Encarando Ali

I have seen a lot of material regarding Muhammad Ali. Movies, clips from his greatest fights, documentaries, interviews and many, many more. This is what I was expecting when I sat down to watch 'Facing Ali'. Another documentary concerning this extraordinary man's exploits.

What I found, however, was something else. Something that kept me glued to the screen for the entirety of the film.

The premise of 'Facing Ali' is simple. Ten fighters who had traded blows with Ali during his remarkable career are interviewed. George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Ron Lyle, Larry Holmes and many other great boxers give their opinion on their fights with Ali, as well as Ali the boxer and Ali the person.

The interviews are beautifully done, with each fighter recounting their experiences, both personal and official. I found it riveting to hear each one's story. The pain and heartache each one endured to get where they were was clearly visible, as were their vivid recollections of their experiences with Ali. They say history is written by winners. This documentary identifies the men who were on the other side, who lived in the shadow that was Ali. They are no less remarkable.

The shooting style was very simple, and it worked. The interviews are interwoven with various Ali quotes and footage, as well as (of course) clips from his greatest fights over the course of his career. The whole thing comes together to keep one interested. This is no mere recollection of a great boxer's fights. It is also about Ali the man, a fighter of awesome ability, but also a man with a conflicted life, filled with hardship. This is told from the point of view of the men on the other side of his gloves.

This documentary is deserving of any praise it receives. 'Facing Ali' may have been told from the side of his opponents (phenomenal fighters and people in their own right), but it leaves little doubt - Ali was, and always will be, one of the greatest.

Based off the book which was written by Toronto sports writer Stephen Brunt. In the book, he chooses 15 boxers, all of which have faced Ali, some won, some lost. Thankfully, in the movie, we only have to sit through 10 of them.

Mr. Brunt's book did everything it could to find important moments of Ali's life. The most notable fighter omission from the book was Leon Spinks. Why wasn't he included? After a relatively exhaustive search, Mr. Brunt couldn't find him. Fortunately for the viewers of the video, Director Pete McCormack found him after months of searching. Spinks had lost his job and was helping at a shelter in the mid-west USA.

I had heard about this video a while back but I avoided it until I saw MMA fighter Randy Couture say that he liked it a lot. Only then did I make a point to watch it.

Sitting down to watch the screening of the video, I feared that it would be just another glowing, "Ali was the greatest", lovefest for 100 minutes. Fortunately, this was not the case. Most of the fighters interviewed were genuine in their praise, a few were self-serving and one was bitter. Probably from being asked for the umpteenth time how great Ali was.

This is an essential video to watch about the life of Mohammed Ali. For those who forget just how fast, how smart and how talented he was as a boxer. For those who only see him now as an over the hill boxer that had too many fights, or as a shell of his former self because of Parkinson's, this video is for you.

To know the fear, anxiety, power, rage and humbling experience of stepping into the ring with a truly great fighter, you need to hear it from the people who have done it.

I have seen boxing documentaries before but was never touched emotionally by one till I rented and watched Facing Ali tonight . The documentary looks at Ali through the eyes of 10 men who fought him, some of whom beat him: George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, Ron Lyle, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Leon Spinks and Ernie Terrell.

The documentary besides giving some inside revelations on the fights of those 10 men with Ali also gives some insight into the boxing careers and lives of the 10 boxers who are commenting on Ali. Some of their personal stories are pretty sad.

The documentary also covers what I found surprising statements from George Chuvalo concerning "mob" influenced events that led to the Chuvalo/Ali fight. I was also surprised by one of the fighters who was viciously verbally taunted by Ali in the days leading up to their fight come very close in the documentary to breaking down crying over Ali's present day condition.

The 10 men express some frank views on Ali and their fights with him but with the passage of a lot of time and events between now and when they actually fought Ali, there is no question that the documentary makes clear that they all deeply respect him now no matter what they may have thought of him in the past.

Not sure I understand why this film does not have a higher rating. It is a riveting look into the spirits and circumstances of some compelling people. The nature of Boxing was elevated to international proportions entirely by the character of Muhamed Ali. At the end you see the shadow of Don King, who ushered in its death. It is a portrait of a moment in time as remembered by the old dragons who lived it. It is a perfect film, describing a rare and luminous moment inside a deeply troubled country and among the black man and white society. There will never be a moment in time to match it, not in our lifetimes. Everything about this film is compelling.

IF ONE HAS ever been around boxers very much and gotten to know a little about how they form a sort of mini-society or sub-culture of their own, you already know what to expect from this documentary. As competitive, brutal and even 'barbaric' a bout is, the participants seem to have overwhelmingly become a sort of very exclusive fraternity.

THERE ARE ALWAYS exceptions to any rule, but by and large, the guys who boxed at the professional level are respectful, modest and quite unaffected by their prowess. They never speak badly of other 'pugs' and prove to be 'just reg'lar guys to the public at large. They have no need to prove their toughness outside of the prize ring.

SO IT IS to this exclusive world of former fighters that the production transports us to look back on the career of one Cassius Clay/Mohammed Ali. The story is traced from the earliest days as a young promising kid in Louisville, through his amateur successes; which culminated with his victory at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games. There he won the Olympic Light Heavyweight title. This left no worlds to conquer in the Simon Pure, amateur boxing. So........

IT WAS WITH great anticipation that his entry into the Pros was met. He had already made for himself and the career in the Heavyweight ranks proved to be a meteoric rise toward the top.

IT IS THIS ringside observers' recollections that are captured with the extended narrative provided by names like: Joe Frazier, Ernie Terrell, (Sir) Henry Cooper, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, George Chuvalo, Ernie Shavers and Ken Norton. There are many references to his 2 bouts with the late Sonny Liston and many now deceased fighters, such as Jerry Quarry and Floyd Patterson, appear in archival footage.

IN THE FINAL analysis, FACING ALI gives us the history of the Clay/Ali career in fisticuffs, told by both opponents and associates who were there as real and true eyeball witnesses. All is revealed to us set against the backdrop of a 1960-70s America which was going through some growing pains with the Civil Rights movement and the very unpopular Vietnam War being waged in micro-managed fashion by the Johnson Administration.

WHEN WE ARRIVE at film's end, we feel that we know Ali/Clay just a little bit better and he emerges a much more sympathetic character than our recollections of his earlier legal battles with Uncle Sam & the Selective Service System (Draft Board) than our collective memories had stored up.

NOTE: AS SORT OF a sidebar to the story, we recall having heard Ali speak of how he got the idea of being so highly braggadocios about his skills in the ring. He said that he was a guest on a noontime soft news & talk show in LA. Along with him as guest was Pro Wrestler, Gorgeous George; who wasted no time in using the airwaves hype his upcoming match that night. Cassius said that George did such a fine and entertaining a job that even he bought a ticket and was in attendance on that particular evening.