Boxing Legend Muhammad Ali out of Ring
THERE are many who are considered icons and legends because of their contributions in their respective field of sports. But then if there was and will always be a true sports icon of the 20th century, it simply has to be Muhammad Ali.
The ‘Greatest’ as Ali tagged himself not only changed the face of professional boxing, but also provided a separate identity to the Afro-Africans living in the United States. In that way, he was a revolutionary, changing the face of the whole American society.
His boxing feats, however, helped him get the notice he deserved. He won the world heavyweight championships three times, and at 22 years, when he achieved it for the first time in 1964, he became the youngest to attain the distinction. Mike Tyson took away this record in the 1990s, but then he also acknowledged that Ali had been his inspiration.
Ali won the Rome Olympic gold in 1960, before turning pro. He fought 61 times as a professional, winning 56 of those bouts out of which 37 were by knockouts or TKOs, and suffered five defeats, two of which happened at the fag end of his career when he came out of retirement. But then he shouldn’t only be judged by his exploits in the ring.
With the gift of the gab, Ali took on the might of the US government. He refused to be drafted into the US Army and go and fight in Vietnam (then Vietcong). “I wouldn’t kill no other coloured people who have done no harm to me,” was one of his famous quips. He refused to toe the government line, lost three prime years when he was at his peak and even faced imprisonment. But then nothing could force him to change his decision and don the military garb. It is this battle outside the ring which endeared him to the whole world. Slowly but surely it built up a strong resentment across the globe against the US intervention in Vietnam. The mind doesn’t recall any other sportsperson having such a global influence.
George Bernard Shaw’s famous play ‘Arms and the Man’ ends with Sergius Saranoff refers to the ‘chocolate-cream soldier’ Captain Bluntschli as ‘What a man! Is he a man!’
Muhammad Ali definitely evokes such a feeling.
