An amazing volume...
But "crazy" Clay beat up the fearsome Liston, shortly thereafter became known as Muhammad Ali, and the rest, as they like to say, is h-i-s-t-o-r-y.
-
And the book, Ringside Ali, compiled and edited by John Miller and Aron Kenedi has some absolutely delicious words and eye-candy in it to further the legend.
his ability to piss off our parents.
-
Oh, how "The Greatest Generation" hated his guts for not going to 'Nam!
One forgets that though a clown never imitates a wise man, a wise man can
imitate a clown.
It is almost 50 years now, since a young Cassius Clay returned to Louisville, Kentucky as the 1960 Olympic Gold Medal winner in light heavyweight boxing.
-
Clay would quickly turn pro, and compile an undefeated record,
regularly fighting in the US and even over in England, against so-so to good opponents.
-
-Clay would quickly turn pro, and compile an undefeated record,
regularly fighting in the US and even over in England, against so-so to good opponents.
-
Yet young Cassius was still considered by the boxing "experts" to be nothing more than a showman with a big mouth and small punch, Clay was not taken seriously when he met Sonny Liston for the heavyweight title in Miami on Feb. 25, 1964, and Rocky Marciano actually said before the fight that, "Clay should see a good psychiatrist."
-
But "crazy" Clay beat up the fearsome Liston, shortly thereafter became known as Muhammad Ali, and the rest, as they like to say, is h-i-s-t-o-r-y.-
And the book, Ringside Ali, compiled and edited by John Miller and Aron Kenedi has some absolutely delicious words and eye-candy in it to further the legend.
-
Such as, an interview with Ali conducted by Alex Haley in which Ali describes
in intimate detail his victory over Liston, an insightful essay by Norman Mailer
Such as, an interview with Ali conducted by Alex Haley in which Ali describes
in intimate detail his victory over Liston, an insightful essay by Norman Mailer
on the Rumble In The Jungle, and an introduction by James Earl Jones.
-
As someone who was fortunate enough to have watched many mid 1960s Ali fights live on television, and then beginning with the first Joe Frazier fight on
closed circuit, I'd have to describe this book as beyond a stroll down memory lane.
-
-
As someone who was fortunate enough to have watched many mid 1960s Ali fights live on television, and then beginning with the first Joe Frazier fight on
closed circuit, I'd have to describe this book as beyond a stroll down memory lane.-
Ali was the archetype hero to the counterculture and Baby Boomers.
-
My father and his friends hated Ali, and dearly wanted to see him punched
out and vanquished.
-
-
My father and his friends hated Ali, and dearly wanted to see him punched
out and vanquished.
-
Hell, Ali was so far from a Joe Louis "credit to his race" figure as to make
him from another planet.
-
So of course my friends and I all loved Ali, first for his skills and second for
him from another planet.
-
So of course my friends and I all loved Ali, first for his skills and second for
his ability to piss off our parents.-
Oh, how "The Greatest Generation" hated his guts for not going to 'Nam!
-
Man, those were the days.
-
But perhaps Malcolm X summed up Ali the best:
-
Man, those were the days.
-
But perhaps Malcolm X summed up Ali the best:
-
"Not many people know the quality of the mind he's got in there.
-
He fools them.
-
-
He fools them.
-
One forgets that though a clown never imitates a wise man, a wise man canimitate a clown.
-
He is sensitive, very humble, yet shrewd-with as much untapped mental
energy as he has physical power."
energy as he has physical power."
-
No comments:
Post a Comment