Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami
by Jack Silverman
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"Cassius Clay was born in Louisville; Muhammad Ali was born in Miami," says Ferdi "The Fight Doctor" Pacheco, and this new hour-long documentary proves his point. Fresh off his 1960 Olympic Gold Medal performance, Clay went to Miami, and over the next several years evolved from a shy kid—at one point he actually tells a reporter, "I wouldn't want to do much bragging...."—to boisterous heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, a key player in the Nation of Islam and the most publicized conscientious objector of all time. Produced by Alan Tomlinson and Gaspar Gonzalez for WLRN in South Florida, Made in Miami is the perfect prequel to Leon Gast's stunning 1996 "Rumble in the Jungle" doc When We Were Kings, and features rarely seen footage of Ali at Miami's famed 5th Street Gym, with Malcolm X, even screaming and running after Sonny Liston's car down a Miami street. Other highlights include the birth of the now cliché tradition of the contentious pre-fight weigh-in, dreamed up by Ali & Co. before the first Liston fight, and Ali's in-depth description of the main inspiration for his outrageous persona, pro wrestler Gorgeous George.
Mon., Aug. 11, 9 p.m., 2008
Mon., Aug. 11, 9 p.m., 2008
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