Vicious Rants of an Angry Yellow Man

I am not a fan of boxing but somehow Ali, who died this week, was the first athlete other than C.K Yang that I remembered.  The first I heard of Ali was when he was still Cassius Clay.  I remembered hearing over the radio in Hong Kong that a man called "Strange Luck", the translation of Clay in Chinese had beaten Liston whose name started with the Chinese sounding name Li.  I did not know the significant of that bout only that it was big news in Hong Kong. 

The next I heard of Ali was when I had already migrated to the U.S. and this man was defying the U.S. government and refusing to go into the army.  I thought at the time he was a bad guy for refusing to serve his country.  Even years later after I began to have doubts about the Vietnam war, I still thought he was a coward.  I thought this because by that time I was old enough to register for the draft.  All I knew then was that I was too chicken to fight.  I thought Ali probably thought the same as me.  So this religious objection was just a way to justify his fear of going to war.  Of course I was chicken both ways.  I didn't want to go but I was too chicken to protest, fearing people will call me a coward and disloyal.  So I registered.  But if my number had come up, I would have gone to college, medical school and get as many deferment as I can.  The war ended before I was drafted, but I certainly was not brave.  Was Ali brave.? Well, people say he was.  It is hard to say but he was braver than me in that he was willing to take a stand.

I remember his fights with Frazier.  I always felt that he went over the line with his trash talk against Frazier.  So even though I liked Ali's style a lot better than Frazier's, I was neutral in their fights.  Then in 1974, I thought Foreman was going to destroyed Ali.  But I remembered standing in a lounge in my college dorm that night when about ten black students running into the lounge, shouting that Ali had won.  Since Foreman is also black, I was very surprised by the reaction.  I began to understand that Ali was not just a boxer, but a cultural icon.

As with all famous people who died, tributes are pouring in.  The Greatest Of All Time, is the most frequent description of Ali.  I am not sure he was the GOAT in boxing.  One can argue for Joe Louis or Rocky Marciano as well.  Interestingly enough they did two computer analysis of Marciano fighting Ali many years ago.  One was done in the U.S. and one in the UK.  At that time, white establishment was still weary of Ali in the U.S.  The results:  Marciano won in the U.S. and Ali won in the UK.  But certainly among world wide sports figures in my lifetime, only Pele maybe more well known throughout the world than Ali.

I always thought that Ali as a young man was too brash.  Unlike MLK, I don't think he was much help for the civil right movement by aligning  with the Nation of Islam.  I did not consider him a role model.  But as he got older, he came across as a kinder and gentler soul.  He was also courageous in his fight against Parkinson.  We like to think of our heroes as perfect or superhuman.  They never are.  Ali was not perfect or superhuman.  But he was a great athlete who was also loquacious.  He was a great cultural icon and he made us think.  Rest in peace, Champ.