Just the greatest...

 

Few athletes in the history of modern sport can claim to have been, at the apex of their celebrity, known to the masses not just in their native land, but worldwide. Fewer still can boast of enjoying a similar standing almost 30 years after the last time they performed, and almost 40 years from that time when the world was at their feet.

 ...The question that begs asking: Why? Why do we remain so captivated by Ali?

To some, the answer is simple. "Because, when he was younger, he was the most charismatic and famous person of his time," said ESPN.com contributor Thomas Hauser, the author of "Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times," an oral history considered by most the definitive Ali biography. It is saying quite a lot, considering Ali's prime coincided with the primes of some of the 20th century's most influential figures in politics, music, art and literature. One could make the argument that the times made Ali as much as he made them, that the fiery defiance he brought to race relations, religion and politics wouldn't have been possible at an earlier time and would have appeared unseemly, contrived, or inappropriate later.

...

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=rafael_dan&id=3535082

 

"One could make the argument that the times made Ali as much as he made them, that the fiery defiance he brought to race relations, religion and politics wouldn't have been possible at an earlier time and would have appeared unseemly, contrived, or inappropriate later."

I think that answers the question.