Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on August 2012

Who better to offer a fresh perspective on Muhammad Ali than the aging pugs that once faced him in the ring? Henry Cooper, George Chuvalo, Ron Lyle, Ernie Shavers, Ernie Terrell, Ken Norton, Larry Holmes, Leon Spinks, George Foreman, and Joe Frasier can now look back on their fights against Ali with a measure of wisdom and perspective that wasn’t possible back in the day. In the process, we get compelling mini-biographies of them as well. It’s surprising how moving Joe Frazier’s shedding a tear over Ali’s current Parkinson’s can be. Was Ali “The Greatest?” Who they making the movie about?