On the TUNNEYSIDE of SPORTS June 13, 2016 #597 Up next…The “real Champ!”
After further review…Thousands of tributes, both printed and electronic have been paid to Muhammad Ali since his passing ten days ago. He was “the greatest!” And if you didn’t believe it, you only had to ask him – he would loudly and happily confirm this. There were a lot of suspicions aimed at his braggadocio when this young black prizefighter emerged from Louisville, Ky. in the 1960s. The name given to him by his other Odessa was Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. But when he joined the Nation Islam in 1964, Clay took the name Muhammad Ali, which means “Praiseworthy One.” Clay/Ali’s chest-beating showmanship, paired with his adamant defiance of the Vietnam war draft, made him a very controversial figure at the time, one who seemed to represent social upheaval to a lot of people. But that perception changed as Ali’s true nature and commitment became more apparent with passing time.
When he won the Gold Medal in the light heavyweight division in the 1960 Olympic games in Rome, Italy, he solidified his reputation as “the greatest.” George Foreman, former heavyweight champion, might have said it best when he declared “He was such a great man that boxing should be the last thing you want to remember about him.” Though he was slowed by Parkinson’s that permeated most of his life after he retired from boxing, Ali’s philanthropic endeavors made him a beloved hero around the world.
Roy Firestone, journalist, television host and entertaining speaker, tells this story that may help you understand who the true man was: When Ali heard that a Jewish old-folks home in New York would be torn down, leaving the old people homeless, he quietly bankrolled a new home. After it was finished, he went to visit. In one corner of the room was an old man all by himself. Ali approached the old man and, as he so often did, put up his fists in a mock fight pose. The man’s face brightened. Ali’s trainer, said to the old man, “Do you know who this is?’
The old man replied, “Yeah, it’s the champ!” “That’s right,” the trainer said. The old man continued, “I know him, he’s the greatest, he’s Joe Louis!” Those witnessing this chuckled and the trainer started to correct the old man, to tell him who it really was. Ali stopped him and whispered, “If it makes him happy to meet Joe Louis, if that’s who his hero is, let’s not confuse him.” Ali earned people’s respect, but from those around him, more than anything, he earned their affection and their love.
Will you express compassion and love to others as did Ali?
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