Muhammad Ali - 2
BIRTH OF AN ICON
February 26, 1964…A day after winning the revered world heavyweight championship by dethroning the supposedly invincible Sonny Liston, an icon was born - a man destined to rule his sport like no other champions before and after. Here is a man who is willing to fight not only all contenders but also the establishment that have for centuries treated the Blacks in America as inferior creatures. Here is a man who unhesitatingly threw the gold medal he won for America at the 1960 Rome Olympics because the white American restaurant staff refused to serve him.
February 25, 1964…Miami Beach Convention Hall, Florida bear witness to the destruction of the invincible. Days earlier, 43 out of 46 boxing writers in the U.S. have predicted an early knock-out for the young challenger, Cassius Clay. One writer from The New York Post even wrote that Clay would not last more than 18 seconds. Of the eight past champions who were still alive then, not even a single soul gave Clay a ghost of a chance. The editors of New York Times, anticipating a disaster, instructed his beat writer to chart a route from the arena to the nearest hospital. Even Clay’s own physician, Dr Ferdie Pacheco could not hide his fear and went as far as identifying the specific hospital to admit Clay should the ‘expected’ happened, i.e. serious injury to his fighter.
The ‘expected’!!! True, nearly every person associated with boxing have seen the brutal demolitions of experienced fighters. And if past fights were taken as a yardstick, chances are that the challenger will end up in hospital. How devastatingly ferocious is Sonny Liston?
Of the last 14 fights prior to this event, 13 did not last the distance. The last two did not even survive the first round. Floyd Patterson, the defending champion was sent to the canvas in 126 seconds and lasted only 4 seconds longer in the return bout. Comparing the brute force of Sonny Liston to that of Mike Tyson, experts predicted that Tyson would only have 2 chances against Liston - slim and none. Unlike other boxers who throw straight jabs at opponents, Liston’s Jab is thrown upwards with such brute force that it could lift opponents off their feet.
Knowing such ferocity in the oponent’s arsenal, why did Clay choose to fight the champion? After all, Clay still lacked experience. Having fought unbeaten in 19 professional bouts is no passport to victory against an opponent who had never gotten favour out of life and never given one out himself. An ex convict bent on destroying every single fighter who dared to cross his path, Liston was no mean opponent. Was it confidence or arrogance that propelled Clay to not only challenge Liston but alarmingly predicted that Liston will be out for good by round 8!!!
No. Clay also has doubts. A few days before the fight, he went to see the promoter and asked for 10 thousand dollars to equip his bus with medical facilities should the ‘inevitable’ happened. The cleverly disguised fear and doubts were unmasked the moment Clay climbed up the ring to face Liston. Dr Ferdie Pacheco summed it up, “…for the first and the last time, I saw fear on Clay’s face…”. But as destiny will have it, greatness belong to those who could turn fear into lethal weapons.
During prefight instructions, and before the first punch was thrown, Clay had already scored a moral victory in the art known as ’intimidations’. Instead of evading Liston’s stare, Clay did the opposite. He looked directly into Liston’s eyes while repeating the words “I am the greatest”. Will he be what he claimed to be?
Through out the fight, virtually every punch thrown by Liston misses the target. For the first time in his career, Liston encountered a unique opponent whose agility is synonymous with a lightweight albeit with the punching power of a heavyweight. Clay, the dancing master, a boxer whose rhyme ”float like a butterfly sting like a bee” was dishing out boxing lesson to the ‘invincible’ champion. By the third round, the incessant jab on Liston’s face had opened up a gash under his left eye. And when the bell sounded for commencement of round 7, Liston refused to continue. For the first time since July 4, 1919, a champion surrendered his crown sitting down on his stool.
Professional fight number 20 was his last fight under the ’slave’ name of Cassius Clay. Thereafter, he will be known as Muhammad Ali…the greatest of all time…icon of all icons.
In recognition for his contributions, the US government bestowed upon him (there are no titles of Datuk, Datuk Sri, Tan Sri or Tun in the US) the honour of lighting the Olympic torch during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. At the same venue, he was presented a duplicate of the gold medal he won during the 1960 Rome Olympics, the original medal of which he threw into a river in disgust, disgusted with the racial discriminations prevalent in the US then.
Feb 26, 1964…a legend was born, a legend who bring smile to the faces of millions, a legend who touches the hearts of the human race irrespective of colour or creed.
If there is ever a sportsman whose shadow lies longer and bigger than his beloved sport, it is him - Muhammad Ali.
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April 21st, 2009 at 10:01 pm
nice article young man..u did a great job with the story..by the way, how did he get the phrase “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”?can you write one article about it?i mean the history of the phrase..tq..