white is right said:
When Ali was beating up on club fighters and their was only Quarry near the top of the division it was easy to believe that crap. What moron would think that Jean Pierre Coopman, Richard Dunn or Chuck Wepner were the greatest white athletes available. Only people that wanted to believe that nonsense.
OMG, I lived through it my friend. Coopman was called the Lion of Flanders. Dunn I don't think was the Lion of anything. Wepner was lyin' when he said he once ducked a punch. I'd watch them fight and wonder is this the best we can come up with?
Duane Bobick gave me some hope, then got crushed in the Olympics and lost all his big fights as a pro. European fighters got no respect. American fighters (which meant black) considered fighting in Europe, including the night of the fight, a vacation. The Bobick-Norton disaster, among others. If you wasn't there I can tell you thems was hard times kids.
Makes things nowadays even sweeter.