This was the
man who made me be punished at school when at that time (around 1979-1980) I,
along with several classmates (I was still at the grade 5/6 of elementary
Catholic School at my hometown) – decided to leave class when my teacher was not
in (probably was going to toilet or somewhere – I forgot). We sneak slowly till
we reached the school fence, climbed and jumped outside, then run to my friend’s
house for watching Ali.
Ali was always
attracting all people of all ages whenever he was fighting. He was very fast,
powerful and always move & dance in the ring. See the recording of his
fighting in Youtube today, how no boxer like him.
And today when
I reminisce my experience of climbing & jumping the school fence, I laugh while
also ask why I did that? Surprisingly, I even didn’t think of the risk by
leaving the class, because the following day my teacher took us to the hall,
line-up for the whole day and let all students looked at our face like we were little
bandits that got caught, haha.
This book is a
biography, written by Jonathan Eig with detail of story from Ali’s birth until
his death at 74.
Besides his
controversial acts, including his refusal to serve in the U.S Army for a duty to
the Vietnam war, he had made a lot of things to show his commitment to his
country after his retirement from boxing. In some circumstances, Ali was also asked
several time by the government as “informal” political mediator in relation to
the conflict in the Middle East – knowing him as an American Muslim. In the
middle of Gulf War, in November 1990, Ali travelled to Iraq to meet its
president, Saddam Hussein, in an attempt to win the release of hundreds of American
hostages. Ali was mostly silent during the meeting, but when it was over,
Hussein released 15 American and allowed them to travel home with Ali.
Another
phenomenal of Ali was when he lighted the torch in Atlanta Olympic in 1996. Dressed
all in white, his right hand clutched an unlit torch. His left hand shook
uncontrollably and shockingly of Parkinson disease. His face betrayed no
emotion.
He
floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee
The
greatest fighter this world has yet to see
On the
heart of every life he touched he left an indelible stamp
And he will always be known as the People’s Champ.
***
Serpong, 13
Feb 2021
Titus J.
