MUHAMMAD ALI
G'day folks,
Like him or not, he was a personality. From
his birth as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in the segregated South on January 17,
1942, to his death on June 3, 2016, boxing legend Muhammad Ali spent his whole life
fighting. And whether against his opponents in the ring, racial and religious
prejudice, or the United States government, to name just a few, he usually won.
His record of 56–5 is among boxing’s best, and his witticisms are without a
doubt its greatest. Muhammad Ali’s passing leaves a void in the sports world
that will perhaps never be filled, and a legacy that transcends it, having made
an indelible mark on history, social justice, politics, religion and popular
culture.
Clay’s
first steps on the road to sports immortality were taken when, in 1954 at the
age of 12, he was overheard by Louisville police officer Joe E. Martin saying
that he wanted to beat up a thief who had stolen his bicycle. Martin suggested
that Clay would need to learn how to box first and offered to train him. Over
the next six years, Martin’s admiration of the young fighter’s skill,
determination and work ethic would grow, and so would Clay’s collection of
amateur titles as he boxed his way to the 1960 Olympics in Rome.
Returning home
from the games with the gold medal, Clay was greeted with much fanfare, but he
also encountered the racial prejudice with which he was all too familiar when
he was denied service in a Kentucky restaurant. The contrast was not lost on
Clay and would only serve to deepen the ideas and feelings that would later
influence some of the most pivotal decisions of his life.
But Clay was on the
rise. In October 1960, he won his first professional fight, and by 1964 had
carried an impressive 19–0 record (15 by way of knockout)—and a reputation for
brashness and agility both in and out of the ring—through the heavyweight
circuit and all the way to the title, which on February 25, at age 22, he won
from Sonny Liston in a six-round decision
by technical knockout. After the fight, Ali declared, “I’m the greatest! I
shook up the world!” He shook it even more the following day when he announced
his own conversion to Islam, and again a month later when he told the press
that he had chosen a new name—Muhammad Ali—to replace his “slave name.”
Ali would spend the next few years boldly defending both
his boxing title and his beliefs, facing perhaps his greatest challenge to date
when in 1966 he was drafted into the U.S. Army. Ali responded by declaring
himself a conscientious objector, saying famously “I ain’t got not quarrel with
them Vietcong,” and when his name was called at his induction ceremony, he
refused to step forward and was promptly arrested. Essentially banned from
fighting in the United States, for the remainder of the year, Ali continued to
fight abroad, but in 1967 his passport was revoked and he was stripped of both
his title (which was given to Joe Frazier)
and his boxing license.
Exiled from boxing, Ali supported himself by doing the
other thing he did best—talking. At a time when opposition to the Vietnam War
was growing, Ali’s opinions on the subject and his refusal to serve in the
military made him popular in the counterculture movement and he was able to
support himself through a speaking tour of colleges and universities around the
country.
In 1971, the Supreme Court finally reversed Ali’s
conviction and his boxing license was reinstated.
Over the next few years Ali
would have some of the greatest fights of his career, and arguably the most
famous in the history of the sport. On March 8, 1971, Ali stepped into the ring
at Madison Square Gardens for the “Fight of the Century” against Joe Frazier.
Ali lost the fight in a 15-round decision (his first professional loss), but
after defeating 12 of his next 13 opponents, he and Frazier met again, and this
time Ali won, earning himself a chance to regain the title, then held by George Foreman.
That fight, called "The Rumble in the Jungle,” was held in
Kinshasa, Zaire, in 1974. Ali emerged victorious after knocking out Foreman,
whom he had worn out in the African heat with his “rope-a-dope” strategy, to
become, once more, the heavyweight champion of the world.
In
1975, Ali again faced and defeated Frazier, in the “Thrilla in Manilla,” but
after several more victories, in February 1978 Muhammad Ali lost his title to Leon Spinks.
Seven months later Ali defeated Spinks to regain the title for a record-setting
third time, but after he lost it to Larry Holmes in
1980 and was defeated by Trevor Berbick in 1981, he finally decided, at age 39,
to hang up his gloves.
In
1984, Muhammad Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a neurological
condition that over the years would slow the fleet-footed fighter considerably
and cause his once-powerful hands to weaken and shake. Yet even as Ali’s
condition worsened, what it could never seem to dampen was his fighting spirit,
his convictions or his wit. Despite his illness, for the remainder of his life,
Ali tirelessly devoted himself to charitable endeavors, including the Special
Olympics and the Make-a-Wish Foundation, as well as the Muhammad Ali Parkinson
Research Center.
He also made numerous goodwill missions to
African countries and, never one to shy from controversy, even pariah nations
such as North Korea, Cuba and Iraq. He received countless awards for his work
beyond the ring, and earned numerous honors for his achievements inside of it,
including, surely, the title that he gave himself—“The Greatest.”
After
his long battle with Parkinson's disease, the boxing great died on June 3, 2016
in Phoenix, after being treated for respiratory complications.
Muhammad Ali once
asked the question, “Will they ever have another fighter who writes poems,
predicts rounds, beats everybody, makes people laugh, makes people cry and is
as tall and extra pretty as me?” In the days and decades to come, as the world
looks back and takes measure of his impact, the answer to that question will
almost certainly be a unanimous “No.”
Clancy's comment: Did you ever see this guy interviewed by Michael Parkinson? Well, have a look at it. Ali has a great sense of humour.
I'm ...
R.I. P
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