jack cashill

Why Sonny Liston Didn't Get Up

Despite his championship status, Ali was one anxious man in the spring of 1965. In addition to the very real fear of facing Sonny Liston once again, his marriage was in shambles, and his life in jeopardy.

Why Ali Betrayed Malcolm X

"Turning my back on Malcolm," says Muhammad Ali 40 years after the fact, "was one of the mistakes that I regret most in my life." To his credit, Ali has come to grips with this tragic misstep, at least partially. His faithful, however, have not. To m...

Why Joe Frazier Won The Fight of The Century

No one in Ali's camp that March 1971 night in Madison Square Garden – Ali included – had ever seen a fighter more determined than Joe Frazier. Frazier gave up 10 pounds in weight, four inches in height, and nine inches in reach. To win, he was going...

The Unusual Men To Whom Ali Paid Homage

In September 1960, the very same month Ali won his Olympic gold in Rome, Joseph Mobutu staged a coup in the Congo and placed elected President Patrice Lumumba under house arrest. In November, Lumumba escaped but was recaptured by Mobutu's troops. The...

How one boxer finally crossed the racial divide

Those who believe in the great good humor of God and the glory of the American dream had to have felt vindicated Nov. 5, 1994.

How Ali found God and became a Republican

Muhammad Ali was changing in ways that few people saw or chose to see. He traces his hour of enlightenment to "around 1983." It was only then that he became a "true believer." Always more honest than the mythmakers around him, Ali sheds needed light...

How Ali's Legacy Destroyed Mike Tyson

Promoter Don King had taken Muhammad Ali's misbegotten racial rap and commercialized it. If Ali was sincere, King was not, and his cynicism made him all the more lethal. Ali abandoned racism as he and the society matured, just as Malcolm X had before...