Muhammad Ali was a superb boxer, the greatest of all in my book, and a supreme athlete who didn't need "clever self-promotion" in order to be appreciated. He was the very best at what he did. "Clever self-promotion" is generally used by less talented individuals who need to thrust themselves into the public eye in order to get noticed and get by. I know of a player of a musical instrument (which I'd better not name...), for example, who purports to teach the instrument online and who writes lots of articles but who isn't actually that good. That sort of thing. Something to reflect on perhaps.