I Am Ali Page #8

"He doesn't know what it's like.

Round five. Round six. "

"Round seven. Round eight.

I've got him. "

And that famous spin when he

was spinning, I told him,

I said, "Why didn't you

hit him on the way down?"

He said, "He had enough. "

If he would have spent

as much time in the art,

painting and,

you know, or an artist,

taking after his dad who was

in his genes,

he might have

been a great artist.

If he'd spent as

much time on the books,

he might have been a great lawyer

'cause he relates to people.

Could you imagine him with a

Harvard degree out of law school,

going before a jury? Wow.

Case dismissed.

Oh, my God,

he's won the title back at 32!

The fight with Muhammad Ali

was spectacular for me.

It changed my life because I'd

never lost as a professional,

and I'd intended to win the

easiest fight of my career.

I'd get into the ring with the guy.

I bluffed him, I'd done everything.

Beat him up, hey, basically

for about five or six rounds.

I thought it was easy.

Then about the sixth round

he whispered in my ear,

after I'd hit him in the side,

"That all you got, George?"

And that was about all I had.

It turned into a nightmare then.

Everybody expected me

to win that boxing match.

All the oddsmakers had me

ahead to win by a knockout,

as a matter of fact.

And once I lost that fight,

I was devastated.

I didn't understand losing.

He knew something about that,

so he prepared himself.

He reserved his

power and his strength.

I had nothing in the back of my

mind to shield me or protect me.

So I lie in devastation.

George Foreman, the man who

was totally invincible.

After I retired from boxing,

well, left boxing in the '70s,

I became a minister at the

Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm still doing so.

And I realized that...

A reporter asked me,

"What happened in Africa, George?

Surely something happened?"

And I admitted that I'd lost the

boxing match. I said, "I got proof. "

From that point on

I was able to cope,

because I realized not only

did I lose the boxing match,

but I lost to the greatest man

I've ever met.

Somebody who

would never give up.

George Foreman,

how are you doing?

Your name, as young as you

are, in my training camp,

me working with you, get your weight

down and you're not fighting for money.

God knows this in your heart.

You ain't gotta answer the man.

See, man judges man's actions.

God judges man's heart.

You go in the ring for God, now

you got the whole world shook up.

"George Foreman came back!" Now you

go out and you start preaching.

You got thousands of people

coming to you.

Don't go out a loser.

You go out a winner.

And this is

the wild idea I have.

Sometimes people come to me

and say, "What do you think?"

"Was Muhammad Ali

the greatest boxer?"

And I feel almost insulted, because

boxing was just something he did.

I mean, that's no way

to define Muhammad Ali.

He was one of the greatest men to ever

appear on the scene of the Earth.

- Let me ask Laila something.

- Wait. Y'all be quiet.

Now, this is a microphone.

And when you get

to be a big girl,

I'm gonna play this back

so you can hear it.

Say what I say.

Say, "I love my daddy. "

I love my daddy.

I love my poo-poo head daddy.

Hana, OK. Wait, wait, wait. I'm

just gonna ask you a question.

- What's your mother's name, Hana?

- Veronica.

And, Laila,

what's your mother's name?

- Wonica.

- What's her name?

- Wonica.

- Verwonica?

I first met Muhammad

when I was 18 years old

and I was off from college

for the summer.

I didn't like him.

The only thing I really knew about

him was that he was a big mouth.

Um, the boys in high school

in chemistry class

were talking about the

Frazier fight and just...

I heard them talking about the

personality, so I made up my mind.

"Oh, I don't like this Muhammad Ali.

He's, like, a bragger and a big mouth. "

Then we met again

in Africa, in Zaire.

I was helping promote the George

Foreman-Muhammad Ali fight at the time.

One of his entourage asked if

we wanted to go and meet him

and visit his training camp,

so I went with a few other people and he

didn't really pay any attention to me.

However, when it was time to go back,

we took a bus back, which was fun,

um, but Muhammad decided he was going

to ride on the bus back with us

and he ended up sitting with me

and talking to me the whole time.

My first thought was, "Wow, he's

really nice. He's very quiet. "

He later told me it was because

he was afraid to say anything.

He didn't know what to say. But, um,

I thought, "Oh, he's really nice. "

When the fight was postponed

and he kept inviting me back

and, um, he told me

he was getting divorced.

He wasn't living with a wife

so I didn't know any better,

um, at the time,

in the very beginning.

But, um, he would give these

lectures on love and friendship

and I remember the moment

I fell in love with him

when he was...

gonna make me cry.

It was just very touching.

We actually got married, um,

when I was 21.

And, we had been together already

since I was 18 years old,

even though we did have

a wedding ceremony in Zaire,

which lots of

people don't realize.

Living with

Muhammad was never dull.

You never knew what you'd be

coming home to any given day.

I heard you breathing

and started to talk.

I could hear your big breath

breathing and so could that lady.

And don't you be playing that

in front of everybody.

I don't want everyone listening

to me talking on the phone.

- It could be history.

- No!

Why?

I'd rather have something else.

He took control of his destiny by

making himself accountable, um,

with things like his predictions where

he would, you know, say what round.

Then he'd sort of pretty

much live into his future

and be more,

um, pressured, actually

or accountable to do

what he had said he would do.

And, so he pretty much, I think,

mastered life in that way.

But now Hana's a little girl.

Now Hana's a little girl.

- She's three years old.

- She's three years old.

And one day

she'll be a big lady.

And one day she'll be a big lady

and grow up a pretty lady and she

never be a little lady no more.

Right. And be a pretty

lady like Momma.

And pretty, and be a

pretty lady like Veronica.

Come here, Hana.

Come here. Come on.

Each night before you

go to bed, my baby

Each night my...

go to bed, my baby

While I'm far away from you,

my baby

Those were, like, the idyllic,

um, fairy-tale days, I think.

We were always there,

whereas the other kids were, um,

in school and that type of thing

and he, um, he spent the most

time with both my daughters,

um, from the moment

they were born on.

We were always there.

We went everywhere with him.

He's a really good-hearted person.

Very sensitive.

And I guess I'm crying because

of his situation now, you know,

and I'll always love him.

It's... I mean, not, like, "in love,"

but, I mean, we've always been friends.

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