Tribute to Ali

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Muhammad Ali’s ascent to the world heavyweight boxing throne. Ali, 72, won the first of three terms as champion when he stopped Sonny Liston before the start of the seventh round in Miami Beach on Feb. 25, 1964.

 In his celebrated pro career, Ali compiled a record of 56-5, with 37 KOs. His losses were to Joe Frazier in 1971, Ken Norton in 1973, Leon Spinks in 1978, Larry Holmes in 1980 and Trevor Berbick in his farewell bout in 1981. He logged a total of 549 rounds broken down into 26 hours, 55 minutes and 35 seconds from his debut in 1960.

Ali’s most memorable fight was his third encounter with archrival Joe Frazier in the “Thrilla In Manila” at the Araneta Coliseum on Oct. 1, 1975. It will be the 40th anniversary of that epic battle next year. Frazier’s trainer Eddie Futch waved it off after the 14th round not knowing that Ali had just instructed his cornerman Angelo Dundee to “cut ‘em off,” meaning to remove his gloves in surrender. Ali later said what he experienced in that fight was the closest thing to death.   

But what set Ali off to the road of fame and fortune was his remarkable win over Liston as a 7-1 underdog.  Liston was a menacing creature in the ring. A sharecropper’s son, he was once sentenced to five years in prison for robbery and faced Ali fresh from back-to-back-to-back first round knockouts, two over Floyd Patterson. Ali, who made an art form out of trash talking, didn’t seem intimidated at all by Liston’s reputation and frightening scowl. Ali vowed to “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee” in caging the fighter he called the “Big Bear.”

As it turned out, Ali transformed Liston into a human punching bag. Ali used his blinding footwork to create angles for his dizzying combinations and the flat-footed Liston was an easy target. In the fifth round, Liston came alive as Ali desperately tried to stay away, complaining of blurred vision. It was suspected that Tiger Balm or some kind of liniment was rubbed on Liston’s gloves to bother Ali. Dundee washed whatever substance it was off Ali’s eyes during the break before the sixth and when the bell rang, the challenger regained control of the fight. Liston, battered and bloodied, didn’t come out for the seventh round and yielded the world title on his stool.

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Ali and Liston met in a rematch a year later and this time, the outcome was astonishingly decisive. Liston was knocked out in 132 seconds of the first round. After the massacre, Liston took a year off and went to Sweden where he figured in four fights. He won 14 in a row since the second Ali outing then was stopped by Leotis Martin. Liston returned to halt Chuck Wepner in June 1970, leaving the Bayonne Bleeder with cuts that took 72 stitches to close. Six months later, Liston died at the age of 40. There was talk of foul play, involvement with a fight-fixing syndicate and an addiction to drugs although no evidence was ever submitted to confirm any suspicion.

 Ali’s career went a different way from Liston’s after their second meeting. He went on to log 42 more fights until the loss to Berbick in 1980. The “Thrilla In Manila” took a lot out of Ali and maybe, he should’ve retired soon after. He signed for 10 more bouts and three of the last four were defeats.  Ali scored a unanimous 15-round decision over Earnie Shavers in 1977 but struggled to stay on his feet. Clearly, he was never the same again after Manila. Before bowing to Berbick, Ali was humbled by his former sparmate Holmes who scored a 10th round stoppage in Las Vegas.

Not too many fans know that Ali turned to boxing only after his white Schwinn bike was stolen when he was 12 in Louisville. Ali, then Cassius Clay, reported the theft to a policeman named Joe Martin who happened to be a youth boxing coach. Martin recalled that Ali was crying and talking about beating up the thief whoever he was. Martin advised Ali to take up boxing lessons in case he encountered the thief. Six weeks later, Ali made his amateur boxing debut weighing 89 pounds and ground out a three-round split decision win over Ronnie O’Keefe. Martin saw Ali’s potential immediately and marvelled at his speed, raw talent and determination.

Martin was with Ali when he won the gold medal at the Rome Olympics in 1960. At the time, Ali had a fear of flying and wouldn’t board the plane to Rome unless he had a parachute in his hands.

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Today, Ali is cared for by his wife Lonnie Smith. He is afflicted with Parkinson’s disease and has lost the ability to speak. In 2011, Ali made a rare public appearance to attend Frazier’s funeral. “For Muhammad, he was always a tremendous athlete, the best athlete of the 20th century and now he’s got Parkinson’s disease,” said his physician Dr. Abraham Lieberman. “He wasn’t what he once was and I don’t think he wanted to admit it. And on the other hand, I think he recognized that because he was Ali and God had given him all these powers, there was a reason that he had Parkinson’s disease and maybe, that reason was to give back.

 “He’s a very proud, very determined person and he’s never complained about it. I think his biggest loss is his voice; his voice is very low and people can’t hear him and that was his great, famous voice so that frustrates him. But he’s never really complained or been bitter or angry or anything like that. He’s a devout Muslim and he believes that it’s God’s will.”

Ali revolutionized not only boxing but sports as a whole. He introduced the shuffle, the rope-a-dope and the so-called Russian Tank defense in boxing. In sports, he rendered meaning to showmanship, entertainment, hard work, walking the talk and giving back. Ali once said he was the undisputed GOAT. Now as before, Ali is untouched as the Greatest of All Time.