Muhammad Ali: The Lost Legacy

Scheduled for publication in the same month as three significant anniversaries in Ali's ring career: his return from ring exile against Joe Quarry (35 years ago), his climactic third fight against Joe Frazier (30 years ago) and the beating he absorbed at the hands of Larry Holmes (25 years ago). 'Muhammad Ali: The Lost Legacy' is the most important work on its subject since 'Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times' was published to international acclaim 14 years ago. Thomas Hauser has continued to observe and comment upon Ali with a series of essays that are published here as a collection for the first time, including one final previously unpublished essay. Forty-one black and white photos of Ali accompany the text. 'Muhammad Ali: The Lost Legacy' fills in the gaps in the record of Ali's life from beginning to end. Ali's love affair with the world reached its zenith in 1996, when he was chosen to light the Olympic flame in Atlanta. But since then,' writes Hauser, 'there has been a determined effort to rewrite history. In order to take advantage of Ali's economic potential. All of the rough edges are being filed away from Ali's life story and he has been turned into a virtual Disney character.' Hauser believes Ali's legend is now imperilled and there has been a deliberate distortion in what Ali once believed, said and stood for, that it has been deemed desirable to sanitise him so promoters can take advantage of his commercial appeal.