Remembering Muhammad Ali: Who will effectively replace the greatest of all time?

Waigwa Kiboi (left) with Muhammad Ali at Intercontinental Hotel, Nairobi, in February 1980. PHOTO | COURTESY |

What you need to know:

  • Muhammad Ali Centre in Louisville, built with donations from various parts of the globe, is testimony of love the world has for Ali.
  • One year ago, world’s greatest boxer died but questions still linger about status of heavyweight boxing globally.

Exactly one year ago on Saturday, the world woke up to the sad news that the ‘Greatest’ Muhammad Ali was no more. He was mourned world over and then buried like anybody else. But beyond the burial are questions about the current status of boxing, the sport Ali transformed in a manner not those before and after him have come close to accomplishing.

Ali was many things to many people. His entry into the boxing scene in the early 1960s was received with mixed feelings with some thinking he was just another Black young man trying to show off with his big mouth and unusual boxing style.

Others saw something special in the young boxer and cheered him on as he destroyed one opponent after another. But not until he came face to face with Charles Sonny Liston, the then world heavyweight champion and beat him twice did the world take him seriously.

Having conquered the world of heavyweight boxing for two decades, Ali transformed boxing and beyond. He inspired many world over to an extent that after his retirement from the ring in early 1980s, people from his hometown of Louisville decided to come up with a centre in his honour.

The Muhammad Ali Center built with donations from various parts of the world for US$100 million (about Sh10.3 billion) is a testimony of the love and respect the world has for the Greatest. It is one of the most frequently visited places in the world offering a variety of services.

Having been associated with Ali for many years, I had an opportunity to understand him better. During his visit to Kenya in February 1980, I had a daily encounter with him for the three days he was here.

One among the many things I learnt was that he loved people of all classes whatever the situation. It was the same when we met again in Sudan in September 1984. He made sure he shared his time with all classes of people despite his suffering from Parkinson disease that slowed both his speech and movement.

For Ali to have remained sick for 32 years and telling the whole world that he had accomplished what God wanted him to do and that he did not need any sympathy for what he was going through, was in itself a show of immense courage and determination.

A number of Kenyans who have followed Ali’s life over the years have great respect for him.

Sammy Ng’ang’a, one of the best researchers on boxing among other topics, says: “In as much as I never met Muhammad Ali in person, I have over the years collected a lot of material on the champ, right from my high school days in late 70s, the golden era of heavyweight boxing. What I do recall about the ‘Greatest’ Muhammad Ali was that he was a person of astounding principle. This is captured very well in most publications about the icon right from the refusal to fight in Vietnam to his role as a peacemaker in later years after retirement from the ring.”

Ali, just like his long-serving corner man, the late Drew ‘Bundini ‘Brown, was also very witty and his quips can fill publications! Regrettably , his nemesis the late Joe Frazier was often on the firing line of Ali’s wit! Indeed, every opponent the Champ faced would first have to counter Ali’s wit in pre-fight hype before receiving the stinging jabs in the ring.

Ali also kept friends, evident from his entourage which remained the same all his fighting years, adds Ng’ang’a. Muhammad Abdalla Kent, one of Kenya’s most accomplished heavyweight boxers, says: “I had an opportunity to spar with Ali during his visit to Kenya in February 1980.

It was a great honour to share the same ring with the ‘Greatest’. Ali knew how to handle all types of opponents using his speed with his legs and hands. The two of us have had a number of things in common to mention but one. As heavyweights, none of us left the ring by being knocked out. His style of boxing - avoiding heavy and dangerous punches from his opponents - encouraged many upcoming boxers who wanted to emulate him. The world has a lot to learn from his life. He truly was the greatest.”

Joseph Akhasamba, another among the best heavyweight boxers in Kenya has this to say: “To be honest, Muhammad Ali transformed boxing to make it one of the most loved sports. He was an entertainer, stylish and courageous. We as boxers have learned a lot from him.”

Steve Muchoki, the only Kenyan boxer to win a world amateur boxing title as a flyweight, says that as a boxer, he had an opportunity to study Ali’s style for a long time and this equipped him well as he added to his experience.

Says Muchoki: “Ali was an outstanding boxer with amazing speed and accuracy as he moved all over the ring confusing and hitting his opponents at will. It will take a long, long time to have another like Ali.”

As for Abdul Isendeko, another of Kenya’s refined and retired boxers, it is hard to forget Ali given the role he played to change the image of boxing and the entire world in general. Many boxers all over the world have something important to say about Muhammad Ali.

During his life time, Ali met world leaders from all corners. Among the leaders he shared a lot with was the late President Nelson Mandela. Fighting for equality was the struggle that defined Mandela’s life. Boxing, which was Mandela’s greatest passion, fits right in with that.

In 1953, Mandela opened a law firm with Oliver Tambo, which was the only African- run law firm in South Africa. At the time, an Italian boxer from Boston, Rocky Marciano, was in the second of a four year reign as heavyweight champion of the world. Muhammad Ali was eleven years old, still named Cassius Clay, and seven years from his professional debut.

Mandela’s tribulations would show their effect less than ten years later as he was put in prison. His first sentence was five years of hard labour for inciting workers to strike and leaving the country without permission.

Two years later, while still serving that sentence, he was charged again, this time with conspiracy to overthrow the government and with four counts of sabotage.

In the courtroom, he said: “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

Mandela was found guilty and spent the next 25 years behind bars. The fight for equality and civil rights continued on Mandela’s homefront and in USA.

Four months before Mandela’s life sentence, Ali, at 22, won the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston. He took up his own cause outside of boxing, refusing to fight in the Vietnam War.

In an interview for World Reconciliation Day in September 2000, Mandela was asked whether Ali was his hero. He said: “Naturally as far as boxing is concerned and for what he has done, he was my hero.’

What about when Ali told him he loved him? Mandela said: “Well, I was paralysed because he made my day.’ They may be long gone to join their Maker, but Ali and Mandela have left a legacy to be stamped in the history of mankind.