Michael Johnson calls 'bulls**t' on controversial comparison between Djokovic and Muhammad Ali

Political writer James Melville has been called out by Olympic legend Michael Johnson for a controversial comparison between Novak Djokovic and Muhammad Ali.

Melville, an outspoken critic of vaccine passports and mandated lockdowns, posted black and white pictures of the two sporting greats side by side on Twitter with the caption:

“Two sporting icons. Two different eras. But there is one huge similarity between Muhammad Ali and Novak Djokovic. They stuck to their principles even when the world was trying to shut them down. They have both transcended sport with their bravery when under fire.”

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Johnson, one of the greatest sprinters in the history of track and field, quote tweeted Melville with just one word as his caption, “BULLS**T!”

It is undeniable that Djokovic and Ali will both go down as sporting immortals but the comparisons should not go any further than that.

Ali’s principled stance against the war in Vietnam cost him some of the best years of his career and helped to turn a great sportsman into one of the true icons of the 20^th Century.

The Serbian tennis star is a very different kind of sportsman. His style of play is far more efficient than easy on the eye and as such he has never captured the public’s imagination like Roger Federer, his great rival.

While Ali was noted for his charisma and wit, Djokovic has seemed to revel in his pantomime villain role in recent years, most notably with the vaccination controversy that saw him unable to defend his title at the Australian Open.

Ultimately, the two men’s stances are totally incomparable. The world lost one of the great sportsmen in his prime for years because of his bravery whereas Djokovic’s brief hiatus was entirely avoidable.

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