Some Personal Reflections on the Life of Muhammad Ali

I grew up in the Muhammad Ali era. Back in the 60's and 70's, heavyweight boxing was a major sport. The Championship fights between Ali and Frazier and Ali and Foreman ranked right up there with the Super Bowl. I have great memories of Don Dunphy and Howard Cosell calling the top boxing matches on radio and television. I had the privilege of seeing many of Muhammad Ali’s fights on television and watching many of his interviews.

There is much to learn from his life. Muhammad Ali was a very gifted boxer, perhaps the greatest of all time. He had a unique blend of size, speed and power. At six feet three inches, two hundred and ten pounds, he was a formidable presence in and out of the ring. But Ali’s success came from far more than his boxing skills. It should be noted that he was not a great student and never learned to read well.

However, he was a very intelligent fellow who possessed a quick wit. His success can be attributed to a number of key factors.

He had a set of principles and beliefs that guided his life

Muhammad Ali made some very controversial and unpopular decisions in his life. He decided to not serve in the military during the war in Vietnam and he abandoned his Christian faith to join the Nation of Islam. As part of that conversion, he changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali. These were very gutsy decisions that had significant consequences. Muhammad Ali was banned for boxing during what would have been some of the prime years of his life. Over time, the unpopularity of the Vietnam War caused many people to become much more understanding of Ali’s position. We live in a society where we should be free to choose the religion of our choice. The point is that Ali was true to himself and his beliefs. He was not a “flavor of the month” type of guy as we see from many politicians of this era. He spoke out on injustice and bigotry in our society.

Ali refused to quit

Muhammad Ali hated to train but he knew that the training would make him a champion. The hard work paid off.

He crafted a set of strategies to defeat his opponents

Muhamad Ali faced the greatest (and some of the lesser) heavy weight boxers of his time. Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier and George Foreman were all very powerful and accomplished boxers. Ali realized that he needed more than just boxing skills to defeat these opponents. As a result, he “broke the rules” and came up with some strategies that seemed reckless at the time but worked well in the ring. His “rope-a-dope” technique invited his opponents to expend excess energy and burn themselves out. He then proceeded to knock them out. These were strategies developed by him and his handlers that were viewed as contrary to standard boxing norms but they were ideally suited to his skills and abilities. They enabled him to beat the best boxers in the world.

He worked with people who brought out the best in him

Muhammad Ali surrounded himself with people such as legendary trainer Angelo Dundee who helped him develop his skills and were instrumental to his success. Howard Cosell, a Jewish Brooklyn born lawyer with an adenoidal voice was another key person n Ali's life. Howard became one of the preeminent sportscasters during the Ali era. He called many of Ali’s matches and interviewed Ali many times. These were two people who couldn’t have been more different from one another. The two things they had in common were large egos and very outgoing personalities. They both loved to speak and loved the attention. The two of them made each other’s careers. They each learned to treat the other with respect and use the other person to advance their careers. From this relationship came a strong friendship that helped both men succeed.

He gave generously of his time to charitable causes

While Muhammad Ali lived with major health challenges for the last two decades of his life, he gave generously of his time to charitable causes.  He devoted his energies to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Special Olympics and the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center.  He was a true role model.

This set of attributes allowed Ali to rise above the other great athletes of the day. There is no doubt that Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas and Guy Lafleur were among the top professionals in their sports in that era. The fact is that other than Jackie Robinson who helped break the color barrier in major league baseball, none of these athletes had the impact of Muhammad Ali on society as a whole. Muhammad Ali was a rare person, an athlete who helped transform society. He had a profound impact on sports, religion, media and race relations. There are many important lessons to be learned from studying his life. I extend my condolences to his family, friends and fans on the passing of a great Champion.

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