Long live the king!

No sports enthusiast and knowing little to nothing about boxing except what I have heard, watched and enjoyed, I nevertheless know for a fact, the assertion that this recent boxing match was “the fight of the century” is a crock. Which century, the last century or the next century? The fight of the century were actually fights of the century when Cassius Clay, later Mohammed Ali, was in the ring.

A young Navy lieutenant having lunch in the officers’ club, U.S. Navy Base, Yokosuka, Japan about 1963 I heard this braggadocious blowhard, just a few years younger than me, prancing around the ring shouting “I am the king, I am the champ,” just before he proved that he was no blowhard and he was indeed king and Heavyweight Champion of the World. Years later shouting hilariously about his wonderful rope-a-dope before his contest with George Foreman.

Endearing, ever braggadocious, he was nevertheless the king, and regardless what pundits say nowadays, there is no “fight of the century” that doesn’t have his name on it. While he was in the ring, boxing was a sport and a hugely popular joy, maybe better even than any football game I've ever watched, and surely better than boxing has since devolved. Besides all that, Mohammed Ali proved himself a great, gracious and good human being, a true sportsman, Champ for All Time. He still is. Long live the King.

And that’s all I’m saying about that.

TW