Boxing Legend Muhammad Ali: 65 And Still The Greatest

Muhammad Ali turns 65 years old today. Wow! Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday my father and I were jumping around the living room, screaming like lottery winners when Ali regained the heavyweight title from Leon Spinks. The so called experts had said it could not be done as rumor had it that Ali had nothing left. Once again, he had proven them wrong. It was a glorious night in the Kahn household indeed.

Muhammad Ali had done the impossible! Not only was he heavyweight champion again, but he had made history in the process. He had become the first man to hold the heavyweight title three times. Instead of wondering what Ali had left, the same so called experts who doubted him were now saying the exact opposite; they wondered what couldn’t he do?

To sit here and write about Ali’s accomplishments in the ring or outside of it would be pointless. His story has been told hundreds of times, if not thousands. Everything from local newspapers to big screen cinema have given one version of his life or another, so I really don’t feel that I could say anything new.

All I would be doing is repeating what we have all heard countless times already. His Olympic Gold Medal win, the fights with Liston, his predictions on which round his opponents would fall, are all legendary. The Frazier trilogy, the rumble with Foreman, re-inventing his style from the dancer to the rope a dope. If not all caught on film, many would believe it all to be an exaggeration of facts, unable to comprehend how a man could perform such feats over and over again.

Outside the ring, Ali has been just as much of an icon as inside it. His conversion to the Muslim faith was one of the most controversial incidents of the times and when he risked everything he had to stand up for his beliefs on the Vietnam War and refused induction into the United States Army, Ali became both one of the most hated and most loved figures of that era. Since his years away from the ring, Ali has been the face for countless charities, he has served as a goodwill ambassador for the United States and has also been a supporter of political causes around the world.

The thing about Ali, that I have always been in complete awe of, is his effect on people, both in the boxing world and out. From China to the US and back, Ali has been a role model for millions. Even those who have never even seen a boxing match. People from third world countries who don’t even own televisions know who Ali is and admire what he has done and what he stands for. When he fought Foreman in Zaire, the people flooded the streets to get a glimpse of “The Great One”. They screamed his name and called for his victory. Only Ali could have had such an effect on those people.

My Father was one of those people who admired Ali the fighter as well as the man and it was my dad’s admiration that brought me to the sport. The first fight I ever saw was an Ali fight. At five years old I would sit watching film footage with my father and uncles of Ali’s earlier fights on the old projector screen in the basement and living room. When I was six, Ali faced Leon Spinks for the first time and there was not a fact about him that I did not know. In our house, every Ali fight was an event. When Ali fought, the world stood still in our eyes.

In October of 1980, Ali was set to face Larry Holmes for the heavyweight Title. By this time, Ali really did have nothing left and even his most loyal supporters knew the fight was a mistake in progress. There was no bounce in his step, his speed had become average and Larry Holmes was a young strong fighter on top of his game. To make things worse, he had known most of Ali’s tricks in the ring, which Holmes had learned from his time spent as Ali’s sparring partner.

My father, the die-hard fan he was, felt different. He was sure that Ali would once again pull out a miracle, but from almost the beginning of the fight Ali took a frightful beating. In all actuality, the bout could have and should have been stopped by the seventh round. Still, during the whole fight, dad sat on the edge of the couch, waiting for the Ali magic to begin.

As rounds eight then nine passed, he began to yell at the television for Ali to move and jab. Finally, when Ali failed to answer the bell for the eleventh round, reality had set in; the era of Muhammad Ali had finally come to an end.

After the fight, my father got up, turned off the television and walked out of the room without saying a word. On my way to bed, I could see him outside from the kitchen window. He was leaning on his car in the driveway, smoking a cigarette and talking to my mother.

A few seconds later, he put his head down and started to cry. It had broken his heart to see his idol defeated, sitting in the corner on his stool, unable to continue. He had loved Ali that much. That was the only time that I had ever seen my father cry. When Ali faced Trevor Berbick the next year, he refused to watch the fight.

Years later when I had asked my father why he cried that night, his only response was “A man like that deserved a better ending”. We never spoke of it again.

To this day, I am not exactly sure why my father thought so much of Ali, a man he had never even met. He is not the only one, as “The Greatest” has that effect on people. If he didn’t, the only time you would hear his name is when the topic of boxing came up and then he would be just another ex-champion, mentioned in casual conversation.

Yet for one reason or another, it seems like the world can’t get enough of him. He has become not only one of the world’s most celebrated athlete of our time, but one of the world’s most celebrated men and to think it all started when someone stole the bike of a young boy in Louisville, Kentucky.

It’s funny how things in life come about, isn’t it?

I guess there is really nothing more I can say except, happy 65th birthday, champ!

Thanks for all the memories.