If a guy is worth nearly a billion dollars, of course he’s going to have bodyguards for his kids. There's always a risk of kidnapping, extortion, or just some psycho out there who hates him and wants to cause trouble.
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To answer this regarding Muhammad Ali, Floyd isn't even relevant here.☕
It was actually the term "Uncle Tom," not "Uncle Sam," but whatever...
Basically,
it was all part of the psychological warfare, and the key player here was Earnie Terrell. They were buddies back in the early '60s and roommates at a Black hotel, but the day came when they had to step into the ring because Terrell was next up.
It all kicked off when Earnie started messing with him, constantly calling him Cassius Clay, even though the guy had changed his name to Muhammad Ali.
So Ali asked him: "Why do you keep calling me Cassius Clay?" He told him, "Because that's your name." Then Ali shot back, "Fine, then I'll call you 'Uncle Tom'." And that's where this whole "Uncle Tom" mess started—but the media twisted the whole thing. The fight was brutal on Ali's end
because he wanted to punish the guy for the constant disrespect, and he did exactly that. After every combo, he'd ask: "What's my name?" Then—bam!—another hit, then again, and again. By the end, Terrell looked like he'd been through a cement mixer. They eventually made up and became friends again, but Terrell definitely never forgot those beatings...
YouTube videoYouTube videoYouTube videoAs for the term
"Uncle Tom"—Floyd Patterson was actually honored by that name once, and here Ali is explaining what it really means. Man, people were constantly messing with him, calling him Clay, for a long time. When he finally came back after being banned for almost four years, Oscar Bonaven really went overboard with the jokes, and Ali just straight-up handled anyone who disrespected him in the ring. He wasn't even trying to knock them out initially; he just wanted them to pay for the insults. Then, in the 15th round, he knocked Bonaven out. Later, in another fight, he had to lay the smackdown on Quarry, who also couldn't stop running "Clay" through his mouth. He didn't leave him hanging for long, though—he gave him a real thrashing.
And then finally, that legendary first showdown with Frazier rolled around... I honestly don't know how many times Joe actually yelled "Clay," but it had to be more than once, even against Joe, he didn't have that raw hatred or that desperate need for revenge you see in guys who were getting screwed over way harder by everything else going on back then, like the whole Vietnam mess and all that chaos...
