The media is plastered with tributes and articles about the life of the most magnificent Muhammad Ali. What can I add - I want to say something. Like just about everyone else in the world I felt/feel love for him. How can that be? Can I describe why? I think it has to do with respect and admiration for the incredible warrior he was - but hugely to do with his humility, his natural intelligence, his mesmerising personality, his fantastic sense of humour and tongue in cheek showmanship and most of all the warmth as a human being he took with him wherever he was. He was a great man and like so many others I followed his career and life with joy and a touch of despair for the toll his boxing career eventually took on his super human body - but fortunately despite the debilitating Parkinsons that got hold of him in later years he retained all the wit and warmth and intelligence that made just a few mumbling words from him so special and endearing.
This is the memory of Muhammad Ali I want to share (although there are so many). June 1963. I am awaken late by my dad's radio in my parents bedroom next to mine. I go in. Dad is listening to the Cassius Clay v Henry Cooper fight. I sat on the bed and listen too.
I cannot describe it. It was one of the fights of the century. Our Enry - not a big man by modern day heavyweight standards - famous for his fantastic left hook - Enry's Ammer (he was a Londoner - a Cockney). Henry with his tissue paper skin was much older than the sensational young Olympic champion - to be Muhammad Ali.
Here is a link to the fight - but focus on the pre and post interviews. Ali's joke at the weigh in - teasing Enry about a bit of excess around his girth and Enry laughing - and the respect after the fight. The fight itself Enry's Ammer knocks down Ali at the end of the 4th. Angelo Dundee - the torn glove - the long count - Henry overwhelmed by Ali in the 5th and the horrible cut. A real fight.
That is another wonderful this about Ali - all his opponents - how ever much Ali wound them up before and during the fights - ended up loving him too. What a human being. What a man.
The link to the interviews:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=cooper+ali+fight&&view=detail&mid=C9E5798E0906A0EF3515C9E5798E0906A0EF3515&rvsmid=C9E5798E0906A0EF3515C9E5798E0906A0EF3515&fsscr=0&FORM=VDMCNL
The link to the fight:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=cooper+ali+fight&&view=detail&mid=5FE8C67FBE00316B92C55FE8C67FBE00316B92C5&rvsmid=C9E5798E0906A0EF3515C9E5798E0906A0EF3515&fsscr=0&FORM=VDQVAP
This is the memory of Muhammad Ali I want to share (although there are so many). June 1963. I am awaken late by my dad's radio in my parents bedroom next to mine. I go in. Dad is listening to the Cassius Clay v Henry Cooper fight. I sat on the bed and listen too.
I cannot describe it. It was one of the fights of the century. Our Enry - not a big man by modern day heavyweight standards - famous for his fantastic left hook - Enry's Ammer (he was a Londoner - a Cockney). Henry with his tissue paper skin was much older than the sensational young Olympic champion - to be Muhammad Ali.
Here is a link to the fight - but focus on the pre and post interviews. Ali's joke at the weigh in - teasing Enry about a bit of excess around his girth and Enry laughing - and the respect after the fight. The fight itself Enry's Ammer knocks down Ali at the end of the 4th. Angelo Dundee - the torn glove - the long count - Henry overwhelmed by Ali in the 5th and the horrible cut. A real fight.
That is another wonderful this about Ali - all his opponents - how ever much Ali wound them up before and during the fights - ended up loving him too. What a human being. What a man.
The link to the interviews:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=cooper+ali+fight&&view=detail&mid=C9E5798E0906A0EF3515C9E5798E0906A0EF3515&rvsmid=C9E5798E0906A0EF3515C9E5798E0906A0EF3515&fsscr=0&FORM=VDMCNL
The link to the fight:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=cooper+ali+fight&&view=detail&mid=5FE8C67FBE00316B92C55FE8C67FBE00316B92C5&rvsmid=C9E5798E0906A0EF3515C9E5798E0906A0EF3515&fsscr=0&FORM=VDQVAP
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