The Greatest

Ali known at the time as "Cassius Clay" defeats Sonny Liston for the Heavyweight title of the world.

It's hard to express this in words

for the younger generation

But when I was just a small lad

heavyweight fights led the nation

It wasn't that we didn't care

for the struggle of civil rights

It was just that back in those days

men worshiped the heavyweight fights

 

While Martin Luther had a place

in the hearts and minds of us all

It was the audacious Ali

who held the boxing world in thrall

He was Cassius Marcellus Clay

born in nineteen forty two

A victor at the Olympics

from where his legend only grew

 

He had made short work of Liston

who had mauled way more than a few

In a fight where barely a soul

had known what this great champ could do

 He then changed his name to Ali

going on to crush all comers

Taunting each of the challengers

for what seemed like endless summers

 

But then he'd dared refuse the draft

while men cried in lamentation

"How could the great Heavyweight Champ

bring such disgrace to our nation"

The commissioners took his title

along with his Olympic gold

They knocked him down, and took his crown

crying "How dare he be so bold"

 

Here this man had stood by himself

 took the pain dealt to him alone

For all the things that he believed

he was willing to lose his throne

Though as we all found out later

he was right to protest that war

Ali stood by his convictions

and soon he would do even more

 

At the end of his long career

 after Larry Holmes won their fight

I asked a close black friend of mine

"just who did you bet on tonight"

"I put my money on the champ

he fights with such malignity

I guess I knew, that he was through

but he gave me my dignity"

 

 

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Author's Note

Very few people ever become so famous that we know them by their first name. But Ali was the Greatest fighter ever. He stirred the core of every man alive at the time. Forced us to look at ourselves and through that glass we came to admire him. Later he became a great humanitarian. Saving the lives of the hostages in the first Iraq war. He received a new gold medal from the Olympic committee at the Atlanta games,to replace the one taken from him. Misunderstood? Sure he was. Loved and admired around the world? Your Damn Right he is! In later years Ali has contracted Parkinson's disease. However a man once interviewed him many years after his retirement. Ali took him out to the barn to see his dusty trophies laying about. "You know" he said. "Here are the things I strove so hard for many years of my life.They didn't mean a thing when you compare them to what really matters." Well he mattered. At least to the rest of us. He is today as he has been for many years one of the most Iconic and beloved figures of the modern era. There is only One Ali!
So here is to the greatest fighter and one of the greatest men who ever lived.

Reviews

[Keith]

Great poem about a great man. I watched all of his fights, Rumble In The Jungle included. I think the most impressive thing I ever saw was one of his interviews after he had contracted Parkinsons. He still had a commanding presence.

[Leslie Philibert]

A poem I like a lot, about a person I admire very much too. Excellent.

[Barbara Walker]

Great poetic tribute! I wasn't into watching boxing, except when Ali was involved! He was the greatest!

[Eddie Phillips]

He is one of my heroes and I grew up loving Ali! For more reasons then one he is The Greatest! He gave a little black boy pride enough to say I could be anything and the faith to believe it!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i agree with all of this poem....used to sit by the radio listening to all his fights...actually couldn't stand him in his early days and pulled for anybody he fought...but he became a hero later on...and yes, he was right to stand up to the draft, to not fight in a war that was wrong.

and he really did become a humanitarian...he grew in life...to be much bigger than he had claimed in his early fighting days.

i was crushed by the Holmes fight and wished he had not come back to take that fight...

i think his parkinsons was accelerated by that beathing he took...

one of the best fights of his i ever saw was against an irish guy, richard dunn...they stood toe to toe for 4 and half rounds pounding on each other, and then suddenly Dunn just fell, and that was it...man, it was exciting.

thanks for this memory...

but yes, we can't forget Martin Luther and civil rights movement and all it meant...but we still have such a long way to go.

[Pax]

I never knew he'd become a humanitarian... that's just wow, because he had found something that with a heart - a heart that cares and understand the sufferings and after effects of war... He learned how to make a mark in the hearts of many, not in his victories or loses... but how he helped and touched the people that needed his help... become a better person on a much better road to do good to mankind...

a very nice tribute my friend...

[Sheila Kline]

BRAVO, BRAVO, BRAVO!!! A fitting tribute to the greatest fighter of all time, and truly one of the most admired persons on my "most admired person"s list!

Yes, he received great criticism for what he believed in, and he paid a price few of us would be willing to pay, so to me that makes him even more of a hero! I have always loved the man, the fighter, my hero and always shall!

You have "done him proud" with this write Tate! We need more poems to honor people who are worthy of receiving praise and recognition for being who they are!!! Ali is King of the Ring and always will be!!

This is a fav of mine for sure........."float like a butterfly, sting like a bee"! Ah yes!! "I'm too pretty", "I'm gonna rumble in the jungle"..........oh, sweet music to my ears!!

[shallimarRose]

Its a very nice tribute poem Tate.. and I learned a few things about Ali I didn't know..I remember watching the fights with my father when i was very small.. Such a different world we live in today... thank you. Rose

[A Soap Mess Stories]

What a wonderful tribute to Ali. I'm not much into boxing, but Ali was one of my favorites.

[A Soap Mess Stories]

What a wonderful tribute to Ali. I'm not much into boxing, but Ali was one of my favorites.