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Cassius Clay still knocks us out

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In one of his typical brag, Muhammad Ali (still known as Cassius Clay at the time) said he was every sports reporter’s dream: he always made headlines both in and out of the ring, he was one showman born. His story is also the dream of every documentarian, and in fact Ali is perhaps one of the most documented characters ever. Was there a need, one wonders, therefore, for Muhammad Ali, a four-episode docuseries made by Ken Burns for PBS, the US public television?

In fact, indeed, it is strange to think that a thoroughbred documentarian like Ken Burns had not yet confronted Muhammad Ali, and now he has done so with the diligence that was expected of him: the four episodes last two hours each and reconstruct the entire life of the greatest boxer ever with a truly satisfying in-depth study and dedication. And then the figure of Ali is so complex that he can talk about it endlessly: among the commentators interviewed by Burns we find novelists, poets, academics, boxers, activists, all perfectly relevant and indeed necessary.

Precisely because of this complexity, in fact, most of the works on Ali have chosen a theme or a period (When we were kings: the return to the ring and the match with Foreman; Blood Brothers: the relationship with Malcom X; and so on). The merit of Burns’ work is instead his all-encompassing encyclopedic: there are clips from almost all the encounters, not just the most famous ones; there is the evolution of the controversial relationship with the Nation of Islam; there is the maturation of the public figure of Ali from an extremely divisive character to the number one enemy of half of America to the most loved man on the planet. There are also the more difficult sides to accept, such as adherence to black separatism, the gratuitous (and sometimes racist) insults to rivals, the constant betrayal of the four wives.

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Finally, there are also extensive digressions on the other characters involved, in particular (but not only) on historical opponents: Liston, Frazier, Foreman, Holmes. Whatever your level of proficiency in Ali’s life, this grand journey is worth diving into.

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Muhammad Ali

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