The Neutral Corner

Here is a report on Laila Ali giving birth to a baby boy.

It's from The Moneytimes.com.

Laila Ali is married to former NFL player Curtis Conway. The child's name is Curtis Muhammad Conway and was born on August 26, 2008.

The official baby announcement can be found at her web site, Lailaali.com

No word if Laila plans a return to the ring.

-- CASSIDY

Muhammad Ali was in Denver to support Barack Obama

There is a saying, "As goes the heavyweight division, so goes boxing."

Suffice it to say, things aren't go so well right now.

So what better time to write about a previous era, perhaps the Golden Age of heavyweight boxing -- the 1970s.

It was of course the Golden Age because of Muhammad Ali. And if you saw Ali at the Democratic National Convention supporting Barack Obama, the sight may have left you feeling sad. Don't. Ali, suffering from Parkinson's, has never wanted that.

While Ali has become somewhat of a national teddy bear now, back in the 1970s, you either loved him or hated him. Every great fighter needs strong opposition, and Ali had it everywhere he looked back in those days. Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, George Foreman, Jerry Quarry, Ron Lyle, George Chuvalo, Oscar Bonavena, Earnie Shavers. Larry Holmes was just beginning and Floyd Patterson was just ending his career. That's six Hall-of-Famers among the group.

As a heavyweight champion of the world, Ali is unparalleled. Many experts rank Ali and Joe Louis as 1. and 1a. while compiling the list of all-time great heavyweights.

To me, here is why Ali wins that argument: Billy Conn. If Billy Conn were able to do that to Louis, imagine what a primed Ali would have done? And this is not to diminish Conn’s boxing ability. Conn, a Hall-of-Famer from the light heavyweight division, is one of the all-time great boxers. But Ali was bigger, stronger, faster and hit harder. And while this may be a generational bias, I believe Ali beats Louis.

Perhaps more than any other athlete, the Ali mystique has extended to all corners of the globe. He can be recalled many different ways: as Olympic hero, heavyweight king, champion of the underprivileged, conscientious objector and goodwill ambassador. There may never be another athlete whose impact has crossed so many lines.

Like all heroes – all humans – Ali had flaws. Did he go too far in taunting Joe Frazier? Absolutely. His role as a leader during the turbulent 1960s is better left to be debated by those who came of age in that era. What shouldn't be debated, though, is that Ali was charismatic, generous to a fault and the most accessible superstar history has ever known. His presence generates an electricity that crosses racial, religious and social boundaries. He has made people of all colors smile.

Ultimately, the essence of Ali is his personality. Even in the few glimpses we get of the man now, he is smiling and reaching out to others. Never in our history has there been an athlete who has meant so much to so many. Ali's impact is a matter of personal experience.

Here's mine.

In January of 1971, my father, middleweight contender Irish Bobby Cassidy, lost a very controversial split decision to Luis Rodriguez in Miami Beach. Rodriguez was Ali's stablemate and himself a future hall-of-famer. It's been said that Ali learned a lot from watching Rodriguez when they both trained at the famed 5th Street Gym. Luis would playfully call the kid from Louisville, "Boca grande," which translates to "Big mouth."

This was about two months before Ali would fight Joe Frazier in what we now know as "The Fight of the Century." After my father lost to Rodriguez, Ali found his way into my father's dressing room and said, "Don't give up, kid, you won that fight."

My father came home with a loss on his record and a very special autographed picture. It read, "To Robbie, Your Daddy is the Greatest, Muhammad Ali."

-- CASSIDY

Jabir Herbert Muhammad, the man who managed the greatest heavyweight in boxing history, died after heart surgery in Chicago at the age of 79.

Muhammad took over as Muhammad Ali's manager in 1966, when the fighter was already heavyweight champion of the world and a star in the sport of boxing.

Ali was a man who really didn't need a manager. But Herbert Muhammad was the son of Elijiah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam and was basically appointed Ali's manager by his father. Whether Herbert's role was more spiritual advisor than financial adviser, only Ali can answer. Spirituality cannot be measured in dollars.

But the question has always been, who benefitted more from the relationship?

Thomas Hauser, one of boxing's premier journalists, wrote the definitive biography on Ali and it was published in 1991. Here are what some people in the book had to say about Herbert Muhammad and his relationship with Ali. These quotes can be found beginning on page 376 of Hauser's book:

Muhammad Ali: "I know there are people who don't like Herbert, but I love and respect him. Make sure the world knows, I love and respect Herbert Muhammad."

Belinda Ali, the fighter's second wife: "He was a great manipulator."

Jeremiah Shabazz: "Herbert is smart when it comes to the religion. We don't always see eye-to-eye about it, but with the religion, he's very smart. But business is another matter. That's one place where Herbert leaves a lot to be desired. I don't think it was maliciousness on Herbert's part. I think it was ignorance, but Ali still suffered."

Harold Conrad: "After [the second Liston fight] we came back to New York for a black tie dinner. Ali didn't own a tuxedo, so I took them to a clothing place called After Six... they were happy to give him a tuxedo. They gave Herbert one too, for free. And that was when Herbert found out he could get something for free wth Ali. It started him off and he never stopped. Before you knew it, he was a silent partner in Ali's promotions. I think he made more money out of some of those fights than Ali. Arum and King both cut him into the promotions, and I doubt he shared that money with Ali."

Gene Dibble: "I think Herbert was interested first and foremost in Herbert. And I also think Herbert just didn't know much about business. He thought he was a good negotiator, and he wasn't. Instead of getting first-rate lawyers, he listened to a lot of bad advice."

Teddy Brenner: "One thing Herbert did very well was the way he played Don King. He read King right. He brought the dollars out of King and got bigger paydays from King than anybody else."

Ferdie Pacheco: "People say, and it's true, that Herbert made a fortune off Ali. And it's also true that Ali might not be as well off financially as he could be today. But the bottom line is, if Herbert had never taken a penny, if he'd worked for twenty years for free and brought in every dollar possible for Ali, Ali would have given it all away.... when Ali was fighting, Herbert didn't want the entourage, Ali wanted it."

No matter what the quotes say, good, bad or indifferent, to me, the bottom line with all the members of Ali's camp, is that they led him into the ring in 1980 for an unnecessary beating against Larry Holmes. It didn't matter what kind of business acumen Herbert Muhammad had, everyone knew Ali should not have been inside that ring. The only longtime member who walked away before the fight was Pacheco.

-- CASSIDY

It remains one of the greatest rivalries in history. And that includes Yankees-Red Sox and Michigan-Ohio State. Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier fought three times over 41 rounds. The fighting was brilliant, savage and enthralling.

If you are accessing this blog from a source other than Newsday's sports page, please read Wally Matthews' excellent column on Frazier on Newsday.com. And scroll down below to watch Katie Strang's video of the Matthews-Frazier interview.

Frazier, boxing's consummate warrior, once said, "If a man doesn't want to fight, you can't make him." Truer words have never been spoken. It is so easy to remain on the stool or stay on the canvas and take the count. These men never relented in the ring. They inspired each other to greatness.

Watch for yourself, courtesy of YouTube: