Muhammad Ali was many things—provocateur, martyr, a clown, uncompromising black nationalist and, of course, gifted athlete who brought a profoundly human face to the vicious sport of boxing. Some said he was a narcissist with a constant need for attention. Others called him a madman, a rebel. Norman Mailer put it simply: “Not comprehensible, for he could be a demon or a saint, or both.”
To get a different glimpse of one of the most admired and controversial figures in America, Heat Street spoke with photographer Alex Harsley. Harsley spent time with Ali at the boxer’s training camp in Pennsylvania in the ’70s and was able to capture a more personal side of the legendary fighter.
Below, Harsley shares his memories of that visit.
“Ali liked to show films about Jack Johnson late in the evenings. Johnson was the first African American heavyweight champion and was Ali’s all-time hero. That night we watched The Great White Hope –a 1970 film with Jack Jefferson playing Johnson. Ali had his 16 mm film projector and everyone would just stand around and watch him figure it out, no one could touch the projector.”
“He was a great actor. When I was with him, he was a very quiet, introverted, but when press showed up he would immediately go into being a showman. Just like when he was at the ring,”
“In this photograph he is sitting next to Bernie Pollack, a boxing enthusiast and an owner of a mink farm. Back in the 60s, it was Bernie Pollack who brought Ali to Deer Lake, Pennsylvania, and Ali started training at the Pollack mink farm. In 1972 Ali bought that land for his 3,000-square-foot training camp.”
“It was a whole different thing for me to see Muhammad, this kind, introverted person, then go to the ring and smack someone as hard as he could with his gloves and hear the sound of a glove hitting the body. After third round you could see him in ultimate pain.”
“He had to get used to the pain of hitting and being hit all over again. First of all, to get him warmed up they had to deaden his ears by rubbing them really hard. This was the first pain he had to experience. Barney Eastwood was the guy to bring Ali to this level of pain and Ali had to endure it.”
“That time was transitional for Ali. He just lost a major fight to Joe Frazier. He wasn’t in a good state of mind, he had to start all over again–training and proving himself in a long run. He knew the sacrifice he was going to make to continue boxing till the end.”
“This photograph is really important. It captures Ali looking at his daughter and shows this immediate relationship and bond that was formed between them. This is an image of him on the ring after he was defeated looking back at his latest offspring.”
“’There is a horse right there, Ali! Come ride a horse,’ I said. This is how Ali got on the horse for the first time. It was a great photo opportunity. It was also interesting to see how Ali would feel on top of the beast, how he would make it go where he wanted it to go. Of course, Ali mounted the horse from the wrong side and looked semi comfortable. But he liked to experience these new things. A man who is always in control, who literally knows what is going on around him almost 360 degrees was learning how to ride a horse.”
“Ali was always there for people to communicate with. This is who he really was. Eighty percent of his life belonged to the public and he gave it all. No matter whom he spoke to, he was open—open to conversations, to autographs, to toying around, to playing boxing. But when he wasn’t doing that, he was a very private person. In a way I feel privileged that I was allowed to be there and have a visual look inside his personal life. In this photograph he washed the windows before everybody, media, would show up. He got the place straightened up.”
“I see this image as Ali versus the glass. This is how he exercised being subordinate to himself. He had to wash the windows himself, no one else would do it for him.”
