A humble hero: why Ali was greatest
Oscar Kightley retells why Muhammad Ali affected people so much – and how one Kiwi manged to get breakfast with the great man.
As last century’s greats leave us one by one, perhaps we’ve been lucky to have had Muhammad Ali this far into the new millennium.
But now it feels like the last of the great heroes has gone. The last of the heroes of the 20th century whose life had an impact far beyond generations, borders and cultures, like perhaps no hero can do again.
Ali wasn’t born into greatness, privilege or leadership. He took all those things with his lightning-quick and powerful hands – the hands that earned him the world heavyweight boxing title not once, but three times.
Boxing fans like to argue that Ali’s era was a time when it really meant something to be heavyweight champion of the world – that you really were the biggest, baddest fighter on the planet because you had to beat forces of nature with surnames like Liston, Frazier and Foreman.
And all this despite Ali being robbed of his prime years, when, after three years as world champion, his boxing license was suspended in 1967 after he refused to be drafted for the Vietnam War.
He didn’t see the point of going somewhere and shooting at people who were nearly the same colour as him and who had never done things like lynch him or call him names – the sorts of things that had been done to his fellow African Americans in the US.
With that, and the way he conducted himself after being deprived of what he loved the most, Ali became more than just the best boxer on the planet – he became a world leader.
At a time when top sportspeople seemed happy to toe the line as long as they were being paid, Ali dared to speak his mind.
His fans loved him not just because of his magic in the ring but because his willpower, spirit, humour and intellect proved that magic was possible in life – no matter the circumstances or location of your birth.
I was just a kid who became a fan from watching him on TV. The last of his world titles was won in 1978. In February the year after, Ali came to New Zealand where his many fans saw a humble side and were blessed by his common touch.
My mate’s Dad, Freeman’s Bay resident Rima Arapai, was one. When he left the Cook Islands in 1965, Arapai’s No 1 aim was to be an All Black. His next goal was to save up to travel to America to meet his idol Muhammad Ali. HOW ALI BECAME THE GREATEST A life in pictures