You can call it a type of madness, but that level of desire, total commitment, and sacrifice to anything is a beautiful thing to witness. In the cases of Ali, Tyson, and Jordan; the end product of their commitment, ultra high level mastery, is also a fascinating thing to see.
But, the desire and commitment is amazing even taken by itself when it doesn't result in total dominance (e.g. the hardcore determination and complete sacrifice of some competitors who, despite their commitment, will not ever reach the highest levels of achievement due to lack of optimal genetics).