Christilaw: Ali was not only a gifted boxer, but an incredible person
It’s man against man (except when it’s woman vs. woman). The only things you take into the ring with you are what you carry around inside you: heart, guile, strategy and courage.
It’s not a perfect sport, and the athletes are never perfect human beings.
But as in all sports, there are always figures who transcend the sport in which they play.
Muhammad Ali was just such a figure.
He was a lightning rod for public opinion. And he had a flair as much for the dramatic as he had for self-promotion.
When he won the Olympic gold medal in 1960, he was only months out of high school and the youngest gold medalist in the history of the games. And it became clear early on in his professional career that he had a unique understanding of both his sport and his opponents.
He was the Louisville Lip and the world’s first rap artist. And he was as adept at sparring with the press as he was with any opponent, especially the likes of Howard Cosell.
His friends will tell you that boxing was the great love of his life. He loved being a boxer. Yet he was willing to walk away from the sport for three years out of principle over the war in Vietnam.
It may have been ironic that a man who made a living throwing punches would be unwilling to join the Army and fight in a war, but it was a matter of faith with him, and he took a stand.
Agree with him or not, you have to admire people who stand up for the things they believe in. We need more people who will in this world.
Ali was a gifted boxer and he could do things in the ring that no one had ever seen before. He was fast in the way big cats are, and while I never thought he was as pretty as he claimed, he was perhaps the most elegant athlete the sport of boxing has ever produced.
In my home, he was a controversial figure and proved to be even more so as he dove into the fight for civil rights. Early on I came to admire his stand there, too. And that put me at odds with others in my family.
But oh, what a boxer he was.
I had a brief encounter with Ali after his last fight and before Parkinson’s disease began to reveal itself. He still looked like he could go 10 rounds with the devil himself, and his smile was even more electric in person than it was on television.
I was in Las Vegas for a convention that just happened to coincide with a major fight card, and the champ was arriving a day early.
My interaction with him was limited to an exchange of smiles and direct eye contact. But there was a warmth in that eye contact that said “I see you and I acknowledge the human being you are.” He didn’t just look my way, he saw me.
It’s a little thing, but it meant something to me. I’ve met and interviewed many who never allowed that sense of acknowledgment after a 10-minute interview.
I contrast that with another boxing luminary that I met decades later.
I was covering a local boxing card at Northern Quest which was carried nationally on ESPN. I sat ringside, as I always did to cover the sport. I was within earshot of the ESPN crew and heard the commentary throughout much of the fight.
The network had its first team on hand for a couple bouts featuring ranked fighters – none of whom were household names.
I did my job and filed my story. After I packed up my notes and my computer and headed for my car, I found myself walking out side by side with the ESPN play-by-play guy and his color man – a name I shall not mention.
It wasn’t the first time I’ve been in the company of TV crews and I don’t generally intrude. But the color guy shoved his way past me and gave me a “who the (blank) are you?” look.
This same guy was on You Tube lionizing Muhammad Ali over the weekend.
And I thought to myself that he had no idea of just how great a human being Ali really was. No way.
Correspondent Steve Christilaw can be reached at steve. christilaw@gmail.com.