Tweet
First, whoever is pouring, pass the champagne.
Good morning, friends, sports buffs, noblemen and fair ladies, today I invite you to come bounce with me.
On Monday I went to a film premiere at the Clearview Chelsea Cinemas downtown. There I was treated to a fine and meaningful production as part of ESPN'S "30 for 30" documentary series. This is part of The Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival, and if the other 29 are as a good as this one, they have themselves a winning 30.
The name of this one, simply called "Muhammad and Larry," gives you a vivid look at the beginning of one great heavyweight and the end of another. It also gives you a picture of what boxing should not be and how some champions who went up those ring steps one time too many should've been spectators.
It's a tale of a once-dominant, entertaining and perhaps - in his time - the most popular sports figure in the world, Muhammad Ali.
In 1980 the shell of Ali, then 38, was matched against 30-year-old Larry Holmes, at his peak, a fine but subdued champion who felt he was never given his true worth.
Here was the rub: Like all of Ali's fights, this one was highly publicized. Ali was the guy they were going to see in the ring one more time. It was Ali, Ali, Ali. Always Ali!
Even knowledgeable fight people knew that Ali - who had gone to great lengths to lose blubber from his middle - didn't have a chance of beating a slick and savvy Holmes.
But such was Ali's fandom that many were innocent enough to think that he still had one or two wins left in those innovative mitts.
No such thing, Ali took the greatest beating of his life. And when the fight was over, he must have known he couldn't turn the tide. Not against his old sparring partner, Holmes, who had boxed him so many times at the gym that he knew every one of Ali's moves. Over the years, the two must have gone some 150 rounds.
For me the film was best when it depicted the human side of both men. You see the star, Ali, in his Deer Lake, Pa. camp, training hard to sweat off those pounds yet having time for laughs and joking with children while performing magic tricks and displaying a genuine love for the kids.
Holmes is serious in his work, and you see his steady workmanship while sharpening his excellent left hand in the gym. He is the complete professional fighter working with that single purpose of improving his talents.
There, too, we see a man who loves the life he has - a wonderful wife, Diane, of over 30 years, and when you see them together, the love is evident. And there's Larry in his boxing togs playfully hugging and kissing his little daughter Kandy.
Holmes is a man who rose to the top because he did the right things, and through hard work has earned the many properties he owns in his hometown of Easton, Pa.
Still, he talks of that fight with Ali and feels like he played second banana to the star of the show. The other thing that rankles him is that he had to put such a hurt on the man he always truly admired.
"I was hitting him with so many solid shots and when I saw he wasn't retaliating - because he couldn't - I was praying the ref would stop it," Holmes said.
So there was the gist of this film, and you can see it on ESPN, Tuesday at 8 p.m. - a great champion who was through against a great champion who never got the credit he deserved as one of the great heavyweights.
In an interview after the viewing, Larry in his humble way, gave great credit to Ali. "In my mind Ali was the greatest heavyweight of all time," he said. "He gave me a job (as a sparring partner), he was always there for me, and after all's said and done, we have great respect for one another."
Sounds like a good documentary,hopefully someone can upload it after it's aired.
Good morning, friends, sports buffs, noblemen and fair ladies, today I invite you to come bounce with me.
On Monday I went to a film premiere at the Clearview Chelsea Cinemas downtown. There I was treated to a fine and meaningful production as part of ESPN'S "30 for 30" documentary series. This is part of The Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival, and if the other 29 are as a good as this one, they have themselves a winning 30.
The name of this one, simply called "Muhammad and Larry," gives you a vivid look at the beginning of one great heavyweight and the end of another. It also gives you a picture of what boxing should not be and how some champions who went up those ring steps one time too many should've been spectators.
It's a tale of a once-dominant, entertaining and perhaps - in his time - the most popular sports figure in the world, Muhammad Ali.
In 1980 the shell of Ali, then 38, was matched against 30-year-old Larry Holmes, at his peak, a fine but subdued champion who felt he was never given his true worth.
Here was the rub: Like all of Ali's fights, this one was highly publicized. Ali was the guy they were going to see in the ring one more time. It was Ali, Ali, Ali. Always Ali!
Even knowledgeable fight people knew that Ali - who had gone to great lengths to lose blubber from his middle - didn't have a chance of beating a slick and savvy Holmes.
But such was Ali's fandom that many were innocent enough to think that he still had one or two wins left in those innovative mitts.
No such thing, Ali took the greatest beating of his life. And when the fight was over, he must have known he couldn't turn the tide. Not against his old sparring partner, Holmes, who had boxed him so many times at the gym that he knew every one of Ali's moves. Over the years, the two must have gone some 150 rounds.
For me the film was best when it depicted the human side of both men. You see the star, Ali, in his Deer Lake, Pa. camp, training hard to sweat off those pounds yet having time for laughs and joking with children while performing magic tricks and displaying a genuine love for the kids.
Holmes is serious in his work, and you see his steady workmanship while sharpening his excellent left hand in the gym. He is the complete professional fighter working with that single purpose of improving his talents.
There, too, we see a man who loves the life he has - a wonderful wife, Diane, of over 30 years, and when you see them together, the love is evident. And there's Larry in his boxing togs playfully hugging and kissing his little daughter Kandy.
Holmes is a man who rose to the top because he did the right things, and through hard work has earned the many properties he owns in his hometown of Easton, Pa.
Still, he talks of that fight with Ali and feels like he played second banana to the star of the show. The other thing that rankles him is that he had to put such a hurt on the man he always truly admired.
"I was hitting him with so many solid shots and when I saw he wasn't retaliating - because he couldn't - I was praying the ref would stop it," Holmes said.
So there was the gist of this film, and you can see it on ESPN, Tuesday at 8 p.m. - a great champion who was through against a great champion who never got the credit he deserved as one of the great heavyweights.
In an interview after the viewing, Larry in his humble way, gave great credit to Ali. "In my mind Ali was the greatest heavyweight of all time," he said. "He gave me a job (as a sparring partner), he was always there for me, and after all's said and done, we have great respect for one another."
Sounds like a good documentary,hopefully someone can upload it after it's aired.
Comment