Muhammad Ali was, the story goes, the greatest boxer of all time. But that’s not why he’ll
be remembered as the greatest.
Yeah, he was incredibly fast in the ring.
Ali: There’s not a heavyweight in the world fast enough to stop me
He was so powerful, his biggest fights never went 16 rounds. But ali's greatness is all
about the other punches he threw.
“I SHOOK UP THE WORLD, I SHOOK UP THE WORLD, I SHOOK UP THE WORLD”
He always made his boxing about something much bigger than himself
Ali: I wanna fight for the prestige – not for me, but to uplift my brothers who are
sleeping on a concrete floors today in America.
For example, listen to this story about after he won the gold medal in the 1960 olympics.
Ali: I took my gold medal. Thought I’d invented something I said “I’m gonna get my people
[?] I’m the champion of the whole world. I know I can eat downtown now. I went downtown
and had my big old medal on. And at that time things weren’t integrated the black peoples
couldn’t eat downtown. And I went downtown and I sat down and I said “cup of coffee
and a hot dog” this young lady she said “We don’t serve negroes” and I was so
mad I said “I don’t eat em either just give me cup of coffee”
So it might not be a surprise that an early mentor was Malcolm X, then of the Nation of
Islam.
Have you been advising him as far as his religious affiliations are concerned?
Malcom X: Well no I don’t give advice to anyone.
Most people know he changed his name based on his religious beliefs.
But while most accounts say Cassius changed his name to Muhammad Ali, that’s not the
whole story. The morning after Cassius became heavyweight champ, he confirmed publicly that
he was a member of the Nation of Islam and he and Malcolm X announced his new name.
David Remnick: He said he was Cassius X.
Ali: Clay was a white man’s name. It was a slave name.
The X was the Nation of Islam’s way of rejecting a name bestowed by whites.
Days later, Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam, went further.
Manning marable: bestowing upon Cassius X an original name
Muhammad Ali, which “beloved of god”
Ali: So I’m now Muhammad Ali
But he refused to change it legally: Ali: The judge is what color? He’s white.
In other words I’d have to ask a white man “May I call myself Muhammad Ali, boss?”
He refused the draft to serve in vietnam as a conscientious objector. That meant losing
his title, losing his profession. and being convicted in court.
Ali: My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother or some darker people or some poor
hungry people in the mud for big powerful America and shoot them for what? They never
called me nigger. They never lynched me, they never put dogs on me, they never robbed me
of my nationality, raped and killed my mother and father. Shoot them for what? I don’t
have to go and shoot them. Just take me to jail.
But his moral stand brought him into the civil rights movement. He befriended Martin Luther
King Jr. despite their differences,
Reporter: What did you discuss back in the hotel room?
Ali: Nothing. We’re just friends. Just like Kruschev and Kennedy
United against oppression and the war.
MLK: As Muhammad Ali has just said, we are all victims of the same system of oppression.
And even though we may have different religious beliefs, this does not at all bring about
a difference in terms of our concern. Ali: Still brothers
Reporter: Do you share the same concern that Muhammad has for his draft status?
MLK: Oh I certainly do. You know my views on the draft are very clear. I’m against
it.
And he took his case of conscientious objection to the supreme court.
Ali: I haven’t burnt my own draft records. But what I’m doing is legal. This is why
I believe I’ll receive justice in the higher courts. You can deny the draft on any grounds
but you gonna have to go to court. It’s law. If you lose you go to jail which I said
I’ll do. My fight is legal.
Most people avoided the draft however they could, burning their draft cards, or using
a complicated series deferments like Future president Bill Clinton did.
Ali: But if you notice I’ve been the most persecuted. I’m not allowed to work in American
I’m not allowed America. Home of the brave land of the free.
Reporter: Are there times when you miss being heavyweight champ of the world?
Ali: No, they miss me. Reporter: I know that
Ali: You know I don’t miss it. I’m not missing it.
Though he was able to return to boxing, he never stopped shaking things up.
Ali: The Vietcong are not all bad but America are still dropping bombs. In Hiroshima, Japan
wasn’t bad but she still dropped the bomb. In Korea they wasn’t bad but they still
dropped the bomb. So now I’m gonna forget the 400 years of lynching and raping and depriving
my people of freedom and justice and equality… and I’m gonna look at two or three white
people who are trying to do right and don’t see the other million trying to kill me?
He used these media appearances over and over to try to promote trying to live a moral life.
Ali: As you know in this country a black athlete or entertainer has a lot of influence. Some
of them promote some of them make movies. I’d like to do all i can to uplift the people
morally, and spiritually as far as Loving ourselves, sticking together and helping ourselves.
Before uh, expecting others to help them, to respect them when they don’t respect
themselves..
Johnny Carson: Well having known you for as long as I do, I don’t know anybody who’s
better qualified to do that than you, and I know you mean it.
After he retired, he even saved a man from jumping to his death in 1981:
Reporter: The former heavyweight champion went to a window and reportedly yelled “I’m
your brother. I want to help you.” Recognizing Ali, the man finally opened the fire escape
door and Ali approached him on the ledge.
He helped negotiate the release of 14 hostages in iraq.
He stood with Nelson Mandela against apartheid. He delivered medical supplies and food to
kids all over the world. And though his genetic disease, parkinson’s,
cruelly impaired his function, that never stopped his ability to inspire billions. Three
billion people watched this in 1996.
And in one of his final public appearances, he spoke out about islam after the devastating
attacks of September 11th, even though he could barely speak.
Ali: I’m a Muslim. I’ve been a Muslim for 20 years. And I’m against killing, violence.
And all Muslims are against it. I think the people should know the real truth about Islam.
You know me, I’m a boxer. I’m called the Greatest of All Time. People recognize me
for being a boxer and a man of truth. And I wouldn’t be here representing Islam if
it was really like the terrorist look. I think that all the people should know the truth
and come to recognize the truth because Islam is peace and against killing, murder, and
the terrorist that do it in the name of islam. And If I had the chance, I’d do something
about it.
And last winter, when he could no longer speak, he wrote a statement against comments from
Donald Trump that lumped the actions of a few murderers in Paris and San Bernadino with
1.5 Billion muslims around the world.
He said “Speaking as someone who has never been accused of political correctness, I believe
that our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the
religion of Islam and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on
what Islam really is”
Ali was a fighter, but i don’t think his muscles are really the part we care about.
And it’s not what he cared about either
Ali: “Boxing was just my way of introducing me to the struggle. My main fight is for freedom
and equality. Money don’t really mean nothing because gave up the title not knowing if I’m
coming back or not for four years.
So these gloves represent a lot more than physical punching. And today, a pair of them
have been in the President’s private offices the past 8 years.
Ali: For this fight I’ve wrestled with alligators I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed
lightning and put thunder in jail. You know I’m bad. I murdered a rock, Injured a stone,
and I Hospitalized a brick. I’m so bad, I make medicine sick. I’m so fast, man,
I can run through a hurricane and don’t get wet. When George Foreman meets me he’ll
pay his debt. I can drown and drink of water and kill a dead tree. Wait till you see Muhammad
Ali.