The Rumble in the Jungle was being held in Kinshasa but the roads in Karachi were deserted. It was one of the first major sports events that was being telecast live by Pakistan Television on October 30, 1974. There were a few tv sets at homes. Those who had them, brought their sets out with dangling extension wires so that entire neighbourhoods could watch the bout between the world heavyweight champion, George Foreman, and challenger, Muhammad Ali. Ali was considered a champion of Islam by the hero-hungry Muslims around the world.

After knocking out Foreman in that memorable fight, Ali regained his title of the world champion that had been snatched from him seven years earlier in 1967 for his refusal to serve in the US army and go to Vietnam. From 1974 to 1980, there were numerous fights by Ali that were shown live on PTV. The screen presence of Ali was always awe-inspiring; his superb legwork and head movements made him more of a dancer than a fighter; spectators loved his confidence and listeners savoured his jibes. One cannot recall any other boxer that could come even close to his charms.

For the newer generation of viewers, Ali has been immortalised in his eponymous biopic made in 2001 by Michael Mann, better known for his epic The Last of the Mohicans (1992). There have been other films about boxers -- both fictional and real -- such as Rocky, Raging Bull (1980), Cinderella Man (2005), Million Dollar Baby (2004), and Mary Kom (2014) , but the way Ali (2001) stands out is thanks not only to an outstanding performance by Will Smith but also due to the sheer charisma that Ali had.

Jack LaMotta (Robert De Niro) of the Raging Bull and James Braddock (Russell Crowe) of the Cinderella Man acted their parts impressively, but they did not have as towering a character to play as Ali.

Cinderella Man (2005) was directed by Ron Howard who had given us A Beautiful Mind (2001) with Russell Crowe the same year that Ali came on screens. Interestingly, both Will Smith and Russell Crowe were nominated for the best actor Oscar award but lost to Denzel Washington for Training Day. Cinderella Man depicts the world heavyweight champion Braddock in the depression era America where even a world-class boxer had to stand in queues to receive relief money. Boxer Braddock is shown as a self-respecting man who does not want to send his children to his in-laws even if he can’t feed them; but the same man feels no shame in begging for money from his former employers.

Similarly, Jack LaMotta in Raging Bull is brilliantly played by Robert De Niro but he cannot compensate for personal failings of the boxer who is an abuser and almost a crook. He drinks shamelessly and beats women with impunity and creates a self-defeating atmosphere. Jack is a failure, though he is still alive at the age of 95, and nobody would remember him had Martin Scorsese not made a movie about him.

Compared with Raging Bull and Cinderella Man, Ali gives us a much wider political, racial, and religious context helping us understand the prevalent currents not only within the American society but also as far as in Africa. The racial discrimination Ali faces, even after winning an Olympic gold medal, increases his frustration at the plight of African-Americans who desperately seek an alternative to the dominant white Anglo-Saxon protestant (wasp) narrative. Focusing on Ali, the film does not bypass important persons in his life such as the Nation of Islam leader Elija Muhammad, and Malcolm X.

Michael Mann presents the inner struggle of power within the Nation of Islam intelligently; Elijah Muhammad’s repeated suspension of his own followers whom he considers a potential threat to his supremacy leaves you bewildered. The scene in which Malcolm X is killed raises questions about the actual motives of Elijah Muhammad who claims to be Muslim but in fact led a denomination that was a totally new hotchpotch of religious, mystical, and even pseudoscientific beliefs.

Ali also highlights the American establishment’s hatred towards Ali not only because he was black but also because he converted to Islam and refused to own Jesus as his saviour. When he is threatened with a jail term, he proclaims himself already a prisoner for four hundred years. For the movie, the director selected the best of Ali’s remarks about his refusal to go to Vietnam, Ali says no Vietcong had ever hurt him and he has nothing against them; so why should he go and fight thousands of miles away, rather than fighting his tormentors right here in America?

The film is also careful about not portraying Ali as an angel or a role model for his moral uprightness; he is shown with his tendency to womanise and at the same time become angry when his wives don’t dress properly. His eyes roam around for beautiful girls that he never fails to notice. Since the film only covers just 10 years of his life, from 1964 to 1974, his relations with his children are not adequately portrayed. Even his wife refuses to be on his side when he is about to fight one of the greatest bouts of his career against Foreman. Ali wastes no time in picking another girl from the crowd and almost forgets his wife and children.

The climax of the movie is reached in the last 20 minutes as the Congolese dictator, Mobutu, gathers luminaries from around the world to his capital Kinshasa for the Rumple in the Jungle mentioned earlier. To play the world champion, the director selected a real life boxer having an amazing resemblance to Foreman. The first rounds of the bout are a disappointment for Ali’s admirers as he simply leans against the ring ropes and gets relentless beating from the champion. In a masterstroke of strategy, Ali bounces back after exhausting Foreman to a point where he is hardly able to move. In the eighth round, a few powerful punches from Ali are enough to knock Foreman out.

The happy ending of the film leaves you proud of Ali, not because he was black and a Muslim, but because he was a great sportsman with a cheerful personality who stood up against the odds, refused to bow to the establishment pressure and set an example for the marginalised.