Muhammad Ali: Greatest of All Time
On the 50th anniversary of Cassius Clay’s first pro fight, a former boxing referee and TV commentator, who has been watching since 1960, unpicks the greatness in The Greatest.
I know for a fact I was 23 years old in 1960, and that there was a bout at the Olympics in Rome where a cruiserweight boxer, a black American called Cassius Clay, won the gold medal with ease. What I don’t know is whether I saw the final bout on TV back then, or whether I saw footage of the fight much later and have imagined ever since that I saw it live.
But what I also know is after 1960, there wasn’t a single fight of Cassius Clay’s, and later Muhammad Ali’s, that I missed a single round of if it was shown on TV. That can’t only have been for sporting reasons. It must have had something to do with fascination, entertainment and, in the end, pity.
Clay boxed first as a light heavyweight and later, before his long and enforced hiatus, as a heavyweight in the style of a welterweight. His footwork, punch rate, variety of punches and, most remarkably, his evading movements were unlike anything anyone had ever seen in heavyweight boxing.
He turned professional as soon as he’d won his gold medal, as is the American tradition, then made a fool of a host of sparring partners, announced in what round a bout would end and developed a one-two PR tactic of complaining and megalomania, which those close to his action knew was all shtick and virtuoso humour. Clay created a character, a role for himself.
Some people were provoked by it, others amused. He made himself a media bestseller. The way Clay taunted his opponents was also forgivable, as they themselves must have known it was all part of the act.
For the full story pick up the October Red Bulletin Magazine.
