Facing Ali Review
I finally got around to checking out Pete McCormack’s boxing documentary ‘Facing Ali’ this weekend and despite approaching it rather pensively after incorrectly assuming that I’d probably seen everything ever committed to celluloid on ‘The Greatest’, I was left captivated, enthralled and thoroughly entertained. Rather than being what I’d feared it would be going in, namely another exercise in fluffing the heavyweight king’s majestic plumage, McCormack’s subjects offer new insight on the man and his biggest bouts. Let’s just say that this Ali documentary has a little more salt and a lot less sugar.
McCormack’s basic premise was to interview ten former Ali opponents and boy do his selections pay off in a big way. George Chuvalo is the star of the piece, the Canadian iron man is surprisingly erudite and articulate with it. Chuvalo doesn’t mince his words and is unafraid to say what he really thinks. Indeed whilst others skirt around the highly controversial return fight Ali fought with Liston, Chuvalo has the candour to say what the majority of us feel, that Liston took a dive. After Foreman describes how he and Liston engaged in hellish sparring sessions together, the footage of Sonny rolling around theatrically at the feet of Ali looks even more ridiculous by the day.
There are other marvellous interviews here, Ron Lyle is excellent, as is Ernie Shavers seen pounding the backstreets of Liverpool, his adopted home. Whilst Sir Henry Cooper and Foreman trot out well worn material from their familiar repertoire, we see a sad looking Ernie Terrell crooning about the man he stubbornly called Cassius Clay and Leon Spinks admitting that he completely lost his way after winning the heavyweight title, back when such a thing still held great reverence in the world.
One is left in wonderment at the procession of characters the division spawned through the Ali era, as well as the depth of talent. There’s a reason Ali stands above every other man who has held the heavyweight championship of the world and it’s here for all to see; the level of opposition he managed to best. In the course of this, the great man’s gigantic personality all but swallowed up those around him, here it’s just great to see his supporting cast being afforded screen time all of their own.
Whilst McCormack’s feature could have quite easily descended into a glorified back slapping session, anecdotes offered by the likes of Kenny Norton and Larry Holmes which show Ali’s fallibilities (and which lesser directors would have shied away from), actually add an extra dimension to him as subject matter. The respect the fighters show for him where it really counts, in the ring, only enhances his ring legend further.
I urge you to seek this out, by any means necessary, even if only for Joe Frazier’s wonderful one liner in explaining how Ali’s attempts to intimidate him were never likely to be successful.
“I’d have gone into the jungle to fight a lion with a toothpick”. Brilliant.
