Muhammad Ali turns 71 years old today.

Ten Notes On Muhammad Ali

1. Muhammad Ali has always been my #1 favourite sports hero. When I was growing up in the 1970’s most of his fights were on television. He seemed a larger than life figure. At that time Ali was someone you either loved or despised. I loved Ali. I loved his showmanship. Muhammad Ali was always interesting, entertaining and fun. A big regret I have and there is nothing I could have done to change it but I never saw Ali at his greatest back in the 1960’s. I was too young. In the 1970’s he had some great fights but he was at his best before his 3 year layoff due to his refusal to go to Vietnam.

2. For 3 1/2 years, what would have been his prime years [from March of 1967 to October 1970} when he was 26-29 he didn’t fight. Ali had refused induction into the United States Army. He was arrested and found guilty of draft evasion charges, stripped of his title and had his boxing licence suspended. He didn’t spend time in prison but he couldn’t fight. His case went to the United States Supreme Court and the could would rule unanimously in his favor.

3. In the past couple decades Ali has been silenced by Parkinson syndrome and although he has remained active starting in the 1980’s he was no longer “The Louisville Lip” No one ran their mouth like Muhammad Ali back in the 1960’s and 1970’s. His mouth ran a mile a minute. He may not have been a book smart person but he had great intelligence in other ways. No one sold themselves better than he did. He got people interested in his fights. They either wanted to see him win or wanted to see him lose but he got people interested. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, your hands can’t hit what your eyes can’t see.. rumble young man rumble”

4. Today, I think since Ali has been silenced he is more of a beloved figure than he was back in the 1960’s and 70’s. The person in American history I would compare Muhammad Ali is abolitionist John Brown. John Brown even to this day evokes strong feelings at both ends of the spectrum. John Brown was/is viewed by some as a saint others as the devil, an Usama Bin Laden of his time. {I tend to view him as a hero- in his case the ends justify the means} You either loved or hated Ali, there was no middle ground. I think younger people view him more favorably, older people are more divided. I know over the holiday’s I for some reason dropped the name Muhammad Ali and I immediately regreted it. My uncle got all fired up- he is Ali’s age, the argument was about Vietnam. I tried to make my case for Ali but I knew no matter what I said there was no convincing a man who had held a grudge against Ali for 45 years.

5. For the people who disliked Ali, he gave them ammunition. He changed his religion and name. He was born Cassius Clay. After beating Sonny Liston for the Heavyweight Championship in early 1964, he announced he was a Muslim and was now Muhammad Ali. A lot of people in the press would refer to him as Cassius Clay for years. I think there is of course a lot better understanding today about it but in 1964 Cassius Clay becoming a Muslim and being Muhammad Ali- blew peoples minds. Also he was “The Lip” He never shut up. Those who disliked him wanted to see another fighter shut Ali’s motor mouth. Ali’s mouth never stopped. He was the original trash talker. I hate the trash talking of today. I loved to hear Ali. Ali was funny and original. You never knew what he was going to say or do. He was a showman. He knew what he was doing. He was getting fannies into the seats and people in front of television sets for his fights. He didn’t care if you were rooting for him or against him- just so you were there!

6. Muhammad Ali was a man for his times. The 1960’s were crazy. To me the two commanding figures of the 1960’s are The Beatles and Muhammad Ali and they both arrived at the right time, within months of President Kennedy’s assassination. I can’t image if Muhammad Ali had come along ten years earlier or ten years later. It wouldn’t have been the same. Ali was made for his times.

7. The one big thing that Ali did that I wish he hadn’t done [and I think he probably wishes he hadn’t done either} was how he treated Smokin’ Joe Frazier. It is today hard to think of one without thinking of the other. In the 1970’s they fought three times. “The Fight of the Century” in 1970 which Frazier won. A great fight. Ali won a rather ordinary non-title fight- by decision in 1974 and then there was “The Thrilla In Manila.” I wrote about “The Thrilla In Manila” on the anniversary of the fight. It was a war. It wasn’t only the Heavyweight Championship it was the “Championship of Themselves.” Today we know the outcome, Ali won. Ali is the dominating figure of the two but that fight could have gone either way. Would those two have been remembered differently had Frazier won [and therefore won 2 of his 3 fights vs Ali?}  Ali I believe was selling the fight but he went to far. He called Frazier an “Uncle Tom’ [Frazier wasn’t} He made fun of Frazier’s looks, calling him a “Gorilla” He made it sound like Frazier was stupid. He really hurt Frazier. Frazier would never forgive him. I think Ali had great respect for Frazier. I don’t know why he took it so far. He crossed the line. In the years afterwards he would it seemed make attempts to make things right with Frazier but Frazier would have none of it. He hated Ali until the day he died. Frazier was a great fighter. He had the bad timing of being born during Ali’s time. Ali outshadowed him then and now.

8. The fight that stands out to me {other than The Thrilla In Manila} is Ali winning the Heavyweight Championship for the second time against George Foreman in 1974. Going into that fight Foreman looked unbeatable [just as Sonny Liston had looked in 1964} No one gave Ali much of a chance. Even some close to Ali feared not only for his safety but for his life. In the buildup to the fight Ali got inside of Foreman’s head. This was “The Rumble In The Jungle” in Zaire. I remember that night listening to the radio. There was no call on the fight on the radio, it wasn’t on television, it was on paid close circuit in the big cities. On the radio after a round was over- the announcer would read a description of the round that had just been fought. This was the famous “Rope A Dope” fight. Ali went against his handlers advice and just let Foreman punch himself out. It was over in round 8. I can remember the feeling I had when they said that the fight was over and Ali had won. Incredible.

9. Like most fighters {except say a Rocky Marciano or a Marvin Hagler} Ali fought too long. Back to “The Thrilla In Manila” Ali should have retired after that fight. He was only a shadow of himself after that. That fight not only ended Ali and Frazier as fighters but they were never the same men. That fight took something out of them that never returned. Ali said of the fight that it was the closest he ever came to feeling like he was going to die.

10. Sometime in the next ten years Muhammad Ali is going to die. I remember having a discussion with a friend and the question was “What celebrities death would have the biggest impact on you?” In my life John Lennon’s assassination would be the answer of the question-in the past whose death had the biggest affect on me. As for someone still living- Muhammad Ali. We’ve seen the decline in his health over the years but when he finally passes on it will be a sad day for me. There will never be another Muhammad Ali.

Was Muhammad Ali the greatest Heavyweight Champion of all time? I think Babe Ruth and Ali were the two greatest sports figures of the 20th Century but as much as I love Ali, I have to be objective. I think Joe Louis was probably the greatest heavyweight fighter ever and Sugar Ray Robinson most likely the greatest boxer ever. I do think if you had Louis vs Ali in their prime it would have been one great fight.