I'm trying to control myself not to go on a rant here but some people like our friend BT say such outrageously uninformed and ludicrous remarks that make it really hard not to respond.
If you don't know much about Muhammad Ali then don't feel obliged to make ignorant comments. Is someone pointing a gun at your head forcing you to type these nonsense?
If you knew anything about this great human being's life beyond a few video clips that you recently saw on TV or youtube then you would know that Muhammad Ali noted in several interviews that all the trash talk and boasting that he did was for the benefit of promoting the boxing matches. He had said, that especially after converting to Islam he never believed himself or any other human being to be the "greatest" and believed only Allah to be the Greatest.
Of course he realized his own talent as a boxer and recognized his own physical strength, agility and "superiority" as an athlete which gave him the confidence to speak out so proudly and confidently as equal, if not superior, to white folks at a time when black men were considered second class citizens in the US.
Again, I'll try not to rant on but suffice to say that if Muhammad Ali was a narcissist, racist, and a mediocre athlete as suggested by some "brilliant scholars" on this board then I think we should add the title of greatest actor and deceiver in human history to his title as well for fooling billions of people from all races, genders, ages, and professions (from athletes to statesmen to entertainers to social activists to religious scholars, etc, etc) in to believing, calling, naming, and voting him one of the greatest sportsmen and humanitarians of all time.