Muhammad Ali, arguably the greatest boxer of all time, was not just a sportsman and a boxer. He was above all, a very fine human being. I was fortunate to see the man behind the boxer from up close, 26 long years ago.
Post his retirement from boxing in 1980, Ali had immersed himself in social work. Through his social foundation, Ali helped build schools and orphanages across the world. Kerala and Tamil Nadu, were two Indian states which had benefitted from Ali’s support.
It was on one such South India tour, that he visited Chennai in 1990.
I was freelancing for a national sports weekly at that time and was extremely keen to meet the great man. Luckily for me, Ali’s manager was sporting enough to give me a 30 minute appointment one afternoon.
I had taken Ravi, a cousin of mine with me to double up as my photographer. And even as Ravi and I waited with bated breath for the great boxer, the big man walked in slowly into the room. He had already been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for six years and the tell-tale signs were there for all to see.
His hand trembled and his speech was slurred. But his handshake was firm. These were the same hands that had rearranged many a face inside the boxing ring! The big man modestly said, “I am Ali. Muhammad Ali,” and asked us to sit down. A far cry from his belligerent, “I am the Greatest!” shout before many a bout.
He insisted we have a cup of tea or coffee before we started and asked his manager to organise the same. Only then was he ready to begin the interview. When I praised him for his social work, the great boxer simply said, “It is all the will of Allah. I am just doing his bidding. I am simply the messenger.”
He said that he was very happy helping poor people and poor children across he world. “Education is important. Little children must go to school. I am very happy to help,” he said. It was obvious that he liked India. “It is a special country. It has given the world, Mahatma Gandhi,” Ali said.
Fellow Americans Joe Frazier and George Foreman were his fiercest rivals in the ring. Yet, when I asked him about them in Chennai, Ali said with a wink, “They are good men. Good fighters.” In fact, Ali, despite his illness travelled several hundred miles in 2011 to attend Frazier’s funeral.
We also realised during the course of the interview that Parkinson’s had not dampened Ali’s mischief. When my cousin Ravi came close to him to take a photograph, he jokingly jabbed the air a few times, making my cousin scurry for cover.
Finally, the big man graciously posed for a photograph with us, giving us one of our most cherishable moments in life!
Rahul Chandawarkar, now settled in Goa is a former Pune-based editor. He is also recipient of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism award for the year 2009
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