Muhammad Ali

By: Jack Rummell

Narrated by: Ian Eugene Ryan

Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Muhammad Ali's considerable skills as a boxer earned him the world heavyweight championship, a title that he lost and regained twice. But it was the force of his personality and his unwavering personal convictions that made him a lightning rod of the turbulent 1960s and elevated him to the status of the most recognized, controversial, and admired athlete in the world. He stunned the public early on by declaring his conversion to the Black Muslim religion. Only after many months did the media realize that Ali's decision was neither a publicity stunt nor defiance of the whith world but an expression of Ali's inner sense of discipline and spirituality. During his championship reign of the 1960s, Ali was virtually unhittable, much less beatable. One of the defeated contenders, Zora Foley, marveled, "He could write the book on boxing." Muhammad Ali offers a solid introduction to his life. The book is published by Chelsea House Publishing, a leading publisher of educational material.

©2005 Infobase Publishing (P)2011 Redwood Audiobooks

Not well researched

This author seems to have written the book from a faulty memory, without doing the research. There are a lot of mistakes. Most are minor, but as a journalist, I feel it's important to get all the facts right. Otherwise, what's the point?
A few examples: This book says Ali was secretly known as Muhammad Ali by people in the Nation of Islam before the first Liston fight. It also says he announced the name the day after the fight. In reality, Elijah Muhammad gave him the name a couple of months later. (The fight was February 25th. He was given the name on March 6th, according to the book “Ali” by Jonathan Eig.)
The book says Ali was stripped of his title by the WBA and state boxing Commissions after a court conviction. It was actually the same day he refused induction in the Army that he was stripped. That's an important distinction, because he was stripped of his title without a hearing or conviction.
Ch. 6 says “Frazier had a difficult climb to the top of the boxing world. Because he did not have an Olympic Gold Medal, he had to fight countless low paying matches against little-known opponents." In reality, Frazier DID have a Gold Medal. He won the Gold at the Olympic games in 1964.
Right after that, Rummell says “By 1969, Frazier and Ellis had secured the heavyweight titles of the two major boxing organizations. Frazier was recognized as WBA champ, Ellis claimed the WBC title.” Wrong on both counts. Ellis was the WBA champ. The WBC existed, but had no real influence back then. Frazier was recognized by New York State and some other state Commissions.
And so on.