"30 for 30" Muhammad and Larry

I just love ESPY film documentaries. I am hoping to review some for teachers, parents, and educators in the future that provide an excellent insight into history. My first film is Muhammad and Larry. This is a documentary of the 1980 fight between Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes. Like so many of the Ali fights, Larry Holmes is demonized because of the popularity of Muhammad Ali. The movie provides a backdrop similar to documentaries on Joe Frazier and Sonny Liston. Ali was given a pass for his cruelty by the media. If you ever get a chance, there are some earlier documentaries that explain Ali's past abuse of opponents. Muhammad would cleverly, use race and other deficits to psychologically destroy an opponent.

What makes this documentary fascinating is you have to know the history of Ali to appreciate what is a critical theme of this documentary. This movie is about corporate greed. Greed so immense, that the cost of a legendary icon's life is inconsequential to money. Mohammad Ali is clearly unfit to fight. Medically he is ineligible based on Medical Tests. What is incredible is that the movie producers are documenting the brain's decline from previous fights. Literally, Ali's speech is slurred and his physical abilities are declining. All while his friends and family watch the decline without objection. It is just shocking to me that his past Doctor from when he was younger was the only person on record to tell Ali, you are risking death to continue boxing.

Another backdrop is Larry Holmes. He was Ali's former sparring partner. He knows Ali has declined and there is something wrong with the fighter he once sparred. He wants the fight to end and the brutal beating he gives Ali is due to the referee's unwillingness to stop the fight. How it ends is pitiful. A few years later, Ali would be documented with Parkinson's Disease. Fight induced? One has to wonder if the greed of fight promoters limited Muhammad Ali for the coming decades. All in all, a great documentary.