Longform

“Look—it ain't never been another fighter like me. Ain't never been no nothing like me.”

Plus: Ali was interviewed again by Playboy in 1975.

Ali vs. Frazier.

On Norman Mailer and Ali.

“The regular average layman couldn’t see what I see. And the way they’re painting the trainer is all wrong. Look at him there, screaming, Do this! and Do that! I never had anyone telling me what to do. I did it. Shouting at the fighter like that makes him look like an animal, like a horse to be trained.”

Muhammad Ali and his followers were the greatest show on earth. Then the show ended, and life went on.

“The secret of Ali’s mature success, and the secret of his tragedy: he could take a punch.”

Ali vs. Frazier, 20 years after their final fight.

When the Champ met Castro.

How Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali.

A writer’s chance meeting with his idol.