By Elliott West
“I’m not the greatest. I’m the double greatest. Not only do I know ’em out, I pick the round. I’m the boldest, the prettiest, the most superior, most scientific, most skillfullest in the ring today. It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am”.
Muhammad Ali
Introduction
Boxing has had a multitude of champions in its various weights over the years but definitely, the greatest and most influential heavyweight boxer of the 20th century had to be the dominant force that was Cassius Marcellus Clay or Muhammad Ali as he later became known. A boxer who was ferocious in the ring and craved victory. He had ferocious eyes that would switch off when he left the area and return to the loving and doting father that his children knew him to be.
He was a boxer that could floor a feather and someone who was mesmerising to watch. A man who turned boxing into an almost ballet performance with sharp coordination and punches that could daze and confuse. A giant in stature at a towering 6 feet 3 inches and in his sport, Ali ruled the ring and only lost 5 fights in his career, winning 56 out of 61.
Early Life
Born in Louisville, Kentucky in the deep south of America in 1942, Cassius started boxing at the age of 12 and when he 18 won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division of the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. It was a catalytic sporting moment and one that would cause him to turn professional the following year. As well as setting his foot on the first rung of the boxing ladder, Clay discipline the Muslim faith and converted, changing his name to Muhammad Ali in 1961 and denouncing his former name as a slave name.
When he became old enough to be drafted into the Vietnam War, he refused to go on religious grounds, one of the many conscientious objectors of modern-day warfare. A belief that would cause him to be stripped of his titles and face a prison sentence for dodging the draft. However, the conviction was later overturned by the Supreme Court in 1971 when he appealed the decision.
Later Career
Having not fought for four years, it seemed doubtful whether Ali would ever reach the great heights of his youth again. A shadow of his former self, Muhammad certainly wasn’t the toned athlete he once was but he defied the critics, going on to fight in two key matches, the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ against Joe Frazier in 1975 where he won in a technical knockout in the fourteenth round and watched by 100 million viewers and the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ against George Foreman that took place in Zaire in 1974, a win by knockout in the eighth round and watched by 60,000 people.
These historic fights were made possible by wins against Jerry Quarry and Oscar Bonavena with the fight against Bonavena coming after a dramatic knockout in the fifteenth round at Madison Square Garden. Ali would go on to win several other key fights with his last, a unanimous decision, coming at the Superdome in New Orleans, a rematch of an earlier fight where he had lost the title to his opponent on a split decision by the boxing judges.
Retirement
Muhammad Ali announced his retirement from boxing in July 1979 but go on to briefly break this when he returned to fight Larry Holmes for the WBC belt. It was staged largely because Ali needed the money and in retrospect was a bad decision. Ali was out of shape and clearly at the end of his career path and one that his opponent easily won. It was at this time that this great heavy started to develop the early signs of Parkinson’s Disease that would consume him, brought on by years of physical damage in the boxing ring. A disease that started with vocal stutters and trembling hands.
Despite this impairment, Ali would fight once more against Trevor Berbick in Nassau, the Bahamas in 1981, losing in a ten-round decision. However, it wasn’t until 1984 that he was officially diagnosed as having Parkinson’s Disease and so retreated into a life of being a political influencer and an avid philanthropist, working closely with the actor Michael J Fox and his foundation to raise money for research into the disease and awareness of this illness that causes rapid deterioration to the sufferer. Ali would go on to battle the disease until 2016, eventually passing away from a respiratory illness and septic shock, aged 74.
Afterthoughts
Cassius Clay or Muhammad Ali as he was later known, was truly a great boxing icon. A man who was revered by many and feared by all those who fought him. Deeply religious and spiritual, Ali loved the limelight and dominated the camera lens in any capacity. A man who Michael Parkinson was fascinated by despite his verbal threats. The boxer was literally treated like a demigod by his fans and presidents alike. A citizen of the world and a name that was household and global. A light that may have eventually been put out but never extinguished in the minds and memories of many who knew him or saw him fight.
