Fiaz Rafiq - Muhammad Ali: The Life of a Legend

MUHAMMAD ALI

FIAZ RAFIQ

This edition first published in Great Britain in 2020 by

ARENA SPORT

An imprint of Birlinn Limited

West Newington House

10 Newington Road

Edinburgh

EH9 1QS

www.arenasportbooks.co.uk

First published in 2010 as Muhammad Ali: Conversations by HNL Publishing

Copyright Fiaz Rafiq, 2010 & 2020

ISBN: 9781909715936

eBook ISBN: 9781788853293

The right of Fiaz Rafiq to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written permission of the publisher.

Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologises for any errors or omissions and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available on request from the British Library.

Designed and typeset by Polaris Publishing, Edinburgh

www.polarispublishing.com

Printed in Great Britain by CPI Group

A big thank you to the staff of M.A.I. and Impact magazines: Moira, Martin, Neal, John, Roy and especially editor Bob Sykes for giving me the opportunity and embracing me earlier on my writing career. The fifteen years working relationship was fun. To all my editors at the magazines and national newspapers whose help and support have contributed to my success in my professional writing career. Also, I would like to thank the personalities I have interviewed over the years from the sports and entertainment worlds you are an integral part of the reason behind my success.

I would like to thank my personal long-time friends Diana Lee Inosanto; Royce Gracie; Rasheda Ali; Ron Balicki; Bob Sykes; Ronnie Green, Lance Lewis, Seyfi Shevket and Peter Consterdine for their countless years of support and encouragement.

I would like to thank Muhammad Alis brother Rahaman Ali, and Ron Brashear for their friendship and working relationship. I would like to thank my agent Charlie Brotherstone.

Thank you to my editor Joel Snape for editing the manuscript. A special thank you must go to Neville Moir and my editor Pete Burns at my publishers, Arena, for believing in me and for all their hard work.

I would like to thank my friends in the industry, both in the USA and United Kingdom, who have enriched my life and supported me.

Last but not least, thanks to the man himself, Muhammad Ali, and also Bruce Lee, for without you both my dreams may never have manifested into a reality.

I was deeply honored when my dear friend Fiaz Rafiq asked me to write the foreword to his book Muhammad Ali: The Life of a Legend. It was refreshing to read all of the beautiful encounters from prominent figures that made a huge impact in my fathers career. Figures such as Angelo Dundee, Jim Brown, Sugar Ray Leonard, George Foreman, Chuck Wepner, Larry Holmes, Dr. Harry Edwards, Lou Gossett Jr, Jose Sulaiman, Butch Lewis, and many others. These stories encompass the diversity of my father: the sportsman, friend, father, family man, humanitarian and icon.

What made my dad the greatest was his inexplicable talents in the ring, but most of all the love he had for his people. It was incredibly spiritual how he made others, especially minorities and African-Americans, feel about themselves. What he stood for and how he inspired the world to be great and do great things will continue to impact the very foundation of our hearts. I hope this oral biography helps to inspire others to not only love themselves, but make a difference in others lives and encourage us to be the best version of ourselves.

Thank you for the memories.

God bless.

Rasheda Ali

One of the most remarkable personalities of our time and perhaps the greatest sportsman to emerge in the modern era is Muhammad Ali. A figure of mythic proportions who was perhaps the most recognizable man alive in his time, at the height of his career The Greatest made it into the Guinness Book of Records for being the most written about human being on the planet. Ali himself, of course, was characteristically humble about his own stature. Im the most recognized and loved man that ever lived because there werent no satellites when Jesus and Moses were around, he told one interviewer, not long after John Lennon proclaimed The Beatles bigger than Jesus. So people far away in the villages didnt know about them.

Almost four decades after his last fight, Ali is still remembered for both his boxing and his principles for the daring lean-away style and hummingbird jab that flummoxed Sonny Liston and the stand he took against the Vietnam War, for his battles with Frazier and Foreman and his willingness to spend time with almost anyone. He was a fighter with a great love for the world, and a figure who carried his bravery far beyond the ring. He might be more beloved today than he was as the heavyweight champ, appealing to men and women, young and old.

For me, Ali has been one of the two great influences in my life. Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee both impacted pop culture and the world in different ways, two fighters who changed the meaning of the word and had a profound effect on me personally. Both men stood up for what they believed in. Both men fought against racist stereotypes, overcame insurmountable odds and left legacies that are still in evidence today. Lees spectacular life was cut short as he was reaching him prime his early death cemented his legendary status. Ali lived to the ripe age of 74, and his influence is arguably greater.

Having already interviewed dozens of Bruce Lees friends, relatives and associates to write an oral history of the Little Dragon, I knew from experience that such an endeavor was one of the best ways to shed new light on a beloved icon. I also knew from the beginning of writing this book that attempting to capture the life of an individual of the caliber of Ali would be an arduous task to say nothing of trying to say something new about a man who has had so many column inches, books, films and TV shows devoted to him. Nevertheless, The Greatest endeared himself to me as I pursued him with every revelation from his friends and family revealing more about a man that so many people know something about. I was intrigued as I immersed myself in Alis life, finding new depths to a man already famous for his charitable work and giving nature. There were also complexities to the three-time heavyweight champion that I had never considered, strengths and weaknesses that humanized the legend as I learned about them. Gradually, I began to piece together the jigsaw puzzle of a complex man his political, social and religious leanings, his sensibilities and habits, and the things that made him so beloved.

I have gone to some lengths to make this tome a balanced read as well as a compelling one. I believe, and Im sure many may share this thought, that it is incumbent to broach the facets of Alis life that go beyond his boxing career. Ali was a catalyst for social change, which resonated with and endeared him to many people. Of course, the humanistic side to the man and the public persona are both appealing and profoundly define the essence of Alis true character.