It is difficult to tell the last time when most of us thought of Muhammad Ali. It could have been months or even years. Now that he has passed away, those of us who grew up
when he was punching opponents out of the ring, will feel a sense of loss. Ali was, without doubt, the greatest boxer of his times. And he shaped those times with his exploits in the ring and out of it. He was loud, menacing and ruthless when in the ring. But he was also a man of principle who refused to take the draft and fight in Vietnam because, as he said, “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.” He stood by his beliefs
and was jailed for three years, when he was at his peak. His stance earned him respect and made him an enemy of the government. His conversion to Islam took America by storm at a
time when very little was known about the religion. He floated
through controversy and even reveled in it. He turned every
fight into a spectacle. He threw jibes at his opponents long before
the fight had begun and when the time came to enter the
ring he seemed to have a physiological
edge over them. He was theatrical
and funny.
Muhammad Ali, born Cassius
Marcellus Clay in Louisville, Kentucky,
shot to fame in 1960 when he
won the gold at the Rome Olympics.
In 1964 he defeated the formidable
Sonny Liston to claim the world title.
He mesmerised crowds with is
loud boasts, shuffling footwork and
speed, to become the boxer who floated like a butterfly and
stung like a bee.
His trilogy fights against Joe Frazier, another great fighter of
his time are considered, even today, the most brutal form of
combat in the ring. Frazier won the first, but Ali came back
to win the second. Ali had a way of labelling his fights to the
delight of the crowd and his supporters and his third bout
against Frazier, which was dubbed, ‘Thrilla in Manila’ was in
Ali’s words, “the closest thing to dying”. The fight left both
fighters mentally and physically wrecked. But despite this,
Ali stopped giant George Foreman in what became known as
‘Rumble in the Jungle’. He went on to win the title for a third
time from Leon Spinks to become the first boxer to accomplish
this feat. But his last two fights are best forgotten.
Ali did not confine controversy and conflict to the ring. He let
it pervade his personal life where it would have been difficult
for him to claim success of any kind. The Greatest was husband
to four women and a father nine times. His bedroom dalliances
were a cause for heartburn and unhappiness and it was
only after he married Yolanda Lonnie Williams in 1986 that he
settled down. The fights with his spouses and girlfriends are a
part of the legend, which America and the world chose to either
ignore or take in their stride as human shortcomings. On
how he wanted to be remembered, Ali said, “I would like to
be remembered as a man who won the heavyweight title three
times, who was humorous and who treated everyone right….
And if all that’s too much, then I guess I’d settle for being remembered
only as a great boxer who became a leader and a
champion of his people. And I wouldn’t even mind if folks forgot
how pretty I was.”
That, pretty much, defines Muhammed Ali.
