Headline July 4th, 2012 / "One Of A Kind. One For A Century!"

One Of A Kind. 

One For A Century!

The beating he inflicted on Floyd Patterson for calling him 'Cassius Clay' was cruel, even barbaric. Still, the general reluctance to believe in him endured until he fought Liston. No matter how lougly Ali challenged him once he went down --''Get up and fight, sucker!''-- Liston stayed that way. 

And the ultimate indignity for Foreman was the way Ali flummoxed him once they finally climbed into the ring. ''The Rope-a-Dope,'' Ali called the flash of inspiration that struck him when he realized he didnt have the legs to dance for fifteen rounds. 

But this was a singular thinker at work, and by the sixth, what had seemed madness was being hailed as a genius. However, the fights that best defined Ali, were the three with Frazier. When they did battle, and what transpired between them in the ring deserves no less a noble a phrase, it was never about money or a championship or any of the other things for which men beat one another senseless. 

Something far more personal was at work. It was as though, someone once said, Ali and Frazier were fighting for ''the championship of each other.'' Frazier hated Ali, and not without reason. Ali called him ''ignorant.'' Ali called him ''gorilla'' and ''Uncle Tom.'' Ali called him the white man's hope. 

The entire nation, even the world was swept up by the anticipation of what would happen between them. After 15 rounds Frazier had beaten Ali's handsome face lopsided and won. But Ali salvaged something from the wreckage: respect. The way Ali fought the last few rounds, every question about his courage was answered. 

Ali evened the next fight, thus setting the stage for the legendary ''Thrilla in Manila'' Frazier gave Ali a beating of biblical proportions but somehow he survived and summoned three of the most magnificent rounds of his
career. Asked afterwards how he felt. Ali said,''Next to death.''

Profile left, he was a three time champ with a place in history outside the ring and a blackman who, even at his most amusing, never let himself be hamstrung by a whiteman's world. From the rightside, he was the movie star handsome scamp who billed himself as ''Dark Gable'' and the deadpan joker who, when a pair of his gloves were enshrined in the Simthsonian, asked, ''you gonna put a rug in here?"

Taken straight on, he was the dreamer who wanted to open the soup kitchens for the poor around the country and the soft touch who had a dollar 1,000 a day habit when it came to handouts. Everytime the spot light was always on him moved, it seemed to reveal something new about Ali, something worth study at the least, admiration at best.

And in one glorious and touching moment, he answers his legacy: "I want people to say, 'he fought for his rights. Fought for my people. Most famous black man in the world. Strong believer in God.'''

He does not say, ''I was the Greatest!'' He never says anything like this! But we all say it. The whole world chants: Ali! Ali! Ali! 

Good Night and God bless!

SAM Daily Times - The Voice Of The Voiceless