When We Were Kings Page #2

You can break a second

down to 100 pieces.

When people win a ski race

they say one and 16/100ths,

one and 32/100ths of a second,

so you break a second into 100 pieces

so, you know...that's quick,

they got a machine that goes,

like, fr-r-t, real quick, fr-r-t,

and it counts real quick, real quick.

And by the time that thing

hit four that's how quick,

from the time the punch started

to where it landed

was 4/100ths of a second,

an eye blink, like a camera flash.

That's 4/100ths of a second.

When I hit Sonny Liston

all those people blinked,

so they didn't see it.

- I swear!

If you watch the film close,

keep your eyes real close...

- Keep looking.

I'm getting ready to hit him.

You got to hold your eyes and wait

or you won't see it, man!

Ali was a beautiful...specimen,

a fighting machine.

He was handsome,

he was articulate, he was funny,

charismatic.

And was whuppin' ass too.

'Deposed champion

Cassius Clay, at court in Houston,

'is found guilty of violating

Selective Service laws

'by refusing to be inducted.

'He is sentenced to five years

in prison and fined $10,000.'

'The way he fused

politics and sports.

'Very few Black athletes had ever

talked the way Muhammad Ali talked

'without fear of something

happening to their careers.'

'..as a Moslem minister

made him exempt...'

'He was already very unpopular

with mainstream Americans

'because he had joined

the Nation of Islam,

'which was perceived as

a radical Black separatist group.'

On top of that,

when he was called for induction

he refused to take the step forward.

He absolutely infuriated America.

Muhammad Ali said,

"No Viet Cong ever called me n*gger."

The king is going home

to get his throne.

From root to fruit,

that's where everything started at.

This is God's act

and you're part of it.

This is no Hollywood set,

this is real.

Hollywood set up these scenes,

have somebody in the movies

playing his life.

We don't pick up a script.

We get up in the morning,

sometimes we feel good,

sometimes bad,

but we go through it with feeling.

'Muhammad Ali's a prophet, he gonna

be a fisherman for Elijah Muhammad.

'This is only a stop, look and

listen sign he's doing, fighting.'

We been fightin' ever since we met.

We beat Uncle Sam, come out

of the garage and beat number two.

First man ever did it. Rest of 'em

they put out of the country.

'This is God's act,

we just actors in it.

'If Jesus was here

everybody'd want his autograph

'and they'd be filming him.

'This is a sport,

that's why you walking, talk to him.'

I think Muhammad is a prophet.

How you gonna beat God's son?

Anybody who loves poor people

and little people gotta be a prophet.

He was champion of the world,

had a table full of food.

Had a house for his mother, one for

him and he told 'em to shove it.

If he couldn't love his god,

what do you think he is...mister?

'Ali trained for the Foreman

fight at Deer Lake, Pennsylvania.

'He trained very hard

for that fight,

'and had very good sparring partners.

'Larry Holmes was one of them.

'I was struck with how well

he actually handled Ali

'in their sparring sessions.

'He dominated Ali.

That wasn't uncommon.

'Ali would often not show his best

stuff with sparring partners,

'but would work on his weaknesses.

'He'd go against the ropes

and let people pummel him,

'very heavy hitters,

he'd let them bang away at him.

'As if he was training his body to

receive these messages of punishment

'and absorb them faster than other

fighters could absorb them.'

'This is in Africa because

they came up with $10 million.'

$5 million for George Foreman,

$5 million for me.

England was trying to get it.

A promoter said America was trying,

but none could surpass

the $5 million mark.

The dream is becoming a reality.

'Don King

went to George Foreman

'and got him to sign an agreement

'saying that if King could deliver

$5 million, Foreman would fight Ali.

'Then King went to Ali

and made the same deal,

'so Don King now had both fighters,

'their signatures

on a piece of paper.

'What he didn't have

was $10 million.'

..a festival to complement

this great sporting event,

the greatest sporting event

in history.

- Of all time!

- All time, as the champ says.

Greatest event of all time!

Bigger than Evel Knievel and

the Kentucky Derby on the same day.

The president of Zaire was willing

to put $10 million

of his country's own very scarce,

hard-earned currency on the line,

not for any

short-term economic reason

but because he felt

that the fight would be good

in terms of promoting Zaire and also

in terms of promoting himself,

and as Ali said at the time,

countries go to war

to get their names on the map

and wars cost

a lot more than $10 million.

Some of the most dynamic

performers from Afro-America

will appear at the stadium in

Kinshasa on the 20th, 21st and 22nd,

with this theatrical release.

It will be James Brown,

soul brother number one...

- Is he playing?

- Yes, James Brown will be there.

We will have BB King, The Spinners...

This is the first assembly in history

where the top-notch Blacks of America

and the people of Africa had

something together, all on a level,

we're all meeting and learning more

about each other,

the first assembly among American

Black men and Africans in history

and it's a big honour.

Plus I gotta whup George!

'Got to whup George!'

We're gonna rumble in the jungle!

Come on, come on.

Speak up, boy. Go ahead.

- Good boy.

Get down.

- Quiet.

- George?

Is this fight against Ali

the toughest of your career?

Could be, could be. I doubt it.

This is Muhammad Ali, September 10th

at New York City airport,

en route to Zaire to reclaim

the heavyweight title of the world.

Champ, what would you like to say

to the children of the world?

I'd like to say, mainly where they

understand English in America,

to...live a clean life,

stay off the dope.

It's tearing the country up.

Also, if they wanna be like me,

I'm going to whup George Foreman,

and when they see this

I will have beaten him.

Tell them to quit eating

so much candy,

I have three rotten teeth

and I had to have one of 'em pulled,

I can't chew my food like I should.

Eat natural foods

because we must whup Mr Tooth Decay.

I got one right there and one there.

Ali told us he's going to use part

of his money to build a hospital.

Do you intend to use part of your

money for something, a project?

He may think

he may have to be in the hospital.

I want the man!

When I get to Africa we gonna

get it on because we don't get along!

I don't like him, he talks too much.

- Beg your pardon?

- You would continue boxing

- even if you lose?

- I beg your pardon?

- You don't think about losing?

No. But thank you.

Nice talking to you.

Flying over the Sahara desert.

An African airline with all African

stewardesses, all African pilots.

This is the first free feeling

I had in a long time.

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