Ali said Cooper blow was so painful it was felt by his ancestors in Africa .. that brutal knockdown could’ve been end of legend had trainer Dundee not bought him crucial seconds by ripping a bigger hole in his glove
In recent years, whenever I caught sight of Muhammad Ali in his wheelchair, I didn’t see a figure with a broken body.
I still saw an Adonis who transformed boxing and transcended all sportsmen.
Yesterday, television text described him as one of the world’s greatest sportsmen. WRONG.
Ali was not one of the world’s greatest sportsmen. He was quite simply THE GREATEST of all time. He told us so himself – and he was correct.
Ali was also the most famous man on the planet. His fame transcended that of presidents and prime ministers.
His name was known in the deepest jungles of Africa and the wilds of the Australian outback.
He was a controversial, charismatic figure who polarised opinion.
He ditched what he described as his “slave name” of Cassius Marcellus Clay, converted to Islam and refused to be conscripted into the US Military.
Absurdly, some tried to claim his refusal to fight in Vietnam was an act of cowardice. How utterly preposterous.
Ali had the heart of a lion. His refusal was based on the belief that he owed America nothing, given the way his race had been treated, and the fact he had no personal beef with the Vietcong.
I grew up watching Ali perform his ring magic in sometimes grainy black and white TV images beamed across the Atlantic.
I was faintly aware of him in 1960 when, as an 18-year-old Olympian, he won gold at the Rome Games.
However, it was two or three years later that I became fully cognisant of the man who changed boxing forever and transformed the heavyweight division into pure box office.
He was a real life Rocky Balboa. But in June 1963 he appeared decidedly mortal when he was dumped on his backside by Henry Cooper at Wembley Stadium.
Indeed, but for his trainer Angelo Dundee’s intervention, the legend might never have been born. Dundee had the presence of mind to buy time and delay the start of the fifth round by extending a tear in one of the dazed Ali’s gloves.
In the event, Ali recovered most of his composure and opened up a severe cut under Cooper’s eye. With blood streaming down the Englishman’s face, the referee had to stop the fight.
To his credit, Ali later said of the punch that floored him: “He hit me so hard my ancestors in Africa felt it!”
There was a rematch with Cooper three years later at Highbury Stadium, by which time Ali was world champion.
It ended in much the same way as the f irst, with Our ’ Enry’s scar tissue around his eyes opening up and leading to a sixth-round stoppage.
In the intervening period, Ali had twice disposed of “big ugly bear” Sonny Liston to become King of the World.
One by one, all challengers to his crown were dealt with before Ali lost nearly four years at the peak of his career in the wake of his refusal to be drafted.
When he did return in October 1970, he was no longer world champ.
For a time at least we wondered if he would ever regain that status after he lost a unanimous points decision to Joe Frazier for the WBA and WBC titles.
But when Ali lost to Ken Norton in
Some claimed Ali’s refusal to fight in Vietnam was act of cowardice. That’s utterly preposterous. Ali had the
March 1973, further doubts were expressed about his ability to become a two-time world champion.
He defeated Norton in a rematch six months later and Ali was back on track.
A unanimous decision in his favour in the second Ali-Frazier showdown, in January 1974, underlined that he was still the force to be reckoned with.
The Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire in October 1974 confirmed that when he knocked out George Foreman in round eight to win the WBC and WBA titles.
A year later, Frazier’s corner threw in the towel in the Thrilla in Manila to hallmark Ali’s greatness.
Ali’s defeat by Leon Spinks suggested he was near the end of the road. But there was a last hurrah. In September 1978, he outpointed Spinks in a rematch to regain the WBA crown and make history as the only man to become a three-time world heavyweight champion.
He did so with a combination of a fantastic boxing brain, unique footwork and lightning fast hands plus an aura of invincibility that intimidated his rivals.
Few of us are fortunate enough to get a chance to meet our heroes. I have been blessed these past 40 years in my job as a sportswriter to meet many.
But if I had to pick just one – from Pele to Palmer, Baxter to Best, Nicklaus to Watson and their Duel in the Sun – it’s no contest. My moment came 23 years ago in Glasgow when Ali was promoting the publication of a pictorial history of his career, “A Thirty Year Journey”.
I idolised Ali, always will, and meeting him was one of the most memorable experiences of my life.
Some years ago, someone asked if I had really wanted to meet my hero when he was no longer perfect. You bet I did.
Ali enriched the lives of so many, why would you have wanted him shut away in his twilight years?
No man apart from Martin Luther King did more to smash the race barrier and the world owes Ali a debt of gratitude.
He was quite simply The Greatest.