SONAHR: October 11, 2015 – As Muhammad Ali progresses through the 73rd year of his singular life, honors and accolades continue to mount. The October 5 issue of Sports Illustrated ran a cover story on the former three-time heavyweight champion, and the magazine announced that it will dedicate its annual Legacy Award in his name.
Whether or not Ali is truly ?The Greatest of All Time? is open to debate. Floyd Mayweather Jr., for one, would dispute that point, rightly or wrongly. However, there is no question that Ali is the most written-about athlete ever. It would take a lifetime to read all the books that have been penned about him since he won the light-heavyweight gold medal during the 1960 Summer Olympics. And the books just keep on coming.
British author Norman Giller has written what amounts to a primer on the saga of Ali, who was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in Louisville, Kentucky. The title of the relatively slim (224 pages) volume is The Ali Files: His Fights, His Foes, His Feats, His Fate. Having worked as a publicist for some of Ali?s fights in Europe, Giller has something of an insider?s perspective on his subject.
Despite the breadth of the subtitle, the bulk of the book consists of capsule coverage of Ali?s 61 professional contests. For each fight, Giller gives the reader a summary of the outcome, a profile of the opponent, quotes by Ali and others, and a ?Whatever Happened To? brief on the subsequent lives of the opponents. This approach is reminiscent of Stephen Brunt?s classic Facing Ali, albeit a Cliff?s Notes version that nonetheless includes all the men Ali fought rather than a select few.
Ali?s momentous life outside the squared circle receives only superficial coverage in this book, which is just as well because other volumes, such as Thomas Hauser?s monumental Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, accomplish that task very well indeed. But Giller obviously wasn?t aiming to produce the definitive biography of the man who is still ? even in the near-muteness and near-immobility caused by the ravages of Parkinson?s disease ? the biggest celebrity on the planet. Instead, the author offers revelations and insights into the circumstances and subsequent lives of the men who swapped punches with the ?Louisville Lip.?
A great deal is known about Ali?s more illustrious rivals, such as Joe Frazier Ken Norton, Larry Holmes, Sonny Liston, and Floyd Patterson and nothing?s added in this book. However, Giller gives us fascinating details about such lesser-known opponents as Jean-Pierre Coopman (a stonemason), Jurgen Blin (a butcher), Billy Daniels (a barber), and Tony Esperti (a career criminal). Sadly, many of those men?s lives ?including Frazier, Norton, Liston and Patterson ? are over. As of the writing of the book, Ali has outlived 31 of the men he fought.
As a journalist and author or co-author of 98 other books, Giller shines as a researcher and shows a keen eye for detail. The only egregious error I found was a passing reference that substituted the name of Carl (The Truth) Williams for that of Cleveland (Big Cat) Williams. Fortunately, the section on the Ali-Cleveland Williams bout of November 1966 does not contain that mistaken reference.
This is a book that hard-core Ali-philes and casual boxing fans alike can appreciate. It?s also a good jumping-off point for readers who wish to delve deeper into the Ali phenomenon. For that purpose, there are plenty of volumes to choose from. Just Google ?Books about Muhammad Ali,? and you?ll see what I mean.
Charles R. Saunders is the author of several books including Sweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers in the Maritimes from the Halifax Forum to Caesars Palace, as well as the Imaro series of fantasy/adventure novels. Considered by many to be one of the leading authorities on boxing in Canada, he is the current Vice-President of Boxing for the Society of North American Sports Historians and Researchers. His novels, Imaro, Damballa, and Abengoni: First Calling are available at Amazon.com.
