Illuminat3d0ne wrote:Masato wrote:But was Frazier an Uncle Tom?
Not sure why that would matter honestly
It is a racial slur which most definitely was over the line to Frazier since we know he took his hatred of Ali to grave
Even going so far as to be happy at Ali disease
I think that's a big problem
Going "over the line" seems to only matter to people when it's something that is sensitive to you, that is 100% bias
Look at it without bias and everything can be considered over the line since people can always find reasons to be sensitive to nearly all issues
Its is fine to hate McGregor for his trash talk, it's fine to consider him a disrespectful piece of shit
But you have to accept it as part of accepted trash talk in combat sports if you also find the trash talk that ali used acceptable or you are being nothing more than biased
Illuminat3d0ne wrote:Masato wrote:Did Ali ever curse in his trashtalk? I would like to see a HL of his worst, lol
I've watched a lot of Ali footage and can only remember lighthearted humor. But I wasn't there, maybe history likes to ignore some parts of his career
No he didnt curse but again that is just something that is sensitive to you
You really find using racial slurs light hearted?
You really find calling another black man an uncle Tom in 1971, trying to turn an entire population against a man lighthearted?
We can respectfully disagree on that
This brings up some really good questions!
I remember Ali was very concerned about the state of the black race in his days, talked a lot about the issue. Not defending his comments but some context may be needed here, Ali was fighting for more than just belts and W's in those days
To clarify, I never said calling him an Uncle Tom was lighthearted, I was only commenting on what I had personally remembered from footage I'd watched, and those memories are all lighthearted stuff. I didn't know he called Frazier that, but not surprised to hear, lol. Also didn't know Frazier had such strong feelings against Ali. Being happy at his disease is also pretty low though, so I suppose they are even now lol
But the question is about the limits of trashtalk;
Some press after the fight asked Dana if he thought he let the trashtalk go too far, if he could/should have done something about it as if it may have prevented the brawl after the fight. Dana emphatically said 'No', then went to explain how its part of the fight game and you can't tell the fighters what to say or not say.
But really? In any other facet of society these days, political correctness is at an all-time high. If an athlete in any other non-combat sport utters any sort of slur or insults someones family or religion, the world would flip out and there would be major repercussions. Any celebrity really, look at celebs like Roseanne Barr or Kramer etc. One slur and they are finished. There is really no tolerance for it anymore
So why in combat sports, someone like Dana wouldn't even think of curbing acceptable language? When he said 'its just part of the fight game' I had a strong feeling like we would look back on that one day and wonder what took so long to change it? Like that statement was already past its time. Seems crazy that fighters can not only get away with any sort of speech but also physical assault and we still accept it as 'part of the sport'.
Now don't misunderstand, I personally am more on the side of free speech, don't like a lot of PC censorship... but just considering the temperature of the rest of the public world being so sensitive it seems really weird that in the UFC its still no holds barred in this area. Where would the line be?? Chael Sonnen and Colby C can insult an entire nation of people, lol and the crowd loves it!