Remembering Ali
Boxing lost its most iconic figure with the passing of Muhammad Ali. In the pieces below, and more to come this week, HBO Boxing Insiders remember a legend of the sport.
Photo: Getty IMages
The Last Flight of the Comeback Kid
Photo: Getty Images
By Diego Morilla
We all wish for one miraculous, magic comeback in our lives.
For most of us, it is the return to a place or a time that we hold dear, a chance to relive a meaningful moment, or an opportunity to change destiny. And on the flip side of the semantic coin, many of us would give anything to fire a quick comeback to a hurtful remark by either a friend or a foe in our past.
The Eccentric Genius of Muhammad Ali's Boxing Style
By Eric Raskin
Ali was a political, social, and religious activist, as divisive a figure as any celebrity during the turbulent 1960s. He was the godfather of trash talk. He was a master media manipulator. He was, simply, the most famous man on the planet. Then he became the public face of Parkinson’s and perhaps the most convincing argument for future generations of kids not to pursue boxing. He was, until the end on Friday night, as widely beloved a human as the world knew.
HBO Boxing Podcast: Muhammad Ali Tribute
Muhammad Ali's Secret to Greatness
By Springs Toledo
He was still a teenager when he turned professional. By his eighth bout, he was scheduling victory parties twenty-four hours before fight time. In his eleventh bout, he headlined a card at Madison Square Garden and soon after that he stopped Archie Moore at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles. On his way back to the dressing room, he spied an attractive admirer and said “Ain’t I beautiful?” Reporters were waiting inside. “I’m the greatest,” he announced to them. “I’m also the double greatest ‘cause I took him in four just like I told you I would.”
Muhammad Ali: In Memoriam
HBO Sports reflects on the life of the legendary Muhammad Ali. Narrated by Liev Schreiber, produced by Bentley Weiner and written by Aaron Cohen.
Ali—Dead?
By Springs Toledo
They keep saying Muhammad Ali is dead.
The sound of it settles hollow in the chest, like the loss of a friend or the end of a love affair. Ali—dead?Where’s the poetry in that? Where are the heroics? Ali-Liston, Ali-Frazier, and Ali-Foreman roll off the tongue like homegrown haiku and fill the chest. But this, this echoes in a new void no one was prepared for.
