Muhammad was willing
John Wayne’s last movie was The Shootist. He played a dying man having lived a full life on the best side of a gun: winning, assumed in self-defense. When asked — by Ron Howard’s character — why he was still alive after so many gunfights, Wayne’s character: John Bernard Books offered a singular word: willing.
Books, and Wayne himself, as with countless others, was willing.
Another prime example of one’s willingness — in their cause — is at the end of the movie: Rob Roy, starring Liam Neeson. It appeared the Neeson character was about to be killed, yet as the sword was coming down, his resolve to win — his willingness — was shown by grabbing the blade of the sword, allowing for his hand to be severely cut in exchange for his defeat of his foe.
One can chose from a number of items for Muhammad Ali’s antagonist:
- Fighters in his way to becoming boxing greatness.
- Anyone in the way of his personal beliefs.
- The disease in the way of his quality of life.
However, no matter Muhammad’s fight — boxers, personal beliefs or medical issues — the most exciting metaphor for HIS willingness was his fight with the scary George Foreman, in Zaire: The Rumble in the Jungle in 1974.
In advance of their moment of truth, George Foreman was both hated and intimidating. He was not liked thanks to his negative — downright mean — persona. He was intimidating due to his size and obvious readiness to take on all comers.
The night of the fight — the face-to-face moment — where the two gladiators, with their handlers, are listening to the instructions of referee: Zack Clayton, clearly, Ali was not smaller than Foreman as other fighters had been. Ali was the underdog, and with millions of fans wanting Ali to win, there was much concern it might be too late, even for the Greatest!
For readers in need of this fights details the Internet is rich with full information.
NO boxer has ever entered the ring — before or after — better conditioned than Muhammad Ali, and that night in Zaire, he was willing to put his body on the line to withstand the assumed overwhelming George Foreman, and that is exactly what he did.
Yet where Muhammad Ali truly showed the world his Greatness, was not in his physical conditioning but in his superior mental condition. Foreman was not out boxed. George Foreman was out smarted!
However, while Ali had proven his greatest point of physical willingness, the giving up of his boxing passion for his personal beliefs was indeed the pivotal point in his life. Moreover, he would go on to prove the strength of his willingness in the maintenance of his self-respect, and his fight against the debilitating Parkinson.
The reports on Ali’s greatness are deservedly legendary, with willingness as a key ingredient in his success formula.
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