One of a kind: The Ali I knew

PETALING JAYA: Muhammad Ali, as quick on his feet as he was with his jabs, was truly a sportswriters dream, recalls former NST sports editor Tony Francis, who covered the former world boxing champion in Kuala Lumpur in 1975.

Speaking to FMT, Tony said all the sports writers would go and watch Ali train at the race course track in Jalan Ampang (the site is now occupied by KLCC) in preparation for defending his championship title against challenger Joe Bugner.

Tony said Ali would start his training every day before dawn, and this went on for almost a month in the run up to the big fight.

“He was a real professional, you could see it by the way he trained. He always gave it his 100%, Ali knew that to remain the champion, he had to be at his best and always one step ahead of the rest.”

More than just a boxer, Tony said Ali, who called himself “The Greatest of All Time” was a sharp-witted entertainer.

On one occasion, Ali was asked by an American journalist if he was going to China to fight. At the time, this was a big deal as China was not open to the rest of the world.

“Ali asked the journalist where he got the idea, and the journalist said it was reported in the Malay Mail by Malaysian journalist Francis Emmanuel. Ali said that ‘If Francis Emmanuel says I’m going to China, then I’m going to China’,” Tony said.

Fond memories of Ali are not all that Tony has to remember the boxing legend by: he has a pair of Ali’s very own training gloves – his most prized possession from his days as a sports writer.

“Ali was one of a kind. He was truly the greatest, as a sportsman and entertainer,” Tony said. No other boxer has since been able to hold a candle next to Ali. “Ali was truly the greatest, in this lifetime and the next. I don’t believe anyone will ever be as great as he was.”

Ali died yesterday after a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, thought to be linked to the thousands of punches he took during a career studded by bruising battles inside the ropes. It had limited his public speaking events for years.

Known globally not only for his storied ring career but also for his civil rights activism, Ali had been hospitalized multiple times in recent years.