The magic and legacy of “Ali Bomaye.”
The 20th century’s most significant human being has died.
Muhammad Ali, who likely by his own (and my own) measure was the greatest boxer, pro wrestler, actor, poet, singer, magician, humanitarian, Nation of Islam member, black civil rights leader and possibly human of the 20th century, has died. In realizing that one human being self-proclaimed himself to be “the greatest” at all things and at various times succeeded at doing so really proves that if you close your eyes and try hard enough that magic is real and anything is possible.
Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Clay on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s a tribute to his excellence as a human being that this is probably the point where the facts regarding his life end and where the sleight of hand majesty that defined his existence begins.
Cassius Clay was a young boy who had his bike stolen and even after learning to fight at an Olympic gold medal level, came back to America and experienced racism. He said that he threw his gold medal into the Ohio River in anger. Were you there to verify this as fact? No. Does it matter? Of course not. Do you believe him regardless? Absolutely. That’s the magic of Muhammad Ali.
Ali’s magic was in knowing how to develop “Muhammad Ali” as a man-as-character who created both the aura of defeat and the presumption of victory before entering the ring, and later in living his life. Ali won his first 31 professional fights, oftentimes against opponents who were more seasoned and physically larger than him. He did so by “acting the fool” and going out of the way to become this loquacious and braggadocios character who brazenly predicted the defeat of his opponents, spoke in colorful rhymes about beating them up and generally doing everything to deflect people’s attention away from the fact that his opponents were men who were gifted at the barbaric skill of concussing other men.
Ali’s pop-star turn as a boxer came from September 1973-September 1977 when he defeated 12 different opponents in 13 fights in seven countries spanning four continents worldwide. These weren’t fights as much as they were superhero films. If you think Batman vs. Superman is something huge, Ali’s epic bout in Kinshasa, Zaire with George Foreman on Halloween Eve, 1973 was named The Rumble In The Jungle and it was accompanied by a pop music festival. As well, the completion of his triumvirate of bouts with Joe Frazier on October 1, 1975 was titled The Thrilla In Manilla, and was such an event that it inspired a still-standing shopping mall to be erected in Ali’s memory in Manilla.
The chant that accompanied much of Ali’s career after The Rumble In The Jungle was “Ali Bomaye,” which translates as “Ali, kill him!” As he did with a “phantom punch” against heavyweight Sonny Liston in May 1965, he “killed” George Foreman in Zaire with that aforementioned iconic magic via his “rope a dope” strategy. Ali ranted and raved that he was going to “run run run” against Foreman, but instead he laid back against the ropes and allowed the titanic sluggerto tire himself out. How Ali survived Foreman’s punching power is probably linked to the Parkinson’s Syndrome that claimed his life. Just like Prince who recently died due to years of opioid abuse, Ali’s life showcased that that “magic” is exciting to believe in, but living with it requires sacrificing one’s existence in full.
Ali’s magic transcended boxing, too. Ali was famously stripped of his World Heavyweight boxing championships in 1967 for claiming “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong” and “no Vietcong ever called me nigger,” plus noting his work as a minister in the Nation of Islam allowed him to deny American military service. Ali earned his name Muhammad Ali from the Nation, a group that at the time was being rousted to national prominence by Malcolm X, Ali’s moral and spiritual guide at the time. Malcolm and Martin were murdered. Yet somehow, the arguably more popular Ali spoke numerous times on college campuses, was an uber-public figure and allowed to come back to boxing by 1970. Again, this is nothing more but that Ali magic at work.
In aligning with Ali, the Nation of Islam arguably moved from racist black leftist wing-nut group to “serious threat to America’s racial imbalance and deserving of honest conversation.” The charming, entertaining, gifted and talented Ali claiming Cassius Clay as his “slave name” in many ways magically transformed conversations regarding race in America from black vs. white to “blacks and liberal whites who probably found Ali to be more alluring and charismatic than Malcolm and Martin combined” vs. “evil white people.” If you take a look at where were are today in America, the long-tail influence of Muhammad Ali being seen in America’s first black president being named Barack Hussein Obama and the man looking to replace him being Donald Trump and it feels like there’s a cycle that’s being completed.
In full regarding this point, Ali’s magic allowed him to fight and in many ways defeat America’s traditional notion of racism — as he did roughly 33% of his boxing matches — via technical knock out. He didn’t just concuss it immediately, he just continued to hammer at it and knock it down until it just didn’t have the will to fight anymore.
Maybe it’s Ali’s dichotomies as a human being that gave him the will to fight extraordinarily well, but not the ability to stand tall without an asterisk next to his achievements. Yes, we have to mention that Ali was a Black Muslim and oftentimes preached racially and socially divisive messages. As well, we have to mention that Ali was married four times and was a known philanderer. Also, we can’t forget that he called Joe Frazier a gorilla and literally savaged Floyd Patterson for not calling him by his Muslim name. Too, let’s mention that Ali probably fought too long and that matches like 1981 finale versus Trevor Berbick literally hurt the eyes and soul to watch.
However, it’s when you hear the story of Ali being urged to recite a poem at a Harvard commencement ceremony and coming back with a sly grin, saying “Me. Oui.” and thus creating what is believed to be the shortest poem ever. Or, read that he credits legendary pro wrestler Gorgeous George credits him for influencing his showmanship and pageantry, watch him do magic tricks, and amaze at him trembling with Parkinson’s and STILL lighting the Olympic flame at the 1996 Summer Olympics and ALL of Ali’s many foibles are forgotten. Assuredly, it’s just another amazing moment of Ali’s magic at work.
It’s easy to state that if Muhammad Ali had never lived as he lived, segregation to the point of violence would have torn America asunder by say, 1970. Do note that Ali’s in-ring career ending dovetails nicely with Reganomics, the crack era and the adjoining narratives of the Rodney King riots and black lives not mattering anymore. Muhammad Ali was the greatest man of the 20th century because he used magic to unify the country against common human and societal foes that under his whimsical guidance, we in many ways defeated. In many ways, once Ali could no longer fight, we as a progressive-thinking world failed to answer the bell without him as our champion.
Muhammad Ali is dead. In accepting that he was magical and in also discovering how to nurture and re-cultivate his essence, we’ll probably find the keys to discovering the better way that is of absolute necessity for all of us to sustain and survive.
Ali Bomaye.
