One of my favourite quotes he came out with. When I read it, I read it in his voice. I recognise he said many more poignant things, but I've always enjoyed this one. please log in to view this image
Seeing this news, I've decided there's bigger news than Ron today. He has had quite enough attention from me. R.I.P Ali, a true sporting loss. Sad.
One of the very few that transcended sport. Pele, Senna, Ali. "I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room, and I was in bed before it was dark". RIP The Greatest.
I've just been watching some of these classic clips of Ali fighting. It seems that he never threw punches when an opponent was on the way down. He knew the previous punches had done the damage. Class.
In the documentary film "When We Were Kings", Norman Mailer reflects on exactly that. He pointed out that as Foreman fell to the canvas in Kinshasa, Ali readied himself for another shot, but held fire. Mailer - with his artist's eye - thought that Ali didn't want to sully the perfection of the knockout blow, but maybe he was just being merciful. Either way, yeah, the man had class.
That is the best example of it and I noticed it in other fights too. Here's hoping that film and "Ali" is shown over the weekend. I want to watch that with my boy.
He was a precision instrument. I spent my early years listening to comments around me that he was a big mouth and that made me think ill of him at first. But in the back of my mind he was a secret hero because what he said from that mouth resonated with me as a young kid. He was full of humour but behind it was intention. There was no question of ambition. It was simply a matter of time and process before he became the greatest. Other people just had to believe it. He told them with words and then he backed it up with actions. He was also so fast and slick he made other boxers look like an Orc. He was also a man of principle who stuck to his words. When the opponents got bigger and better at their craft he became much easier to like, as the final descenting comments disappeared. The crowning glory was against George Foreman, where he boxed in the only way possible for him to beat him. What looked like a pummelling turned out to be a masterclass. And, in a way, kind of nicer, George Foreman turns out to be a nice guy too.
What a remarkable human being? As a teenager he couldn't read or write but went on to be talked about in the same breath as Mandela. Probably the most famous individual on the planet.
Muhammad Ali wasn't just the single greatest sporting icon in history, he was also one of the greatest human beings who ever lived. Not just for his commitment to human rights for black Americans but for his stance on Vietnam. When he refused to fight in 1967 he had been the undisputed world heavyweight champion for 4 years, something which is incredible today, but he had his title stripped from him and went to jail for his principles. For me that puts him right up there with Gandhi and Mandela. In his own words: "My conscience won't let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America. And shoot them for what? They never called me ******, they never lynched me, they didn't put no dogs on me, they didn't rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father. ... Shoot them for what? How can I shoot them poor people? Just take me to jail." RIP Muhammad Ali
In other news, Garbiñe Muguruza beats Serena Williams in straight sets to win her first Grand Slam in the French Open. Brilliant tennis from both players, but Muguruza is the future of women's tennis, as well as being totally gorgeous.
