In a week marking the 50th anniversary of the iconic ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ held in former Zaire, Central Africa when ‘The Greatest’ Muhammad Ali captured the World Heavyweight title for, a then record third time, we post another article by esteemed South African boxing writer and historian Ron Jackson.
My connection with Muhammad Ali
The first time I read about Muhammad Ali then known as Cassius Clay, was in 1960 after he won an Olympic gold medal at the Rome Olympics, and as a young 19-year-old upstart walked around the Olympic village with the medal around his neck claiming that he was greatest.
Many years later in an autobiography Ali claimed that shortly after his return from the Olympics he threw the Olympic medal into the Ohio River after he and a friend were refused service at a “whites-only” restaurant.
However, this has been disputed by some of his close friends and it has been reported that he lost the medal, which was replaced and presented to him at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, when in a much publicised event he lit the torch to begin the Games.
The insult of not being allowed into the restaurant was possibly the start of his stand against injustices to his race and he spent a lifetime standing up for his beliefs, whatever the consequences.
As the South African government only allowed the introduction of television into the country in 1976 we were denied watching the Olympics and most of the fights of Ali’s professional career live; and had to rely on newspaper reports and video tapes of Ali’s fights and career.
Subsequently though video tapes and later DVD’s and the many books written about Ali I was able to continue my journey with the career and life of Ali.
There must be more than 50 books published on the career of Ali and I am privileged to have 50 in my collection, with possibly the most outstanding being His Life and Times by Thomas Hauser and the most controversial being Ghosts of Manila by Mark Kram.
However, there is one book that that is the best of them all and possibly one of the best sports books ever produced, and that is GOAT (A Tribute To Muhammad Ali – Greatest Of All Time) published in 2003 by Taschen in two limited editions.
The “Champs Edition” was limited to 1000 individually numbered copies, with each one signed by Muhammad Ali and sculptor Jeff Koons.
The book weighs 34 kilograms and comes with Koon’s Radical Champs sculpture and is packaged in a silk covered box, and bound in pink leather by the official bindery for the Vatican, and today would cost in the region of £9000 (R156 502), which is out of the reach of most collectors.
Subsequently Taschen published a revised, updated and smaller version which cost in the region R1200 and made it accessible for the average collector.
Including the revised edition of The Greatest of All Time, there are two other books special books in my collection.
The Cassius Clay Story by George Sullivan published in 1964 has become a real collectors piece and the other one Cassius Clay – A Biography by Jack Olsen published in 1967, is not as rare but nice to have in a collection.
Clay and Ali memorabilia and especially items signed by Cassius Clay have always been expensive and will now be out of reach to the ordinary collector since his death.
Ali is without a doubt the most written and spoken about sportsman in history and will never be forgotten.
For me it has been a privilege to enjoy the journey of Clay and subsequently Ali, through books and videos over the past 56 years.
Ali passed away on June 3, 2016 and on Friday June 10, one week after his passing Ali’s funeral took place in Louisville Kentucky, his place of birth and he was laid to rest in the Cave Hill Cemetery located at 701 Baxter Avenue.
The Undisputed 