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Muhammad Ali In His Own Words

Muhammad Ali In His Own Words

Summary

This fascinating collection of archive interviews with Muhammad Ali begins in 1965 with an interview with Harry Carpenter, and culminates with a TV interview with Joanna Lumley in 1989. Along the way Ali makes several famous appearances on Parkinson in the 1970s, and talks to David Frost in The Frost Interview. The 1980s find him answering questions about his impending retirement and rumours that he is suffering from Parkinson's disease. In the course of these appearances he also discusses his fighting career, his frank views on religion and society, his vision of a separate black-only American state, and his lack of formal education.

The interviews included in this collection are I, Cassius, BBC Radio (first broadcast 11 May 1965); Sports View, BBC radio (first broadcast 15 August 1967); The Richest Prize in Sport, BBC television (first broadcast 14 March 1968); Parkinson, BBC One (first broadcast 17 October 1971); The Frost Interview (recorded 1974); Muhammad Ali: Most Boxers Can't Even Talk, BBC television (first broadcast 5 August 1975); archive interview, BBC radio (first broadcast 17 July 1977); Tonight, BBC television (first broadcast 15 January 1979); archive interview, BBC television (first broadcast 19 September 1984) and Wogan, BBC television (first broadcast 1989, hosted by Joanna Lumley).

Due to the age and nature of this archive material, the sound quality may vary.

©2016 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2016 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

About the author

Muhammad Ali

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1942, began boxing at the age of twelve. By the age of eighteen he had won all amateur titles available and in 1960 he won the Light Heavyweight Gold Medal at the Rome Olympics. On his return to the States, the young boxer - who had caused a stir with his unorthodox style of boxing and brash behaviour - turned professional and began what was to become the most remarkable career in the history of sport. Indeed, 'floating like a butterfly, stinging like a bee', punching, prophesying, and generally creating a storm of controversy wherever he appeared, he quite literally transformed his sport and became the world's most adored athlete. His conversion to Islam in the 1960s had a profound impact on his life and undoubtedly influenced much of the search for peace and unity he embarked on later in life. Despite suffering from Parkinson's Disease, Ali worked tirelessly for a number of charitable organizations until his death in 2016.
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