Retroactive: Ring Magazine names Ali 1966 fighter of year
The 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.