BoxRec

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/m ... e33279125/

Ring Magazine is making Muhammad Ali its 1966 Fighter of the Year, a half century after refusing to give him the award because of his disapproval of the draft for the Vietnam War and connection with the Nation of Islam.

The boxing magazine said it was righting a wrong by retroactively naming the late heavyweight great as the best fighter of 1966.

“The editors at that time obviously felt strongly that Ali, while succeeding in the ring, didn’t meet other criteria they deemed important,” said Michael Rosenthal, the magazine’s editor-in-chief. “But we can see the injustice by today’s standards even if we take issue with some of things Ali said and did.”

The story on the retroactive award, as well as the original 1967 story, will be in Ring’s March 2017 issue.

Begs the question......who are they "stripping" of the honor?

Or did they simply not name one that year?

BoxBuzz wrote:Begs the question......who are they "stripping" of the honor?

Or did they simply not name one that year?

Nobody was awarded it in 1966.

That would be The Greatest's 6th Ring Fighter of the Year award: 1963, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1978 and now 1966.

elmersalsa wrote:That would be The Greatest's 6th Ring Fighter of the Year award: 1963, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1978 and now 1966.

Correct. Joe Louis with 4 is next best.

Strange they waited 50 years to do it though.

Good publicity stunt by The Ring -

Like a Boss wrote:The boxing magazine said it was righting a wrong by retroactively naming the late heavyweight great as the best fighter of 1966.

Quite right too. Ali was unfairly treated at the time IMO.
I'm pleased that The Greatest has been Ring Magazine's fighter of the year more times than any other boxer.

50 years late, but they did right a wrong.

Obviously, Nat Fleischer, king of the Ring, despised Ali, and refused to honor him with the 1966 award. He cited Ali's position on the draft and his Black Muslim membership.

Ali won 5 fights that year. Can you imagine any current heavyweight champ fighting that often today? Of course it was a travesty not to name Ali the FOTY.

Interesting though that Fleischer actually continued to recognize Ali (he however always referred to him as Clay) as champion after all the sanctioning bodies and states stripped him of his title in 1967.

Fleischer stuck by his belief that titles can only be won or lost in the ring. Or by retirement. A champion could not be stripped.

I remember that Fleischer did declare the title vacant in late 1969 or early 1970 when Ali made a spur of the moment decision to officially retire and proclaim the winner of the upcoming Frazier-Ellis bout as champion.

Frazier won by 5th round KO and Fleischer named him as Ring's world champion.

Of course, Ali's retirement lasted maybe a month, and by the end of 1970, he was back in action after the 3 1/2 year layoff.

SenorPipino wrote:Obviously, Nat Fleischer, king of the Ring, despised Ali, and refused to honor him with the 1966 award. He cited Ali's position on the draft and his Black Muslim membership.

Ali won 5 fights that year. Can you imagine any current heavyweight champ fighting that often today? Of course it was a travesty not to name Ali the FOTY.

Interesting though that Fleischer actually continued to recognize Ali (he however always referred to him as Clay) as champion after all the sanctioning bodies and states stripped him of his title in 1967.

Fleischer stuck by his belief that titles can only be won or lost in the ring. Or by retirement. A champion could not be stripped.

I remember that Fleischer did declare the title vacant in late 1969 or early 1970 when Ali made a spur of the moment decision to officially retire and proclaim the winner of the upcoming Frazier-Ellis bout as champion.

Frazier won by 5th round KO and Fleischer named him as Ring's world champion.

Of course, Ali's retirement lasted maybe a month, and by the end of 1970, he was back in action after the 3 1/2 year layoff.

Good post

The Ring was still referring to him as Cassius Clay up to 1972, the year Fleischer died. (The Ring started calling itself "The Bible of Boxing" that June.)

Now only 1933 remains No Award. Any suggestions for retroactive recognition?