Floyd Patterson was a well-respected, polite man- a deferential black man, “acceptable” to those who believed black men had their place. That part of the story is as interesting, if not more so, than the story of Ali. And to understand those fights, you have to understand the Liston-Patterson fights. Rather than a traditional biography (there are plenty of Muhammad Ali biographies), Remnick focuses on the fights between Ali and Sonny Liston. To many people, for much of his career, Ali was a transcendent villain. Every sport has their heroes and their villains. He was a rebel in nearly every aspect of his life. He was feared and reviled for his outspoken politics and his strange religious beliefs. He was despised by boxing purists for his style and his braggadocio. It’s hard to imagine that as he stepped into the ring for his early title fights, he was often met with a chorus of boos. Ali (and Cassius Clay before he changed his name) was draped in controversy through most of his career. Today, we put Ali on a pedestal with the greatest American heroes-not just the groundbreaking athletes, but the icons of American achievement. I remember watching the opening ceremony of the 1996 Olympics on television, seeing Muhammad Ali stand proudly, his arm shaking wildly from Parkinson’s as he lit the Olympic torch in front of a roaring crowd in Atlanta.
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