“I am the greatest!” --Muhammad Ali
Trevor Berbick.
If that name doesn’t ring a bell, don’t be surprised.
Berbick was Muhammad Ali’s final boxing opponent. Ali’s sixty-first
professional bout was held on December 11, 1981 in the Bahamas. That
night Ali--overweight, overmatched and well past his prime---lost in ten
rounds. He never fought again. Three
years later he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, the cruel neurological affliction
which marked his final years on the earth, until his death last week at the age
of 74.
In all the media coverage of Ali’s death, I had to dig
pretty deep to find any mention of the Berbick fight, because by then Ali was
not so “great” anymore, at least not athletically. After a stellar career as
the greatest boxer ever (no exaggeration there)—a gold medal at the 1960
Olympics, a world heavyweight championship then winning back that championship
twice—by 1981 Ali was done.
But he was still “The Greatest”. Great: beyond the ring and all the fame and all
the money and all the celebrity. It all
depends on what we think makes a “great” human being.
1967. Ali was on top
of the world, the champ, undefeated, but then was drafted to serve and fight in
the Vietnam War. A recent convert to
Islam, Ali reported for his induction and said that because of his religious
beliefs, he could not and would not fight and would instead seek conscientious
objector status. He was indicted for draft evasion, a felony, and convicted.
Stripped of his title, he was vilified, hated by most of the fans who had just
cheered for him. Public opinion came
down upon him like a roundhouse punch. He was labeled a traitor, a coward,
un-American.
Ali could have taken a dive.
Denied his Islamic faith. Fled to Canada. Instead, for almost four years Ali fought
another battle, in the courts and in 1971 he finally won, in what may have been
his greatest match of all. The Supreme
Court ruled 8-0, that Ali’s beliefs were sincerely held and legitimate. A knockout for religious freedom. Maybe that’s
what it means to be “great”, beyond being able to throw a punch or take a
punch. Standing up for your beliefs. Sacrificing your own good for a
greater good.
Great.
Makes me wonder about how so often we humans and the culture
just get it wrong when it comes to being “great” or boasting of “greatness” or
thinking that something or someone is just so “great”. Cheap greatness I’d call it. False greatness. Pseudo-greatness.
Like politicians, celebs, athletes, the ones who strut and
declare just how “great” they are, and not just at doing some things but
instead, everything. Why the need to
bluster so? To boast? To contemptuously dismiss others as not so great, all to
convince yourself that you are so great? To puff one’s self up like a preening
peacock? Memo. If you have to remind people constantly just
how great you are there’s a great chance you aren’t really all that great.
Great.
Is a “great” life one in which we make millions of
dollars? Invent some app or device
that’s hip or hot but which finally does not add much goodness to life? Is it “great” to accumulate material goods
while others go poor? “Great” to live a
life centered on one’s self alone? Funny
what we humans think is so “great” in the larger scheme of things. Power. Prestige.
Physical appearance. Status.
Jesus was once asked just who was the “greatest” among his
followers. His answer? He took the hand
of a little child and said, “Whoever welcomes this child…for the least among
all of you is the greatest.” Didn’t see
that spiritual punch coming.
Far beyond the narrow confines of a boxing ring, Ali was truly
“The Greatest” and perhaps there’s a lesson in that for all of us. For there is “great”. And then there is great.
Which do we aspire to in this life?
Rest in peace champ.
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