Cassius Clay makes an interesting case history on how the public perception of a person can change over time. I remember when he was universally reviled, a symbol of all that was wrong with his generation and with his race. He was a big-mouthed trash talker, and a draft dodger in a time when the Vietnam war was still popular.
The draft-dodging temporarily killed his career, but eventually he was exonerated by no less that the US Supreme Court.
Later, due to age and his illness, he mellowed out and changed, and so did his public reputation. To me, his public rehabilitation is the real story.
My perception of all this is colored by the fact that I think that boxing is among the most stupid and inhuman of all human pastimes. | 
