Mohammed Ali is a man I respect so much,I made him my hero,alongside my dad at some point. From time to time I looked for news and updates on him,then when news came out about his death,I felt sad for a while and then I went back and read through his life,watched some of his videos and then I had to go back and watch the Video of his fight with George Foreman?

This fight took place in 1974,8 years before I was born,yet it was so vivid and felt like it was yesterday. So I watched this fight and It struck me how packed with lessons of life it was but I had never paid attention as I have watched this fight over and over again;boxing is about the only sport that really excites me?,strange,yea?I know.

Ali came in first he received a lukewarm welcome,but he wasn’t going to let himself be bothered by that,he ‘danced’ up and down the ring,threw some punches in the air while he tapped as usual,this went on for some minutes while he waited for his opponent George Foreman to emerge,at some point,the commentators began to say Foreman’s delay may have been a strategy to make Ali nervous and somewhat jittery,did it work?Nope!Ali was as cocky and confident as when he came into the ring??

Foreman finally came in amidst roars and chants by the crowd,he strolled in like the world champ he was,there appeared to be no pressure as he was already tipped by boxing enthusiasts and analysts to win,he had everything going for him,for one he was 7years + younger than Ali,he was the world champion, everybody said his punches were heavy and carried a lot of power,and Ali had been out of the boxing world for a while.As soon as he came in,Ali began to talk to him,he taunted him and told him basically that he couldn’t ‘ do jack’

Foreman appeared calm at first he went into the fight trying to throw punches at Ali,Ali danced,shuffled and taunted while throwing punches, by round 3,it appeared Foreman was getting worked up,he had allowed the taunts and jeers get to him,he became emotional and started throwing heavy and uncalculated punches while Ali stayed on the ropes and continued to taunt,block his punches and throw a few calculated and well placed punches.

Foreman became more and more agitated as the rounds progressed,he was throwing punches to Ali’s body while Ali leaned on the ropes,blocked punches to his face and head,taunted him some more,dragged him into a ‘hug’ while whispering taunts in his ear and generally wearing down his physical and psychological strength. Finally,in the 8th round,Ali saw a very huge opening, Foreman was tired,angry and heavy on his feet and then he struck?a rain of well calculated and strategic punches and Foreman was down and out!

The crowd went crazy!Ali was strong and on his feet while Foreman struggled to stay alert even while he was in his corner and receiving attention from his crew,at the end of it all,Foreman was almost helped out of the fight arena and only his crew and perhaps 2 or 3 people were with him,he had become the former world champion,a beaten champion?Ali on the other hand had to be surrounded to get him out,everybody wanted to touch him and feel him,he was strong and had beaten the man everyone believed would beat him not just by points but by Knock out????????

• I pondered on this video after I watched it a second time today and I came to these conclusions.
  Believe in yourself like the Champ did even when no one else believed with him
• Ali was a devout Muslim, he believed in God and worked towards his faith in his God and in himself,he prayed just as the fight was about to begin and I want to believe he asked for strength and wisdom,he didn’t just rely on the fact that he had trained for months.
• He was the underdog but he never looked down on himself,his confidence shined through,he devised a plan and stuck with it,he was in it to win it,no matter the odds that were against him
• Ali knew that his opponent had the physical strength and his blow may have been as heavy as everyone said but he relied on not just his own strength,he worked on his opponent’s Psyche and rendered his punches useless
• My hero acted weak when he was strong,he leaned on the ropes and let Foreman think he had him boxed in a corner
• After the fight,Foreman was left struggling and alone,nobody except his crew wanted to be with him,everybody on the other hand wanted to touch Ali,they had traded places;people will only align with you when you WIN regardless of what they thought about you while you were ‘hustling’ and believing in your dreams?
• Lastly,I realized my 2 favourite quotes of all times(, I heard them in the movie ‘Gladiator’ ,Cooper Gooding Jnr was in it and I was in my early teens when I watched this movie but never forgot) ” Anger is the enemy” and “Let them think you are weak when you are strong” played out in this fight.

Mohammed Ali was a great man and his life and journey has inspired and taught me a few lessons,I hope it did you too. Have a great weekend?