Ali - He was the Greatest
After reading up on Mohamed Ali and studying the nature of the man, I will do my best to honour him with a tribute. Mohamed Ali is arguably the most influential athlete of the 20th century. Born Casius Clay Jr., Ali changed his name in 1964 after joining the nation of Islam. Ali's outspoken and frank opinions on issues of race, religion and politics made him a controversial figure during and after his career. Ali had the ability to bring his points across in a radical yet gentle way. He was an entertainer provided ample material to journalists who had a plethora to write about whenever he opened his mouth.
He easily won over an enormous following because he did not shy away from touching on the issues that mattered most. He was a comedian, a dramatist and with great conviction he had the ability to relate to whomever he met. He spoke to white audiences about his faith without losing their respect. He insulted his opponents and when asked why he would do that he replied, “It is because the venue is sold out.” He had awareness and instinctively knew how to effectively bring a point across when the opportunity presented itself.
In a Q & A session during a live television show a member of the audience asked him if he would ever fight in another country to which he is politically opposed and one that has an unattractive attitude towards the black man? He looked the lady with a straight face and replied, “You mean like America?” He defied the American government when he refused to be inducted in the US Army to fight in the Vietnam on the grounds that participation in war violated the tenets of the Islam religion. This resulted in his heavy weight titles being revoked. This was not the first time that Ali gave up an achievement for what he believed in. Ali claimed in his 1975 autobiography, Mohamed Ali: King of the World, that shortly after he returned from the Rome Olympics he threw his gold medal in the Ohio river after he and a friend were refused service in a “whites-only” restaurant and they fought a white gang. Ali grew up in racial segregation and it disturbed him greatly not being able to enjoy equal privileges as a black citizen of America. His mom, Odessa O'Grady Clay recalled once how they refused him water at a store because of the colour of his skin.
Where did it all start? As a 12 year old, Cassius Clay's (Ali) bicycle got stolen. He tearfully reported the incident to Louisville police officer, Joe Martin and vowed to pummel the culprit. Martin, who was also a boxing trainer, suggested the youngster first learn how to fight and he took Clay (Ali) under his wing. Six weeks later Clay (Ali) won his first bout in a split decision. By age 18, Clay had captured two national Golden Gloves titles, two Amateur Athletic Union titles and 100 victories against 8 losses. After school he traveled to Rome for the 1960 Olympics and won the Heavy lightweight Olympic medal. This was the rise of a new boxing champion like former black fighters, Jack Johnson and Joe Louis. There is no doubt that these two paved the way for Ali's reign. Many described Ali to have a combination of the flamboyance and outspokenness of the one and the skill and character of the other.
Apart from Mohamed Ali's witty responses during interviews and tremendous skill as a boxer, he was also a psychological warrior and master at getting into the head of his opponents. Sir Michael Parkinson, who hosted Mohamed Ali four times on his talk show during his career, asked Ali about his ability to win his opponents inside as well as outside of the ring. Ali replied, “He don't psyche his opponents out or put fear in them. All it does is that he makes them fight too hard”.
I have to highlight the significance of this approach. Most athletes perform better when under stress than they do without stress. The key is being under the proper amount of stress and anxiety – not too much, not too little. If the athlete is too relaxed, the performance will suffer, as will the performance of an athlete under too much stress. This is what Ali aimed to achieve during his rants at opponents. He could generate a particular pattern from his opponents that would make them do everything else than what they want to or predetermined to do. This resulted in over arousal and ultimately a lower level of performance.
To illustrate the relationship between arousal and performance, Yerkes and Dobson developed the Inverted-U Hypothesis. This principle states that there is an optimal level of arousal for every behaviour. As arousal increases from very low levels, performance improves until some point or zone at which the athlete performs at his or her best. With further increases of arousal, performance worsens. This range where performance is very high, is being termed as 'the optimal energy zone'. If the athlete is pushed beyond the optimal energy zone, he or she enters the 'psyche-out zone’ and performance diminishes.
During Ali's fight with George Foreman he talked with Foreman throughout the fight. Foreman was a ferocious puncher but those punches were energy sapping. Ali knew this and at some point during the fight he was up against the ropes and telling Foreman, “Give me your best shot, you got nothing sucker, you just a girl”.Ali's slurs made him so angry that Foreman wearied himself out landing the punches on Mohamed Ali. He was so tired that there was no impact with his punches. Ali capitalized and knocked the champion George Foreman out.
The downside was that all the punches Ali took to the head throughout his career - particularly the Foreman fight - caused him to developed Parkinson's disease. The doctor that made the diagnoses confirmed this. Experts knew that he put himself at risk by taking all the blows to his head but he would not have it any other way. He gave his all to the sport of boxing. He was a great promoter of the sport and did his bit before and during every fight. There is no doubt that he could have protected himself a little better in the ring. But he was an entertainer and once he got the people to come and see him fight, he had to give them something. Regrettably it was at the expense of his health. One thing is for sure that he was a fighter at heart. Some much so that even when all his organs failed in dying, his heart kept on beating for 30 minutes showing that he was a fighter until the end. He is at peace now and leaves a remarkable legacy. RIP Champ.
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