so true. But it should also be noted that his second fight with Ali was the last fight of his professional career. Chuvalo had a good career and picked a good moment to hang up the gloves.
Ali never fought professionally during what are typically the prime years of a fighter's life due to the revocation of his fight license. Almost all of his most memorable victories were when he was really past his prime. Those lost years are the price he paid, willingly, in service of a more important issue. The missed opportunities, the missed millions of dollars in prize money, were unimportant to him compared with his moral convictions.
Had he gone into the military in compliance with the draft, he would not have seen combat due to the potential impact of his death would have on the public perception of the conflict. Ali knew that, but felt that to comply would undermine the moral position of non-famous black men who had no public agency that were also being drafted. He resisted the war long before the war was unpopular. That battle that he chose to undertake with no monetary reward and little certainty of victory is probably the most important fight of his life. It certainly had the most influence on American society.
