The first time I saw Muhammad Ali fight was a replay of the Clay - Liston I at a Saturday movie matinee within weeks of the actual event. Little did I or anyone else for that matter realize we were witnessing a great phenomenon in history taking shape. The movie house was packed. People who had seen the fight previously acted in awe of the event as if for the first time. Even at a young age, I loved boxing. I had followed Muhammad Ali since his Olympic days when he has known as Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. I followed him when he turned professional and was simply, Cassius Clay. And I continued to follow and support him when he became Muhammad Ali. I never wavered, as he never did in a lifetime spent championing controversy.
The essence of the man
A living contradiction, Ali was a fighter who lived for the cause of peace. If Martin Luther King Jr. was man who lit the fire of the civil rights movement, Muhammad Ali was the man who took carried the torch to the mountaintops. History will look back on Ali as one of the greatest ambassadors of equality and respect for beliefs of all man, races, and religions. Muhammad lived his life his though his sideshow mantra "I am the greatest" and elevated it to the label that emblazons his presence in our times.
The evolution of the man
First as Clay then as Ali, the man was a masterful self-promoter. His goal was to obtain respect in all eyes as a fighter and as a person. Back in the sixties that was not an easy thing to accomplish for a black man. In so many ways, Muhammad achieved the essence of being a great man among men of the world.
Ali refused to accept being drafted into the Army during a tumultuous time in our nation's history. Going to war and killing were against his religious beliefs as a Muslim in the Nation of Islam. Many took his religious abstention as a joke and a publicity stunt. After all, the man earned his living in the brutal sport of boxing. He was a fighter. It was hard to for many to draw the line between the professional sport and the real world. Yet, he stood firmly on the grounds of his beliefs and fought for his right to believe. Muhammad Ali not only won these fights he won the hearts and respect of men and women around the world.
The legacy of the man
As an American who happens to be white, I followed the man's life from when I was a grade school child. I was in awe of his ability to fight. I was in awe of his standing up for his beliefs. Ali did not just stand up and say, "I am the greatest" he has and is living it. Ali fought for his beliefs, his career and continues to fight everyday for his life battling Parkinson's disease. His life has always been lived to fight the good fight. Ali also has always taunted those who opposed his fights. Even with advancing Parkinson's he fights in the eye of the public, when he could have sought refuge in solitude. Muhammad Ali is the heart and soul of a fighter.
I write this article, noting January 17, 2007 was Ali's sixty-fifth birthday. I thank him for all the memorial things he has done in life in and out of the ring. I thank Muhammad Ail for embodying the true spirit of the Declaration of Independence and The U.S. Constitution, the backbones of our country as they were intended. I thank the man not just as an American but also as a citizen of the world.
Happy birthday Champ and may you be "The Greatest" for many more to come.
