Zen Pencils by Gavin Aung Than for September 23, 2013

Way to go, CC / MA !! (And, Gavin!!)

Say what you will about Ali, he generally lived up to his own hype in the ring. I think that’s called arrogance with teeth.

Ali was a great fighter.Joe Louis was a better one.

Veteran, I disagree, Ali was not able to fight during what many call his greatest years. Louis, Like Liston and Frasier, was a slugger. Ali was a fighter. there is a difference.I dont see the man as arrogant when he was able to back it up. Self confidence does look like arrogance, but there is a difference.

Ali’s (Clay’s) self-promoting style was not universally admired at the time. In the last panel, the expression on the faces of the sports writers was quite common among many of the general Public. But was it any worse than false, submissive humility in others?

How did “Zen” get into the title of this strip? Maybe it should be Violent Pencils. (I did think some of the earlier ones were good though.)

I knew he was a great fighter, but I didn’t think he was such a poet, too…

No, he only stood up for himself. He did not want to be drafted. He felt shafted because he failed the basic entry tests. Reading and Writing scores were too low so he was reclassified to a non draft status. The military realigned the tests so his score passed. Made him 1A. They would have never sent him into combat. He would have been a recruiting tool like Elvis and a boxer named Joe Louis. Ali was too important to send to war. Ali flat plain did not want to go into the military. He tried CO status by his religion but they were still going to make him a soldier but he would never go to battle.That is what destroyed his popularity and is mostly glossed over today. Had he given just two years giving boxing exhibitions, speeches, meet and greets, he would have been the greatest of all time.That is why Joe Louis is number one on all the lists. He went in a segregated Armed forces and served with dignity and honor. He never went into combat either but later in life he said if they needed him that way he would have gone. He said (paraphrased) Hitler would not fix the problems in America. It is going to take us to do it.I will add one more. Black pilot shot down over Hanoi. Made a POW at the Hanoi Hilton. Read his story. He was offered the chance to leave because of Ali saying things. He refused to leave his fellow POWs. His statement to the NVA was he was an American soldier and would not leave his comrades.Now who is the greatest??