Muhammad Ali: A View from the Corner

A candid memoir of life with Muhammad Ali by a man who had been his personal physician describes Ali's entire career, his membership in the Black Muslims, his controversial suspension and reemergence, and his fall from the top.

Pacheco was Ali's doctor from the time the young boxer won a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics until the aging champion disregarded Pacheco's advice about quitting in 1977. He gives us an Ali who is warm, generous and kind, fond of the spotlight and handicapped by his inability to get close to white people, a heritage from his racist father fostered by the Muslims. Pacheco also pays great attention to what he terms the Ali Circus, the strange mix of individuals who constituted the fighter's entourage, "a traveling menagerie of human flotsam and jetsam," and to the four wives and other women in the life of a man who almost literally had to fight off female admirers. The author also has his say about Ali's sad condition today, which he declares to be the result of too many ring battles. The biography is absorbing reading, and there are many superb photos.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A no-punches-pulled memoir of life as Muhammad Ali's personal physician during the former champ's ring career. Pacheco (Fight Doctor, 1977) was running a ghetto clinic in Miami during the mid-1960's when he first met a handsome young Olympian named Cassius Clay. Patient and doctor took to each other immediately, and the author soon became a volunteer member of the motley crew that formed around the charismatic boxer. An insider from the start, here Pacheco offers unsparing appraisals of Ali's family, friends, wives, and lovers, as well as of the hangers-on who fed on Ali's tolerant generosity or used him for their own ends. In addition, the author recalls in some detail how the Black Muslims recruited a willing Clay, who, Pacheco concludes, ``intuitively picked the [religion]...that best fitted his needs.'' Pacheco also delivers jarring accounts of Ali's bruising matches with Foreman, Frazier, Liston, Norton, and others, calling on his medical knowledge to explain just what happens to a prizefighter who takes too many blows to the head or body. Terminally disgusted with self-serving handlers who encouraged Ali to stay too long at the fair, the author quit his unpaid post in the late 1970's, subsequently finding gainful employment (plus a fair measure of fame and fortune) as a color commentator on televised bouts. Insights aplenty on the fight game and one of its genuine greats from an astute observer who has had a ringside seat. The engaging and slickly written text features photographs throughout, including many from Pacheco's personal collection. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ali was unquestionably the most famous and successful heavyweight in boxing history. For 15 years, Pacheco acted as Ali's personal physician, earning the moniker "The Fight Doctor." Although at times rambling and repetitive, Pacheco offers compelling glimpses into the boxing road show dubbed "The Ali Circus." He includes insight into Ali's personal life and examines the motivating factors behind the fighter: his parents, wives, trainer Angelo Dundee, and his association with black Muslims. Pacheco covers important bouts not just through blow-by-blow descriptions, but by reviewing the actions of the cornermen, particularly Dundee, which drove the fighter to victory. This volume is a welcome addition to the complicated history of Ali.
- Jeffrey Gay, Bridgewater P.L., Mass.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.