The Trials of Muhammad Ali Page #3

was at ringside.

We don't believe it.

The fifth round came.

I hit him.

Yeah, I said, "Come on, sucker."

And he said, "Break it up."

I said, "There he is."

Let me see you close your

mouth and just keep it closed.

- Well, you know that's impossible.

- No, no, now keep it closed.

You know that's impossible.

I'm the greatest.

And I'm knocking out all bums.

And if you get too smart,

I'll knock you out.

Cassius Clay

was training for the Sonny Liston fight

For the heavyweight championship

I wanted him to be

a registered Muslim.

When you come into Islam,

we write a letter...

saying we believe

in the teachings.

And we put our slave name

in the letter.

Those were the names the slave master

had when they owned our ancestors.

So he wrote his letter

and sent if off to Chicago...

and then they sent back

what we called "X."

He became Cassius X.

And then the promoters, they was trying

to get Ali to denounce the religion.

And they told Ali,

"You got to get rid of them

Muslim kooks...

and Captain Sam"...

That's me...

"and denounce that religion,

otherwise there ain't gonna be no fight."

Well, Ali had been training all his life for

a fight for the heavyweight championship.

So that summer

scare a man to death.

I said, "Man,

don't believe that."

I said, "Money's

the white man's god."

And I said, "You the only one

who can make any money for 'em."

I said, "Hold to your belief."

Ali was packing up his bus to leave Miami,

and they ran over there.

"Uh, where you goin', Champ?"

He said, "I'm fin

to go to Louisville."

They said, "Wait a minute.

The fight's on. The fight's on.

You just don't say you're a Muslim.

We ain't gonna say it neither."

Ali said, "All right,

I won't talk about it."

Cassius Clay had no right to be

in a ring with Sonny Liston.

He had never beaten anybody

of importance.

He was untried.

Jerry, I'm the greatest fighter

that ever stepped foot in the ring.

But I'm getting ready to participate

in the biggest fight of all time.

More money will be

lost that night.

This will be the biggest upset

in the century of all boxing.

I think you're

a big bag of wind.

Now, just hear me out.

Wait a minute. Hold it a second.

- I think that, one...

- Bodyguards.

Hold it.

I think that you're the damnedest

showman that ever lived,

- and you ain't kidding anybody.

- People...

Will you let me finish and shut

your mouth for one minute.

Cassius, Sonny Liston said that you should

be arrested for impersonating a fighter.

He said you should be turned

over his knee and spanked.

The odds were 7-to-1.

It's very big odds...

for a heavyweight

championship fight.

I'm just ready to fight.

And I'm glad it'll be here...

where all these bigmouth people

here in Miami...

talking about I talk too much

and Liston's gonna whup me.

Well, I want all of them to be there.

And I'm gonna shut up all of you's mouths.

The challenger from

Louisville, Kentucky...

Cassius Clay.

- Clay.

- Cassius Marcellus Clay, 22 years of age.

Going for all the marbles

in the boxing business.

In my opinion, fights are always won

with fists and not with mouth talk.

I pick Liston to win

by the fifth round.

- It has to be Liston.

- Liston is a much bigger puncher.

- The fifth round.

- Oh, I think in the third.

I'm not quite sure that anything

human can hurt Sonny Liston.

Cassius Clay

on the move as we see.

The right hand!

The best punch of the fight so far!

It was not a heavyweight

championship fight physically.

There was more to it than that.

I looked at all of the historic things

that were taking place on this earth,

and to me, time itself

was on Cassius's side.

- - Seconds

remaining in the sixth.

The crowd now cheering

the challenger.

What do you think is going on

in Sonny's mind at this point?

Well,

I think Sonny's beginning to worry now.

- At least his corner's beginning to worry.

They might be stopping it.

That might be all, ladies and gentlemen.

It's a technical knockout.

Okay, get Cassius Clay...

Wait! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

At the black

Muslims convention in Chicago,

Elijah Muhammad came closer than anyone

so far in proclaiming Clay a member.

Clay has hinted that he is

at least on the fringe.

Elijah Muhammad all but

pushed him across.

The enemy wanted him

to come out all blasted.

They had said the he would

Liston would tear up

that pretty face of yours.

But Allah and myself said,

"No, no"

God's with me!

Can't nobody be against me!

I shook up the world!

I know God!

I know the real God!

You must listen to me!

You tell it, boy.

The morning after,

he was very subdued.

I don't have to talk no more.

I done proved my point.

All I have to do is just be a nice,

clean gentleman. That's all.

Nice, clean gentleman.

At that moment,

all the older reporters walked away.

And then one young reporter

said,

"What about the rumor that

you're a card-carrying Muslim?"

And he... What...

You know, what does that mean?

I like everybody.

I treat everybody right.

"What about segregation?

Don't you want to be part of the civil

rights struggle? Integration?" He said, "No."

I don't have to be

what you want me to be.

I'm free to be what I want to be

and think what I want to think.

That was kind of his

Declaration of Independence.

This is complete freedom, not just a

cup of coffee or a seat in a school...

or a token...

This is real.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad say he was

too big of a man to carry that "X"...

and named him Muhammad Ali.

I remember the exact moment

we told my dad and mom.

We said, "The Honorable Elijah

Muhammad gave us our name"

They became very angry.

They said,

"What in the world do you mean?"

My brother said, "Dad, I'm Muhammad Ali."

You got to accept it.

What does it mean?

"Muhammad" means "worthy of all praises"

and "Ali" means "most high."

At the New York Times,

the top editor felt...

we met you as Cassius Clay.

Until you go into a court of law and

change your name, you are Cassius Clay.

And it really

kind of bothered me.

Nobody asked John Wayne or Rock

Hudson what their names were.

But I tried to slip it in

when I could.

I usually ended up writing "Muhammad Ali,

a.k.a. Cassius Clay."

His change of name,

what did it threaten?

If he was white, they would be referring

to him as the All-American boy.

It was an

affront to many Americans...

that the heavyweight

champion of the world...

would reject American identity

and all of that entails...

for something as obscure and

cultish as the Nation of Islam.

- Cassius, you're... -

I'm not Cassius. You still calling me...

- Or Muhammad, you're talking...

- I'm not no white man.

So you want to keep calling me a

white man's name. I'm not white.

I don't want to be called

after your name no more.

I'm not no slave.

I'm Muhammad Ali.

I was working in the bakery...

and he would go in

and he would say,

"I know your name.

I know your name."

And I'd say, "Well, whoop-de-do."

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