What's My Name: Muhammad Ali

I have watched many and ANY documentary I can find on Muhammed Ali - including the obvious When We Were Kings. While that one is great, this is the DEFINITIVE movie of Ali. It is a flawless account of the greatest boxer of all time.

"What's My Name: Muhammad Ali" (2019 release; 2 parts; 162 min.) is a two part TC documentary about Muhammad Ali's illustrious career, both in boxing and outside of that. As Part 1 opens, we hear Ali getting ready for a fight, as told in his own words. We are "March 8, 1971" at Madison Square Garden, for the "fight of the century". We then go back in time, to then-Cassius Clay's early days growing up in Louisville, and quickly establishing himself as a strong boxing presence, leading up to the 1960 Olympic Games, where he obtains the gold medal. At this point we are 10 min. into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this documentary is directed by none other than Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day"), and executive-produced by LeBron James, among others. Very early in his career Cassius Clay earned the nickname "Bigmouth" from the Cubans when he was training in Miami Beach right after the 1960 Olympics, and that nickname was meant as a gesture of respect and/or admiration, and it made the task of the film makers immensely easier as frankly all they needed to do was to collect audio and video clips of Clay's/Ali's many, many, MANY public appearances over the decades, and he'll tell the story himself. Which is exactly what this documentary does: it's mostly Ali's own telling. Some of these clips are well known, others not so much. Watch for the many astute racial commentaries that Ali makes, using clever wordsmithing (at one point Ali comments about the use of the word "blackmail", and why is isn't "whitemail"). Even at a running time of over 2 1/2 hrs., this clips by in no time, as we get to witness one of the most iconic sport stories ever, along with a good dose of social and civil rights history. Part 1 (which runs through March 8, 1971) is clearly the better half of the documentary, mixing the sports and social/civil rights aspects brilliantly. Part 2 focuses mainly on the last decade of his boxing career, almost to the exclusion of everything else, and finishing up with a career record of 56-5. Just think of how many more wins Ali would've surely racked up had he not been banned from boxing for three years (1967-70) just as he was in the very peak of his boxing career! This documentary is enjoyable from start to finish, even if there are few if any "new" revelations of course some of this has already been covered before (see for example "Ali & Cavett: The Tale Of the Tapes" from earlier this year).

"What's My Name" Muhammad Ali" premiered last year on HBO. In the current COVID-19 pandemic I've been catching up on various TV shows and documentaries that I somehow missed when they originally aired. I just watched this on HBO On Demand the other night. So glad that I found this documentary. If you have any interest in Muhammad Ali and/or the social and civil rights environment of this country in the 60s and 70s, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.

It is hard to be balanced when it comes to Ali, he's either a flawed racist loudmouth who belittled his opponents or he's a self-marketing genius, strategist, humanitarian, rebel, champion of the poor who did what he did consciously and purposely in order to elevate himself and his people. The truth of course is somewhere in the middle. Quite frankly it's refreshing to know that Ali was all too human at times and prone to the odd slip up just like the next man, be that in his personal affairs or in the realm of boxing, where he certainly did cross the line more than a few times. But bearing in mind what he went through in such times of great social and political upheaval, it is not difficult to be able to overlook his flaws. This documentary does not take any particular angle on the Ali story, it shows most sides of him, not so much of his family life, which he probably managed to keep more off limits. What it does show is some great fight footage, interviews and rare archive material which I had never seen before, even though i have watched literally every documentary about the man. What is left to say? I mean he passed away but his legend does truly live large and strong, this is such an inspiring film, not so much the film, but the man, so unbelievably great, so inspiring, it is hard to imagine a human being who could be more uplifting, more intoxicating. He literally grabs you by the throat and dares you to get off your ass and do something with your life. A priceless genius, I loved watching this documentary and no doubt if i am ever having a bad week, i will come back to it. Ali is the greatest, period. Study his life and learn, that's all there is to do.

This documentary explained and showed things I did not know about the greatest boxer of all time and I am a HUGE Muhammad Ali fan. In and out of the ring he was the greatest from boxing to his humanitarian work, this documentary covered it all. I literally had a lump in my throat towards the end. Great job and thank you.

I don't want to spoil anything. You don't want to miss this! One of best docs I've ever seen. The film which Muhammed Ali deserved. Not a second wasted. Pure greatness! Go watch it now!