by Jonathan Eig
In Newark, delegates: “Boycott of Sports by Negroes Asked,” New York Times, July 24, 1967.
“Mr. Ali’s case raises”: “Muhammad Ali — The Measure of a Man,” Freedomways, Spring 1967.
“Backlash Blues”: “Backlash Blues,” performed by Nina Simone, www.youtube.com.
26. MARTYR
behind on alimony: “Judge Orders Back Alimony Paid to Clay’s Former Wife,” New York Times, October 21, 1967.
His own lawyer was suing: “Lawyer Sues Cassius Clay for $284,615 Legal Fees,” New York Times, October 17, 1967.
“She was like a giddy little schoolgirl”: Charlotte Waddell, interview by author, October 2, 2015.
“You better get out of town”: Khalilah Camacho-Ali, interview by author, November 21, 2014.
“I think that’s the time”: Khalilah Camacho-Ali, transcript of undated interview, personal collection of Khalilah Camacho-Ali.
“Oh, you’re pretty”: Rahaman Ali, interview by author, November 10, 2014.
“My wife knows what I’m doing”: Khalilah Camacho-Ali, interview by author, November 21, 2014.
Cash had stepped outside: “Clay’s Father Suffers Stab Wound in Chest; Woman Is Charged,” Louisville Courier-Journal, May 9, 1967.
owned or rented by Herbert Muhammad: FBI report, February 6, 1968, Herbert Muhammad Files, Malcolm X Manning Marable Collection; Khalilah Camacho-Ali, unpublished memoir.
It had two bedrooms: “The Passion of Muhammad Ali.”
“And tonight”: Ibid.
the city had reserved a parking space: Tim Shanahan, interview by author, July 15, 2014.
“Hey, George!”: George Lois, interview by author, June 30, 2015.
Elijah Muhammad, who understood: Ibid.
“Lyndon Johnson”: Ibid.
“Dr. King was my great”: “Ali Mourns King’s Death in Solitude,” Chicago Defender, April 11, 1968.
“best friend White America ever had”: “ ‘Cassius Le Grand’ Is Too Big to ‘Float,’ but Still Has Sting,” Louisville Times, February 15, 1969.
“Martin Luther King dedicated his life”: “Robert F. Kennedy’s Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination Speech,” April 4, 1968, www.youtube.com.
If Ali’s religion struck some: “The Separate World of Muhammad Ali,” Boston Globe, April 22, 1968.
Nor had he been the victim: “Clay Loses Appeal of Conviction,” Chicago Tribune, May 7, 1968.
The Nation of Islam had already lent him: “Champ in the Jug?”
recordings of Elijah Muhammad’s sermons: “Ali Faces His Precarious Future Unafraid,” Chicago Defender, February 22, 1968.
ran an ad in Variety: “Return of Muhammad Ali, a/k/a Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.,” New York Times, November 30, 1969.
“I’m expected to go overseas”: “Ali at 70: The Greatest’s Greatness,” Los Angeles Times, January 18, 2012.
“There’s no sense in Negroes”: “No Integration, Cassius Clay Says,” Bucks County Courier Times, November 1, 1967.
“Chinese like to be with Chinese”: Untitled article, Watauga (NC) Democrat, September 25, 1969, http://www.wataugademocrat.com/community/remembering-ali-s-visit-to-app-state/article_27044be6-90b8-58ef-bbe0-c3fa660e6d9e.html.
“has an African haircut”: “Muhammad Ali Urges Black ‘Separatism,’ ” Los Angeles Sentinel, February 8, 1968.
“We’re not Negroes”: “The Old Cass-Mu,” Chicago Defender, April 24, 1968.
“He’s a brave, brave bull”: “Clay in ‘Holy War,’ ” Lowell (MA) Sun, September 6, 1967.
“fight for my people”: “ ‘Finished With Ring’ — Cassius,” Atlanta Constitution, February 9, 1968.
Elijah Muhammad visited the hospital: Khalilah Camacho-Ali, transcript of undated interview, personal collection of Khalilah Camacho-Ali.
“Allah . . . made men”: “Muhammad Ali,” Ebony, April 1969.
“We Muslims do business”: Ibid.
five hundred restaurants: “Going to Jail for Beliefs Appeals to Cassius, Deposed Champ,” Louisville Courier-Journal, August 24, 1969.
“Champburger with Soul Sauce”: Advertisement, Miami Times, September 12, 1969.
“This is something to help”: “Ali Enters Miami Jail,” Fort Pierce (FL) News Tribune, December 17, 1968.
“Maybe this will be good”: “Clay Begins His 10-Day Term,” Register (Danville, VA), December 17, 1968.
about ten thousand dollars: Hauser, with Ali, Muhammad Ali, 197.
“is not a conversationalist”: “Return of Muhammad Ali, a/k/a Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.”
“Hey, you a nice fella”: Dick Schaap, “Muhammad Ali Then and Now,” in Kimball and Schulian, eds., At the Fights, 216.
“Respectfully asking why”: Letter to Department of Justice, Muhammad Ali Collection, February 13, 1969, National Archives and Records Administration.
“Cassius Clay, pardon me”: Bill Barwick to President Lyndon B. Johnson, Muhammad Ali Collection, June 24, 1967, National Archives and Records Administration.
“Yes, ma’am”: “Muhammad Ali,” Ebony, April 1969.
27. SONG AND DANCE AND PRAYER
They were anxious: Khalilah Camacho-Ali, interview by author, April 29, 2016.
every seat was filled: Ibid.
“It was terrifying”: Ibid.
“promised to take the burden”: Baldwin, The Fire Next Time, 64.
Elijah Muhammad said he was disappointed: Khalilah Camacho-Ali, interview by author, April 29, 2016.
“We shall call him”: “Muhammad Ali Loses His Title to the Muslims,” New York Times, April 20, 1969.
“That was one of the hardest moments”: Louis Farrakhan interview by author, August 8, 2015.
“get out of music”: Ibid.
“delinquency, murder, theft”: Elijah Muhammad, Message to the Blackman in America (Phoenix: Secretarius MEMPS Publications, 1973), 246, http://www.finalcall.com/columns/hem/sport_play.html.
exhibition with Cody Jones: Maureen Smith, “Muhammad Speaks and Muhammad Ali: Intersection of the Nation of Islam and Sport in the 1960s,” in With God on Their Side: Sport in the Service of Religion, ed. Timothy Chandler and Tara Magdalinski (London: Routledge, 2002), 177–96.
newspaper ran a regular column: Ibid.
“I Called My Manger”: Muhammad Ali, handwritten note, n.d., courtesy of Khalilah Camacho-Ali.
sent his friend Bundini Brown packing: “The Art of Ali,” Sports Illustrated, May 5, 1969.
“All that funnin’ ”: Ibid.
“It’s wrapped up with black people”: “ ‘I See No Prestige in Show Business,’ ” New York Times, November 23, 1969.
Buck White closed after: “Cassius Clay Musical Stopping the Count at 7,” New York Times, December 5, 1969.
When you’re the champ: Robert Lipsyte, Free to Be Muhammad Ali (New York: HarperCollins, 1977), 90.
Cosell would get fifty thousand dollars: “Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.,” FBI memo, December 8, 1969, Muhammad Ali Collection, National Archives and Records Administration.
“gangster mosque”: “Black Mafia,” FBI memo, November 30, 1973, FBI Vault.
carried on an affair with his ex-wife: Leon Muhammad, interview by author, June 13, 2016.
maintained a long-running affair: Jamillah Muhammad, interview by author, December 9, 2014.
“He knew it was wrong”: Khalilah Camacho-Ali, interview by author, November 21, 2014.
“I knew things like this would happen”: Ibid.
ask his wife to arrange his extramarital affairs: Khalilah Camacho-Ali, Veronica Porche, Jamillah Muhammad, multiple interviews by author, multiple dates, 2014–17.
“ ‘I’ll use that against you’ ”: Khalilah Camacho-Ali, interview by author, November 21, 2014.
“Ali had a dark side, an evil side”: Ibid.
28. THE GREATEST BOOK OF ALL TIME
“outdo everything that’s ever been written”: “Book Buzz,” Washington Post, March 29, 1970.
“The pub
lic doesn’t know too much about me”: Ibid.
paperwork had been too much trouble: Khalilah Camacho-Ali, interview by author, November 21, 2014.
Crouch would compare Ali to a bear: Ishmael Reed, The Complete Muhammad Ali (Montreal: Baraka Books, 2015), 151.
“He knew what was in it!”: Jesse Jackson, interview by author, July 6, 2016.
“I think there was always anxiety”: Ibid.
even in private discussions: Ibid.; Gene Kilroy, interview by author, July 1, 2016.
“I have officially retired”: “Clay ‘Grants’ World Title, Washington Post, May 27, 1970.
29. STAND BY ME
“How long this take?”: All quotations, gestures, and details contained in this chapter come from Ali and Durham, The Greatest. Durham’s original manuscript is held at the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library in Chicago, but the audiotapes are not. Durham’s wife, Clarice, in an interview by the author, said she believed her husband quoted accurately from audiotaped conversations. Durham’s biographer, Sonja D. Williams, wrote in her account of Durham’s life that Durham and Ali, overcoming the objections of Herbert Muhammad, insisted that the book’s dialogue should be authentic and uncensored. Some of Durham’s parenthetical phrases have been edited in this account and some of his dialogue has been abridged, but no words or gestures have been added or altered.
30. COMEBACK
“The Major made me move”: “Cherry Hill Played a Big Role in Muhammad Ali’s Life,” Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ), September 13, 2012.
“Do you want me to buy a home”: “Clay KO’d by Black Militants,” Indiana Evening Gazette, January 30, 1970.
“Ali would go in the bathroom”: Gene Kilroy, interview by author, May 4, 2016.
Satalof asked his wife: Marc Satalof, interview by author, April 15, 2015.
“You’re a bad brother”: Reggie Barrett, interview by author, March 22, 2016.
“Right away, I got the feeling”: “A Strange Case of Friendship,” Inside Sports, July 31, 1981.
Melvin Belli encouraged Ali to sue: Gene Kilroy, interview by author, August 22, 2016.
offered Johnson all the money: Leroy Johnson, interview by author, June 1, 2016.
“too busy to hate”: “Welcome Back, Ali!” Sports Illustrated, September 14, 1970.
Atlanta’s mayor, Sam Massell: Sam Massell, interview by author, May 10, 2016.
Johnson . . . told the governor: Leroy Johnson, interview by author, June 1, 2016.
“On with the fight!”: Ibid.
“The roof did not fall in”: “Welcome Back, Ali!,” Sports Illustrated, September 14, 1970.
“It wasn’t as if I pawned it”: “Ali Despite Millions Won, Faces Toughest Fight, Balancing Budget,” New York Times, March 25, 1978.
Ali sat naked: “Welcome Back, Ali!,” Sports Illustrated, September 14, 1970.
“It was all there”: Ibid.
“Clay was saying he let”: “Clay Doesn’t Feel D’Amato’s Definition of Pressure,” Louisville Times, October 26, 1970.
son of a migrant farmer: “Jerry Quarry, 53, Boxer Battered by Years in the Ring, Dies,” New York Times, January 5, 1999.
“intentional, arbitrary”: “3-Year Ring Ban Declared Unfair,” New York Times, September 15, 1970.
“That’s when I was at my top condition”: “He Moves Like Silk, Hits Like a Ton,” Sports Illustrated, October 26, 1970.
ecumenical prayer: Jesse Jackson, interview by author, July 6, 2016.
Boxing historian Bert Sugar called it: “Knockout,” Atlanta, October 2005.
“I thought it would be real good”: Ibid.
“had managed to merge”: Schulberg, Loser and Still Champion, 78.
limousines painted in psychedelic designs: “Ringside Crowd Forms Dazzling Backdrop,” New York Times, October 27, 1970.
silver mink bowties: “Sport and Sociology at the Auditorium,” Atlanta Constitution, October 28, 1970.
white, double-breasted suit: “Ringside Crowd Forms Dazzling Backdrop.” concealed handguns: Sam Massell, interview by author, May 10, 2016.
“as though it were constructed”: “Ali on Peachtree,” Harper’s Magazine, January 1971.
made him look fat: Plimpton, Shadow Box, 157.
chest and shoulders shined: Ibid., 163.
“If he loses tonight”: Schulberg, Loser and Still Champion, 74.
“like a beached whale”: Jerry Izenberg, interview by author, June 22, 2016. “bordering on exhaustion”: Dundee, My View from the Corner, 139.
“hello to the Supremes”: “Muhammad Ali — Jerry Quarry. 1970 10 26. I,” www.youtube.com.
Later, he admitted that: Ali and Durham, The Greatest, 326.
including Cash Clay: Gene Kilroy, interview by author, May 4, 2016.
“If the robbers had known”: “$200,000 Robbery — ‘Bare Minimum,’ ” Atlanta Constitution, November 1, 1970.
31. “THE WORLD IS WATCHING YOU”
“numb all over”: “It’s Gonna Be the Champ and the Tramp,” Sports Illustrated, February 1, 1971.
“let the daze clear up”: Kindred, Sound and Fury, 137.
“How ya doing, Joe?”: “Ali v. Bonavena,” ESPN broadcast, www.youtube.com.
32. A DIFFERENT FIGHTER
“He’s much slower”: “Diana Ross Sums It Up: Clay Looked Great,” Louisville Times, October 27, 1970.
one minute of each three-minute round: Dundee, My View from the Corner, 143.
2,245 punches: Punch counts tabulated for the author by CompuBox, Inc.
CompuBox assesses fighters: Statistics compiled for the author by CompuBox, Inc.
“Ali’s hands were so shot”: Gene Kilroy, interview by author, September 16, 2016.
“Ali came back”: Hauser, with Ali, Muhammad Ali, 213.
“You’re in the corner to keep them fighting”: Ferdie Pacheco, interview by author, December 30, 2013.
“Tonight I did what Frazier”: Schulberg, Loser and Still Champion, 96.
“Maybe this will shock and amaze ya”: Ibid.
“If you fight a good left-hooker”: “Talk with Mr. Hemingway,” New York Times, September 17, 1950.
second youngest of ten: Mark Kram Jr., interview by author, August 13, 2016.
no one could masturbate: Joe Hand Sr., interview by author, March 21, 2014.
“Frazier was the human equivalent”: Mailer, King of the Hill, 67.
a bus only hit you once: “Bull v. Butterfly: A Clash of Champions,” Time, March 8, 1971.
hoping to lose weight: “In This Corner . . . The Official Heavyweight Champ,” New York Times, November 15, 1970.
“black Adonis on parade”: “Bull v. Butterfly: A Clash of Champions.”
“I like it, fighting”: “In This Corner . . . The Official Heavyweight Champ.”
“Frazier ain’t got no rhythm”: Ibid.
crushed the radio with his foot: Mark Kram, Ghosts of Manila (New York: Harper Perennial, 2002), 28.
“Coward? Uncle Tom?”: Ibid., 29.
33. THE FIVE-MILLION-DOLLAR MATCH
“The $500,000,000 Fighters”: Time, March 8, 1971.
“have a ball”: “Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier (I) 1971-03-08,” www.youtube.com.
228-pound frame: “It’s Gonna Be the Champ and the Tramp.”
“Pleasure is the shadow of happiness”: Ibid.
two more “warm-ups”: Jim Dundee, interview by author, June 11, 2015.
earned at least $3.5 million: “Frazier-Ali Bout Income Near $20-Million Mark,” New York Times, May 9, 1971.
“This one transcends”: “Sport’s $5 Million Payday,” Sports Illustrated, January 25, 1971.
“Muhammad Ali had become Lucky Lindy”: Schulberg, Loser and Still Champion, 128.
“Nothing is deader”: “The Athlete as Peacock,” Time, January 4, 1971.
Alabama sheriffs: Kindred, Sound and Fury, 165.
“When he gets to ringside”: “At the Bell . . . ,” Sports Illustrated, March 8, 1971.
he intended to hammer: “I Got a Surprise for Clay,” Sports Illustrated, February 22, 1971.
“He was an awful nice fellow”: “Patterson, Ali Mourn Liston,” Chicago Defender, January 7, 1971.
giant birthday cake: “ ‘Mellow’ Ali Predicts Win,” Los Angeles Times, January 16, 1971.
“Will you stop eating that?”: Ibid.
“Frazier will catch hell”: Ibid.
“I don’t like fighting”: “Explains Boasting,” Oakland Post, February 4, 1971.
“because the results from a lot”: “ ‘Mellow’ Ali Predicts Win,” Los Angeles Times, January 16, 1971.
“I guess that’s what I do”: Ibid.
34. ALI V. FRAZIER
Imagine 10 million people: Mailer, King of the Hill, 62.
President Nixon had a special line: Connie Bruck, When Hollywood Had a King (New York, Random House, 2004), 309.
Belinda heard a man’s voice: Khalilah Camacho-Ali, interview by author, December 23, 2014.
“And I cried”: Ibid.
Bing Crosby settled: “Where Were You on March 8, 1971,” ESPN.com, http://espn.go.com/classic/s/silver_ali_frazier.html.
Television producers had gone over: “The Telecast of the Century,” New York Times, August 21, 1972.
“is equivalent to the first kiss”: Mailer, King of the Hill, 76.
“Don’t you know I’m God!”: Kram, Ghosts of Manila, 144.
“God, you’re in the wrong place”: Joe Frazier, interview, ESPN Classic, transcript of broadcast interview, January 17, 2001, courtesy of ESPN.
“What is he doing?”: Torres, Sting Like a Bee, 208.
“half-dream room”: Ali and Durham, The Greatest, 405.
“You got God in your corner”: “ ‘Everyone Will Remember What Happened,’ ” Sports Illustrated, March 15, 1971.
“There are languages other than words”: Mailer, King of the Hill, 17.
motionless, eyes closed, naked: “ ‘I Ain’t No Champ,’ Says Muhammad Ali,” Charleston Daily Mail, March 9, 1971.
Flower First Avenue Hospital: “Frazier Earns the Crown,” New York Times, March 8, 1971.
35. FREEDOM
“that draft dodger asshole”: “Muhammad Ali’s Philadelphia Story,” Philadelphia Citizen, June 6, 2016.