Made in Miami- A Movie Preview

PBS has done it again in bringing us programs that make us think.  This is a great story that tells how Cassius Clay was born in Louisville, but Muhammad Ali was born in Miami. During the fight Malcolm X was in the arena and no telling who he may have brought with him and what they may have carried into the arena, since he was the young Clay's friend and that Clay was fighting Sonny Liston a known mob enforcer. It was a known fact that the mob tried to muscle in on the young Clay (later Ali) and that Clay wouldn't allow anyone to muscle or fight a fixed fight and that Malcolm X had his own tough guys to protect the young Clay.

During the fight, a foreign substance from perhaps juiced gloves by his opponent got into Clay's eyes and blinded him, the young Clay hit the panic button and told his manager, Angelo Dundee that it was dirty work taking place, cut his gloves off and call the fight. Angelo Dundee said he placed his finger into Clay's eye and then dabbed it into his own eye and stated it burned like hell- the substance was caustic. Angelo then told the young Clay not to quit and to run, dance around the ring and use his speed; because if he quit, Clay may not ever get another chance at the title. Clay took Angelo Dundee's advice, his vision cleared up and Muhammad Ali was born in Miami.

Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami premieres Monday August 11th, 2008. Check Local Listings to see when it is airing on your local PBS station.

Cassius Clay arrives in Miami to train with Angelo Dundee at the Fifth Street Gym, 1960 (photograph © Bob Gomel).

"Cassius Clay was born in Louisville," says Ferdie Pacheco, "Muhammad Ali was born in Miami." Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami explores the critical role that Miami played in the evolution of one of the most significant cultural figures of our time.

Cassius Clay arrived in Miami in the fall of 1960, fresh from earning an Olympic gold medal as a light-heavyweight boxer in the Rome Olympics.

He moved into a succession of hotels in Miami's Overtown district when the neighborhood was still considered Harlem South—a vibrant center of black entertainment and commerce—and trained with Angelo Dundee at the Fifth Street Gym on Miami Beach.

Over the course of the next few years, coinciding with the height of the national civil rights movement, Clay evolved both professionally and politically, piling up victories in the ring and adopting the black separatist teachings of the Nation of Islam. It was during this period that Cassius Clay in essence became Muhammad Ali.

Malcolm X gets Cassius Clay's attention in a Miami diner (photograph © Bob Gomel).

The metamorphosis was complete in February 1964 when Clay, in one of the most stunning upsets in boxing history, defeated the seemingly invincible heavyweight champion Sonny Liston in Miami Beach. Two days later, the new champion declared to the world his new identity.

Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami tells not only Ali's story, but the story of Miami's black community and the Fifth Street Gym, as well. The film combines rarely seen footage with interviews of trainer Angelo Dundee, fight doctor Ferdie Pacheco, Ali's Miami neighbors, former Overtown residents, and sportswriters and photographers who covered the young phenom.

A smiling Cassius Clay in 1964, just days before being crowned heavyweight boxing world champion after a shock win over Sonny Liston (photograph © Bob Gomel).

The film also features such nationally recognized figures as bestselling Ali biographer Thomas Hauser, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Remnick and Columbia University historian Manning Marable.

Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami examines several critical episodes in Ali's life that played out in Miami, including the fighter's friendship with Malcolm X, his celebrated encounter with the Beatles, his dramatic victory over Liston and his refusal to be drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.

Until now, Muhammad Ali's time in Miami has been treated as little more than a prologue to his worldwide fame. Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami provides a fascinating chronicle of the personal and professional transformations the legendary fighter experienced in the city, and argues compellingly that, without Miami, there might never have been a Muhammad Ali.