Tag: boxing
Muhammad Ali Feted By The Famous And Fans In Final Farewell

Muhammad Ali Feted By The Famous And Fans In Final Farewell

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Muhammad Ali was extolled on Friday as a boxer of incomparable grace, a magnetic entertainer and a man of conviction who gave a voice to the oppressed, as a two-day celebration of “The Greatest” came to a rousing end in his Kentucky hometown.

At an emotional memorial service at a Louisville sports arena, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, comedian Billy Crystal, Ali’s wife Lonnie and leaders of many of the world’s religious traditions delivered powerful tributes to the man who Clinton called a “universal soldier for our common humanity.”

“He decided at a very young age to write his own life story,” the former president said. “He decided he would never be disempowered.”

Earlier in the day, an estimated 100,000 people came out to honor Ali on a hot and sunny day, chanting his name and throwing flowers along the 23-mile (37-km) funeral procession. At the end of the route, he was laid to rest in a private burial, one week after he died at the age of 74.

At the interfaith service, A-list celebrities and sports stars converged with thousands of ordinary people to hear Ali remembered as a man who went from Olympic gold medal winner in 1960 to three-time world heavyweight champion to an elder statesman suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Ali, who was once scorned for converting to Islam and lost three years of his boxing career for refusing U.S. military service during the Vietnam War, ended up becoming one of the most celebrated Americans in modern history, at home and abroad.

“What does it say of a man, any man, that he can go from being viewed as one of his country’s most polarizing figures to arguably its most beloved?” sportscaster Bryant Gumbel told the service, which was led by Iman Abdul Shakir, one of Ali’s spiritual mentors.

One of his enduring contributions was to restore pride in African Americans after centuries of being denied a sense of “somebody-ness,” said Rev. Kevin Cosby, senior pastor of St. Stephen Church in Louisville.

“Before James Brown said, ‘I’m black and I’m proud,’ Muhammad Ali said, ‘I’m black and I’m pretty,’ Cosby said, comparing the boastful boxer to the “Godfather of Soul.” Ali “dared to love black people at a time when black people had a problem loving themselves.”

The event proved to be a rare combination of politics, sports, entertainment and religion, a testimony of Ali’s impact on so many aspects of life.

At times, it took on a decidedly political tone.

The crowd cheered when Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of the Jewish interfaith magazine Tikkun, made a rousing reference to Hillary Clinton, Bill’s wife and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

Lerner also took a swipe at Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, who has called for a temporary ban on foreign Muslims entering the country.

“We will not tolerate politicians or anyone else putting down Muslims and blaming Muslims for a few people,” said Lerner.

 

‘TREMENDOUS BOLT OF LIGHTNING’

Ali had laid out the plans for his own funeral many years before. Boxers, actors, old friends and even Jordan’s King Abdullah came to Louisville, while Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attended the Muslim funeral on Thursday and did not stay for the Friday event, as had been planned.

Adding levity to the service was Crystal, who reprised bits of his trademark comedy routine in which he imitates Ali and sportscaster Howard Cosell, an important early supporter of Ali during his most polarizing years.

“He was funny, he was beautiful, he was the most perfect athlete that you ever saw … and those were his own words,” said Crystal, a longtime pal who Ali called “my little brother.”

But Crystal also highlighted Ali’s significance as a cultural force, a conscience of the country at a time of sweeping social change.

“He was a tremendous bolt of lightning created by Mother Nature out of thin air,” he said. “Muhammad Ali struck us in the middle of America’s darkest night. Ali forced us to take a look at ourselves.”

Hours before the indoor ceremony, some 1,500 people gathered outside Ali’s boyhood home in a traditionally African-American section of town, awaiting the procession. As Ali’s hearse arrived, police standing shoulder-to-shoulder cleared a path, much like a fighter’s entourage clears his way to the ring.

The hearse stopped at the pink house as the people, many of whom waited in the sun for more than three hours, chanted his name.

“It was important for me to be here,” said Matt Alexander, 63, who traveled from Florida. “I cried like a baby when I heard he’d died. I just didn’t want to believe it because I wanted him to live forever.”

 

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Muhammad Ali: ‘Greatest’ Boxer, Showman, Ambassador

Muhammad Ali: ‘Greatest’ Boxer, Showman, Ambassador

(Reuters) – More than 60 years ago, a bicycle thief in Louisville, Kentucky, unknowingly set in motion one of the most amazing sports careers in history.

An angry 12-year-old Cassius Clay went to a policeman on that day in 1954, vowing he would find the thief who took his bike and have his revenge. The policeman’s advice was to learn to box first so Clay, who would later change his name to Muhammad Ali, went to a gym, where he learned quite well.

He would go on to be a record-setting heavyweight champion and also much more. Ali was handsome, bold and outspoken and became a symbol for black liberation as he stood up to the U.S. government by refusing to go into the Army for religious reasons.

As one of the best-known figures of the 20th century, Ali did not believe in modesty and proclaimed himself not only “the greatest” but “the double greatest.”

He died on Friday at the age of 74 after suffering for more than three decades with Parkinson’s syndrome, which stole his physical grace and killed his loquaciousness.

Americans had never seen an athlete – or perhaps any public figure – like Ali. He was heavyweight champ a record three times between 1964 and 1978, taking part in some of the sport’s most epic bouts. He was cocky and rebellious and psyched himself up by taunting opponents and reciting original poems that predicted the round in which he would knock them out in. The audacity caused many to despise Ali but endeared him to millions.

“He talked, he was handsome, he did wonderful things,” said George Foreman, a prominent Ali rival. “If you were 16 years old and wanted to copy somebody, it had to be Ali.”

Ali’s emergence coincided with the American civil rights movement and his persona offered young blacks something they did not get from Martin Luther King and other leaders of the era.

“I am America. I am the part you won’t recognize,” Ali said. “But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.”

Ali also had his share of fights outside the ring – against public opinion when he became a Muslim in 1964, against the U.S. government when he refused to be inducted into the Army during the Vietnam War and finally against Parkinson’s.

The one-time Christian Baptist became the most famous convert to Islam in American history when he announced he had joined the Black Muslim movement under the guidance of Malcolm X shortly after he first became champion. He eventually rejected his “white” name and became Muhammad Ali but split from Malcolm X during a power struggle within the movement.

The U.S. Army twice rejected Ali for service after measuring his IQ at 78 but eventually declared him fit for service. When he was drafted on April 28, 1967, he refused induction and the next day was stripped of his title by the World Boxing Association. In June of that year he was found guilty of draft evasion and sentenced to five years in jail.

“Man, I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong. No Vietnamese ever called me a nigger,” Ali said in a famous off-the-cuff statement.

He never went to jail while his case was on appeal and in 1971 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction. Still, Ali’s career had been at a standstill for almost 3-1/2 years because boxing officials would not give him licenses to fight.

 

‘FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY’

He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on Jan. 17, 1942, as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., a name shared with a 19th century slavery abolitionist. His early boxing lessons led to several Golden Gloves titles in his youth and his career took off when he won a gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

His first professional fight was a six-round decision victory on Oct. 29, 1960, against Tunney Hunsaker, whose day job was police chief in Fayetteville, West Virginia.

Despite an undefeated record, Ali was a decisive underdog 3- 1/2 years later in Miami when he faced Sonny Liston, the glowering ex-convict who was then the heavyweight champion.

Ali’s credo in the ring was “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” and his dazzling hand and foot speed confounded Liston, as it would many bigger, more powerful opponents to come. Ali became world champion when Liston did not answer the bell for the seventh round.

 

THE ALI-FRAZIER BATTLES

Joe Frazier became the heavyweight champion while Ali was dormant appealing against his draft conviction and, after Ali’s 1970 return to the ring, the two took part in three classic fights.

The first, billed as the “Fight of the Century” in New York in 1971, was a tremendous battle that showed Ali still possessed his skills. Frazier dropped him with a left hook in the last round and, even though Ali rose quickly, Frazier won the fight on a decision. It was Ali’s first defeat after 31 victories.

Frazier lost the title to Foreman in January 1973 but the second Ali-Frazier bout still drew enormous attention in 1974 with a 32-year-old Ali winning a unanimous decision.

Then came the “Rumble in the Jungle” match against Foreman for the heavyweight crown in Kinshasa, Zaire, on Oct. 30, 1974. Ali had a surprise ploy – a passive “rope-a-dope” strategy in which he laid back against the ropes, essentially hiding behind his arms and inviting the larger, stronger Foreman to hit him until he was too tired to hit anymore.

It paid off in the eighth round, when Ali knocked out the weary Foreman with a left-right combination.

It was one of the brightest moments of Ali’s career, confirming him as one of the greatest fighters of all time.

Ali defended his title three times in 1975 before meeting Frazier once more in October in the “Thrilla in Manila.” The bout was fought in brutal heat and Ali won when Frazier’s trainer would not allow him to go out for the final round.

On Feb. 15, 1978, a careless, lethargic Ali lost his title to little-known Leon Spinks in a 15-round decision. Seven months later, he reclaimed the title with a 15-round decision over Spinks. The victory, when Ali was four months shy of 37, came 14 years after he had won his first championship.

However, Ali, whose entourage helped him to spend several fortunes, needed money and refused to leave the sport even when it was apparent that age had sapped his talents.

He retired about a year after beating Spinks but came back in 1980 to fight former sparring mate Larry Holmes, losing a lopsided bout that was stopped after 10 rounds.

A year later, he ignored pleas to retire and lost to journeyman Trevor Berbick in the Bahamas. Then he retired for good with a record of 56 wins, including 37 knockouts, and five losses.

 

AFTER THE RING

Ali did not have to be in a boxing ring to command the world stage. In 1990, a few months after Iraq invaded Kuwait, Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein held dozens of foreigners hostages in hopes of averting an invasion of his country. Ali flew to Baghdad, met Saddam and left with 14 American hostages.

A nation that once questioned his patriotism cheered loudly in 1996 when he made a surprise appearance at the Atlanta Games, stilling the Parkinson’s tremors in his hands enough to light the Olympic flame. He also took part in the opening ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012, looking frail in a wheelchair.

In November 2002 he went to Afghanistan on a goodwill visit after being appointed a U.N. “messenger of peace.”

Ali was married four times, most recently to the former Lonnie Williams, who knew him when she was a child in Louisville. He had nine children, including daughter Laila, who became a boxer.

The diagnosis of Parkinson’s syndrome, which has been linked to head trauma, came about three years after Ali retired from boxing in 1981. He helped establish the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at a hospital in Phoenix.

 

(Writing and reporting by Bill Trott; Editing by Frances Kerry and Paul Tait)

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‘Creed’ — A Reminder To ‘Rage Against The Dying Of The Light’

‘Creed’ — A Reminder To ‘Rage Against The Dying Of The Light’

In the new movie Creed, Rocky Balboa once again mounts the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

In the original Rocky, the climb up those stairs was the climax of a training montage that has since become iconic. With the gladiatorial horns and sweeping strings of Bill Conti’s soundtrack pumping full out behind him, Rocky takes those stairs at a celebratory run, dancing and shadowboxing when he reaches the top.

But that was 39 years ago.

In Creed, Rocky walks. He needs help. He has to take a breather. It is a soulful juxtaposition to his run up those same stairs when he was young, a moment of almost unbearable tenderness that reminds you just how long — and how short — is 39 years.

I occasionally find myself wishing I could see Rocky again for the first time. I wish I could experience again that first surge of “Wow!” and “can do!” that came when Rocky Balboa, this unheralded club fighter nobody ever heard of, tagged preening champion Apollo Creed with an up-from-nowhere left that dropped him like an ex-boyfriend. People in the theater were yanked to their feet, cheering. I was one of them.

It is axiomatic that there are moments when art imitates life. But there are also moments, rare though they are, when art impinges life, when it affects you and you find yourself different after the experience than you were before. Rocky was one of those moments for me.

It was a battle cry for underdogs, losers and misfits, a Bronx cheer to conventional wisdom and long odds. It was a reminder that the secret of success is ultimately pretty simple: Get knocked down, but keep getting up.

Creed is all those things, too. But it is also, subtly, something more: a reminder to “rage against the dying of the light.”

You sometimes hear athletes and TV commentators speak of how Father Time is undefeated — and he is. You need only look at 37-year-old Kobe Bryant struggling through his final season of professional basketball to know how true that is. You need only note how abruptly mediocrity landed on Bryant, the fieriest combination of will and skill this side of Michael Jordan, to understand that time is a thief.

Yes, it steals your legs and stamina, your quickness and strength. But that’s just physicality. Time takes more. It takes the places you used to go and things you you used to do. It takes memory. It takes loved ones. Eventually, it takes you.

Life — and Creed — are about how you respond as time does those things. When Rocky was released, writer and star Sylvester Stallone was 30 years old. Almost 40 years later, Creed finds Stallone’s signature character aged, ailing and alone. Adrian, the wife who loved him, Mickey, the manager who trained him, Apollo, the opponent who befriended him, Paulie, the brother-in-law who exasperated him, all are gone.

And on some level, Rocky is simply marking time until he joins them. Enter Adonis Johnson, the out-of-wedlock son of his old opponent. Unheralded like Rocky was, underdog like Rocky was, fighting for respect as Rocky did, he cajoles the old pug into training him. In the process, he also cajoles him back into life.

It’s not simply that Rocky finds a surrogate son or even renewed purpose in readying Adonis for the ring. Rather, it’s that he rediscovers the thing that made him, him.

So much of what time steals, we have no choice about. Your legs are going to go, your loves are going to go, whether you acquiesce to it or not. But to watch Rocky struggle up those steps he once conquered by leaps and bounds is to know that the thing inside that makes you get up from every knockdown is different. Its loss is not predetermined by age. Rather, it’s a choice. You decide to let time take that thing away from you.

Or not.

(Leonard Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla., 33132. Readers may contact him via e-mail at lpitts@miamiherald.com.) (c) 2015 THE MIAMI HERALD DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.

Image: Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan in Creed. (Warner Bros. Entertainment)

Late Night Roundup: President Obama Reads ‘Mean Tweets’

Late Night Roundup: President Obama Reads ‘Mean Tweets’

President Obama flew out to California for an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, including a special presidential edition of Kimmel’s “Mean Tweets” feature.

The Daily Show highlighted an important issue in New York: There are survivors of Hurricane Sandy, from two and a half years ago, whose homes still haven’t been rebuilt, but have instead had to struggle against a bureaucracy that hasn’t kept its promises.

Larry Wilmore hosted a panel on the pitfalls faced by professional boxers, with a very special guest panelist: Mike Tyson.

David Letterman delivered a list, “Top Ten Signs Your Apple Watch Is A Fake.” A particular good one: “Some of its parts weren’t manufactured in China.”