I don’t have to be what you want me to be. I’m free to be what I want.
Muhammad Ali was a fast-talking, world-conquering inspiration in and out of the boxing ring – but, writes Liam Napier ,to many Kiwis he was a humble hero.
‘‘I am the greatest,’’ he proclaimed. And he was the greatest. By the time he arrived in New Zealand in 1979, he had rumbled in the jungle, defied the United States military machine by refusing to go to Vietnam and wowed the world with his sublime poetry skills.
But that wasn’t enough to earn him an invite to dinner at Rima Arapai’s house.
Arapai had always dreamed of saving enough money to go to America to meet his hero. Instead, Ali came to New Zealand.
So Arapai put on his best corduroy pants, his jandals and his Muhammad Ali T-shirt, and fast-talked his way into Auckland’s Intercontinental Hotel for breakfast with The Greatest.
The two hit it off. Ali asked Arapai if he could come home for dinner – but Arapai’s wife Doreen refused. The house was too messy.
Ali touched the lives of many New Zealanders, and touched up a few too.
Lance Revill was an upcoming boxer in 1979 when he grabbed the opportunity to go a few rounds with Ali. The now president of the New Zealand Professional Boxing Association was in the crowd at Western Springs as Ali dealt to a few pretenders.
Making his way to ringside, suddenly Ali beckoned him into the ring. ‘‘He saw me and said ‘you’re the great white hope’. I got in the ring and had brown boots and bellbottom pants and a paisley shirt which was the fashion back then,’’ Revill said.
‘‘As I put my gloves on my heart was beating like a bastard.
‘‘I turned and looked at Ali and thought ‘I’m going to have a go at him I might as well make it worthwhile and give the crowd some excitement’.’’
When the bell ran to end the round, an exhausted Revill retreated to his corner, slumped on the ropes and tried to get his gloves off – job done, he thought. Ali had other ideas. He came over and slapped Revill on the back and said ‘‘one more round’’.
‘‘I took a whack in the forehead and I was against the ropes and seeing stars.’’
Later that night Revill went out on the town with a banged up face. When he told people Ali did the damage, they didn’t believe him.
Billy Graham, the inspirational boxing coach, met Ali three times. ‘‘He was a story-teller. He was a lover, laugher and a fighter,’’ Graham said.
Graham’s fondest memory came when he took four boxers from the Naenae Academy to spend time with the champion in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2012. ‘‘All he could do was grunt and he had tears in his eyes.’’
‘‘And he’s going to be missed. Like Elvis, he was a one-off.’’
Olympic silver medallist Kevin Barry met Ali twice and said his achievements went far beyond the boxing ring. ‘‘He preached about freedom and equality and for millions of people the experience of being black changed because of Muhammad Ali.’’
Just as in 1979, Ali inspired young Pacific Islander Rima Arapai, so today he inspires Samoan Kiwi heavyweight contender Joseph Parker.
‘‘Rest in peace to the greatest,’’ Parker said yesterday. ‘‘Muhammad Ali you changed the game and you’ll be forever missed.’’
‘‘I am the greatest,’’ Ali used to say repeatedly. ‘‘I said that even before I knew I was. I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.’’ He is the greatest, now and forever. No more convincing required.