I Am Ali Page #10

that Joe Frazier is not clowning.

They threw off their respective

earpieces, microphones.

Joe Frazier's watch came off.

There was

a wrestling bout on the floor

and we're really very sorry

this happened.

And there's no question about it. Joe

Frazier is leaving the studio now

and he is deeply upset about

Ali calling him ignorant.

I'm sorry, Joe.

I'm getting sick and tired

of all this mess.

Joe Frazier, the heavyweight

champion of the world,

clumsy, ugly,

flat-footed Joe Frazier.

I'll show you what

a real champion is.

Said that he was an Uncle Tom.

Said he was ugly.

Said he was a gorilla, you know,

and Pop just said, "Well, I'm

going to do what you say I do. "

"You say I'm a gorilla, I'm

gonna be a gorilla on you. "

As a man, Pop was a... he was

like a little puppy dog, man.

He was a calm, gentle, kind...

He was the kind of person that,

everybody would want to be

their best friend, you know.

Mom didn't say too much.

She was always calm.

She was always collected

and she'd, like,

"Oh, don't worry about it, son.

It'll be all right. "

And I said, "That's not right, Mom, what

they're saying about Daddy," you know.

"It's not right what they're saying.

They call him this, they call him that. "

"Don't worry about it, honey. The

Good Lord will work it out. "

I met Mr Ali in New York, man.

He was like,

"Oh, you're Joe's son.

How are you doing, son?

How are you doing?"

"You're looking

all right there. "

But, you know, Pop on the other side,

he was like, "I'm coming to get you. "

The heavyweight champion

of the world, Joe Frazier!

He was more like a fireball

because of the things that,

Mr Ali was saying to him.

It really, you know,

got down into his heart

because here was a guy

that help another brother.

To help him when everybody was

against him

because of not going to the

war, you know what I mean?

And then he was the one to

help him get his license back,

and then for him to say the

things that he said to him

was kinda hard for my dad.

He couldn't understand it.

Hundreds of millions are seeing

this bout around the world.

A packed house at

Madison Square Garden.

And I believe in that, first

fight, that my dad, he wanted,

you know, he wanted to get him.

He wanted to get him.

Why do you think he beat you,

Muhammad?

Well, the reason that he got

the decision,

if you looked at my face and his face

after the fight, both eyes were closed.

His nose is blood, his lips

was cut, his head was swollen

and he spent one month in the hospital.

And did you all hear it?

Yeah, surely.

He spent 30 days in intensive care.

No phone calls, no visitors.

Now that's a terrible beating when you

have to stay resting for 30 days.

But he got the decision. But I'm not

complaining. Next time I'll get him.

I remember, um, being at an autograph

signing and a lot of the, you know,

different sports figures would

be there signing autographs,

and Joe Frazier

was there at one.

And my father and him were passing

each other in the hallway

and I remember my father was so

excited to just see Joe Frazier.

He started jumping up and down

and say,

"Come on, Joe, let's play for...

let's show off for the cameras. "

And Joe Frazier just sort of

put his hand up,

looked at him and

kept on walking.

And I remember thinking, "Why

did he just do that to Daddy?"

So that's when I learned,

you know, of the pain

or the, you know, the hostility

or the anger that he still felt.

That he had not let go of

or forgiven my father for yet.

My father was told,

actually, about Joe Frazier

and everything

that he went through

and he read about how his children

would come home from school crying

and my father just put his head down

silently and started to cry himself.

It really upset...

it hurt him to know that.

And I think also a part of him admired

Joe Frazier. He was a great athlete.

At the time in which Joe

Frazier came into the picture,

there was a lot of probably different

emotions my father was dealing with

in taking

the stands that he took.

Then Joe Frazier

sort of, in his mind,

became representative of what he would

say, you know, was going on in the world

and what was being done wrong

to blacks at that time.

So when he got in that

position, the new champion,

and my father never actually

lost that title in the ring.

Unfortunately for Joe Frazier, he

just sort of became this fixture

that just represented all that.

Oh, he definitely had respect

for my father, we know that.

I know that and I

really realized it,

like, 'cause after

the fight in Manila,

he came to me and he said,

"You know, hey, all the things

I said about,

about the family and your

dad, please, you know,

tell your father, you know,

I apologize about that. "

But Pop wanted to hear it from

him for himself, that's all.

In the end, before,

my father passed away,

he and Ali came together in love and

unity and oneness of the spirit.

And, man,

I was so happy to see that.

They hugged, embraced and, it

was something cool, you know.

That was fantastic.

Yeah?

There's a story

in today's "Post"

that you're gonna go up to Deer

Lake and start training again.

There is?

Yeah, so what they're saying

is you're gonna come back.

- That'll shock 'em, won't it?

- Yeah.

- That'll shock 'em!

- Listen...

I'll come back for the fourth time.

I'll take my crown for the fourth time.

I hope it's not true,

between you and me.

Well...

Because, you've conquered all

the worlds you could conquer.

Can you imagine? Can you

imagine four-time champion?

but what do you need with it,

Muhammad?

Don't need it.

What do you need with it?

Just talking.

I'm just talking.

Nobody is ever gonna be

a three-time champion again.

I know. Nobody. Not

in our lifetime.

- I'm just talking.

- Yeah, yeah.

Many people wanna know

why am I doing this.

Champion, why? I say, "Why?

Because it is there. "

Why did we go to the moon?

Because it's there.

We're not satisfied. Now we're

mapping out a plan to go to Mars.

Why? Why Mars?

Ain't the moon far enough?

Mars, because it's there

and there's the possibility and

a chance of us reaching it.

Why am I coming back?

Because it's there.

- All right, here it is.

- A comeback by Muhammad Ali.

Drama of the Bahamas is

now about to begin.

Drama in the Bahamas.

They say, "No. " We close the

doors, you're finished.

But if the guy they said

"No" to is Muhammad Ali,

they said "No" to the greatest

of all time.

I can remember my father's last

fight with Trevor Berbick.

We were at Deer Lake, his training camp.

He called it Fighter's Heaven.

And, um, Daddy would run up the hill.

He called it Agony Hill.

And I would follow behind him

and behind that would be a car

that would be there

for when he got tired.

And, um, just riding, riding alongside

with him, jogging up the hill.

I was probably five, I would think.

Four or five.

They say I'm old.

Do I look old to you?

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