Muhammad Ali: one last time

Today, boxing legend, Muhammad Ali, will go
home in a blaze of glory. The eyes of the world
will be on him one more time – one last time –
before he is committed to eternity at the Cave
Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky.

This time, he will be displayed in state. He will
not be displaying his prodigious boxing talents nor
dispensing to a mesmerised audience his gift of
gab and poetry which combined euphonically with
his pugilistic artistry to make him, indeed, “the
greatest” in the boxing ring and one of the most
outstanding personalities of the 20th Century.

It is very rare for nature to endow one man with
so many sublime gifts. Ali was a spectacular piece
of male specie to behold: tall, elegant and
singularly comely. Yet, there was great power,
speed and strategy in his punches. He was also
quick with his tongue and spontaneously belted
out poetic sound bites that left longer lasting
impacts than his knockout punches.

Ali predicted when he would win fights, and often
delivered as promised. He was more than just a
boxer in so many ways. As a Black activist, he
refused to fight for America in the Vietnam War.

He refused to kill “Yellow people” when Blacks
like him were treated like dogs at home. In fact,
Ali (formerly named Cassius Clay) embraced Islam
as part of his rebellion against a system that
treated Black people with contempt.

So, when people went to watch Ali in the ring, it
was not just the fights they went to see. It was a
combination of all these outstanding attributes
which drew millions of people to the noble game
of boxing. Ali made boxing one of the most
popular sports in the world, and when he retired,
it was not until another great (Mike Tyson) came
along that boxing became interesting again,
especially in the heavyweight category.

Muhammad Ali was a three-time world champion,
which means he was beaten three times though
he came back to regain the titles. He was
definitely not invincible, and eventually, was
permanently victimised by the punishments he
received from his opponents. For 32 years he
lived with the Parkinson’s disease, which gradually
took everything, except his legend, from him.

The 1960 Olympic Gold medalist was to confess
that God gave him this massively wasting disease
to let him know that he (Ali) “was not the
greatest”. Only God is. Human greatness, in the
end, is vanity. Always.

The entire world stands still with deep
appreciation as Ali shrugs off the simplicity of
Islamic burial in favour of the pageantry of a
Hollywood-style celebrity exit.

We wish his soul eternal rest.