By Craig Urquhart
Translated in French by Oumar Diouck
The young Johannesburg lawyer was a keen boxer before he was jailed for 27 years in 1963 – just when Ali’s glittering career was taking off. For many years during his incarceration on Robben Island, Mandela and many of South Africa’s liberation heroes followed the careers of boxing’s “Big Three” – Ali, George Foreman and Joe Frazier. And, just months after Mandela’s release from jail in 1990, the global icon expressed a desire to meet the American giants during his first trip to the United States.
Before Mandela addressed the United Nations in New York in 1990, Frazier presented him with his most prized possession – the World Boxing Council heavyweight championship belt he was awarded after defeating Ali in 1971.
When he visited the White House a few days later, Mandela told reporters that “there is one regret I have had throughout my life: that I never became the boxing heavyweight champion of the world”.
Soon after South Africa stunned the world by lurching away from a full-blown race war and electing Mandela as the country’s first democratically elected president. Ali visited Johannesburg and Durban where his hero warmly embraced him.
Throughout his presidency, Mandela cherished a photograph of him playfully sparring with Ali in his office. He also treasured his favorite book – an autographed copy of the Ali biography “Greatest of All Time.”
When Mandela died in 2013, Ali issued the following moving statement: “His life was a life filled with purpose and hope; hope for himself, his country and the world.
“He inspired others to reach for what appeared to be impossible and moved them to break through the barriers that held them hostage mentally, physically, socially and economically. He made us realize, we are our brothers’ keeper and that our brothers come in all colors.
“What I will remember most about Mr. Mandela is that he was a man whose heart, soul and spirit could not be contained or restrained by racial and economic injustices, metal bars or the burden of hate and revenge. He taught us forgiveness on a grand scale. He was a spirit born free, destined to soar above the rainbows. Today his spirit is soaring through the heavens. He is now forever free.”
On Saturday, Sello Hatang, the CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation paid tribute to Mandela’s old friend, saying the Nobel Laureate “had great respect for his legacy and spoke with admiration of Ali’s achievements”.
Two giants of the 20th century may have passed on, but they have left this world a better place.
Photo credit: Startrak
