Greater then The Greatest

Greater than the Greatest – My views on David Frost’s interview with Muhammad Ali.

Last night I watched David Frost’s most recent interview with Muhammad Ali on Channel 5, “Then and Now - Muhammad Ali”, and I continue to be amazed by that man who calls himself “The Greatest”. I was also amazed, relieved and exceptionally happy by what I witnessed, on this quite revealing interview. David Frost should receive the highest media award for this tactful and timely programme.

Frost simply sat with Muhammad, who now has advanced Parkinson’s Disease, and asked quite straight forward questions. He didn’t include anything too complicated or difficult to answer. He did however, for the sake of the audience, refer back to certain issues and footage from previous interviews whereby he hosted “The Champ” back in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Ali’s Wife Lonnie was also interviewed and added to the inside look of the mind, that is Ali. To me Ali, if anything, is a new improved version of himself, and certainly NOT a fading, shadow of his old self. I believe the opposite to be true. I thought Frost was fantastic in the way he almost slowed his tempo down to that of Ali’s so that Muhammad could keep up with his questioning and feel at ease. He also gave Muhammad plenty of time to think about his answers, in which he did brilliantly.

I detected that Frost, a mad Ali fan, admirer and long time friend, wanted to prove something to the world by performing this interview. It was almost like Frost wanted to clear the air on the Ali debate? This wasn’t a chance for the sake of yet another interview with Ali, it was a way of showing the world including some fickle press of the past and present that Muhammad Ali, the greatest Heavyweight of all time and also one of the most talked about, popular figures in history, has actually improved, mentally, since his boxing heyday and not slipped into decline one bit. He wanted to show the world that it wasn’t amassed punches that caused Ali’s condition but it was purely the cards that he was dealt in life. The worlds press has always dramatised the “punch drunk” scenario in order to sell the “rags”, but how pathetically ignorant some of them seem now. As Muhammad said, Michael J Fox and the other 1 million odd people now suffering from this disease were never boxers!!! By listening to the past and present answers Ali had to the same type of questions Frost asked previously, we would learn that Muhammad Ali has moved forward as a person and revised his views and look on life, but yet still loves his faith, friends and family with the same passion.

Ali now has more compassion for all races, the opposite sex and religions whereas in his boxing prime he would talk down the “white man” and labelled all whites as “the devil” on a 1960’s Frost interview. He also told Frost on yet another past interview that all Women are useless, unless having babies and performing household chores. These views were understandably seen as the darkside of the hugely popular Ali, in the 1960’s & 1970’s. He was being swept along by the newly arrived Muslim tide within Black America, and the trouble is that you couldn’t really blame him. After all, some restaurants and hotels, for example, wouldn’t let him in, purely because of his colour. He now emphasises the importance of all races and religions being able to tolerate one another and live together.

I believe Ali’s morals, views and ideals have changed for the better along with the worlds as a whole and also due to him honestly admitting when he was wrong and rethinking his opinions. Admitting when you are wrong and acknowledging your mistakes are the start of discovering your true self. Muhammad places the emphasis of blame and wrong doing on the individual and not certain groups or sections of the community, as he did in the past. He now attempts to solve rather than blame, which is what we could all aim for. Ali has a vastly successful business life with his Wife and assistants, a grand image, and feels it important to remain neutral over some issues, as he doesn’t consider himself an expert on some matters. That to me is also wise, as he isn’t an expert in a lot of areas. He doesn’t pretend to be.

Ali is a perfect example of how physical barriers are so different compared to mental barriers. He has a motor skills problem and that doesn’t have an adverse effect on his mental state of mind, things just takes longer to come out. Believe me after seeing that interview, the famous wit and charm have not disappeared at all. He is totally happy with his life and still plays the joker and laughs. I can’t think of a greater indication of mental health than this. He’s the same man, only at a slow pace physically. He has grown as a person in the face of adversity just like he did as a boxer when he faced a different type of adversity in the sixties after refusing military service in the Vietnam War. He credits others greatly for what they have done to assist him but yet still credits himself and loves himself the way he always has. Muhammad shows no self pity, and definitely no regrets about his career, in or out of the ring. He would gladly travel the same path that “Allah” paved for him previously and told Frost that he wouldn’t do it any different, if he had his time over again. He’s still the man! He’ll keep reminding us of this no doubt.

After watching this interview, I feel even closer to him as a fan as I did in his prime years as a boxer. I think he’d be adored more so now, than ever before by the public in general, after all, there are even more reasons to adore him now. He is the recipient of endless accolades these days, as he should be, with a new Olympic Gold Medal and lighting the Olympic Torch at Atlanta being an example, but how times have changed!!! He’s had too ho a very long road, a unique and tough road against Government opposition and public opinion that happened to be in the most turbulent times of the 60’s and 70’s. But, as Ali stated to Frost in a previous interview, if a man of 30 years still leads the same life and has the same ideals, opinions and thoughts when he’s a man of 60 years, then that man has wasted 30 years of his life. Ali never wasted any time, that’s for sure. Surely he’s crammed 2 or 3 boxing careers into his life as well as another lifetime of events and health conditions. He’s definitely lived and drawn every on every part of his potential.

My question is - Was Muhammad Ali’s prime in the sixties or seventies as the greatest boxer that ever lived or is it now as a kinder, gentle, more caring, and more improved man with a cruel medical condition? I will take the latter myself. He was always kind, caring and gentle at heart despite the media hype he created, but he is more so now and he takes pride in the fact that he has bettered himself as a person. He looks to have let his mind flow ahead of his body to create an even greater Ali. With age and experience Muhammad has turned more heads in admiration and achieved as much or more than he did, even in the ring, where he was the king.

I once read a quote, though the writer eludes me, it read - Youth is a thing of beauty, but age is a work of art. This couldn’t be more appropriate for Muhammad Ali - “The Greatest of all Time”.