Taking Off The Gloves

There are several treasured Sports artifacts in our office; among them, resting in a specially enclosed transparent case is a pair of red Everlast boxing gloves, autographed by Muhammad Ali. They were gifted to me years ago at a charity event in Detroit. It occurred to me I haven’t noticed them as much as I once did; with the passage of time, even things that matter a lot can become part of the background. But, given broadcasting’s fisticuffs, on a given day it’s not a stretch to see ourselves in the ring.

As young kids, to us Ali was different from other grownup sports figures. Scribes and critics saw him as a construct of boxing media hype; brash, pompous, altogether too self-absorbed to be a lasting icon. But with each passing triumph (Liston, Frazier, Banks, Foreman, Berbick, and more) it was clear: Ali was alone on the summit and would remain there. He changed Boxing and to a degree, he changed society.

Amazingly Ali was as skilled with words as he was in the ring. Recall if you will a few Ali-isms worth sharing…

“I don’t count sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting because they’re the only ones that matter. That’s what makes you a champion,”

“Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer.”

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. They can’t hit what their eyes don’t see!”

“It isn’t the mountains that wear you down…it’s the pebbles in your shoe.”

“The fight is won or lost far away from the witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road long before I dance under those lights.”

“Don’t count the days…make them count!”

“The will must be stronger than the skill.”

“I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me.”

“I am the greatest. I said that long before I knew I was. I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince myself that I really was.”

“Impossible is just a word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live their lives in the world they’ve been given, instead of exploring the power they have to change it. ‘Impossible’ is not a fact, it’s an opinion. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”

There will never be another Ali.