Heart and Soul: Meeting with The Greatest

The writers’ four sisters and an aunt (in specs) with Muhammad Ali some 46 years ago. Photo: Rafique Sher Mohamed

When did I become a fan of Muhammad Ali?

I had heard of Cassius Clay, the young loudmouthed upstart boxer who enjoyed predicting knockout rounds, bragging, and humiliating his opponents through humorous poems and rhymes in the early 1960s. I didn’t particularly like anyone so vain and ungentlemanly.