On what would have been Muhammad Ali’s 83rd birthday, a new audio series promises an intimate look at The Greatest, featuring never-before-heard recordings of the former heavyweight champion as well as contributions from Mike Tyson, Rosie Perez, Killer Mike, Billy Crystal, Common, Laila Ali and Bob Costas, among others.
Hosted by Ali’s widow, Lonnie, and friend John Ramsey, and produced by Mercury Studios in association with Treefort Media, “Ali in Me” will be available as an eight-part Audible Original starting January 23.
According to a press release, “Ali in Me” will delve into “Muhammad Ali’s profound and lasting impact beyond the boxing ring” and highlight “Ali’s unwavering personal conviction to be good and do good through his generosity of spirit and selfless commitment to fighting injustice.”
Widely recognized as the greatest heavyweight champion of all time, Ali is almost as famous for his social activism – and particularly his refusal to be inducted into the armed forces and serve in Vietnam on religious grounds, notably declaring that, “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong.” Explaining his stance to reporters in 1967, he asked rhetorically: “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam after so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?”
Ali’s stance caused him to be stripped of his heavyweight championship and banned from boxing from March 1967 until October 1970, when the United States Supreme Court ultimately overturned his conviction for refusing the draft.
“Our vision for this podcast is to fill the void left when we lost Muhammad,” said Lonnie Ali. “More than ever, the power of Muhammad’s example, along with the simple truth of his words, can help uplift and inspire humanity.”
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