Muhammad Ali: I Am The Greatest exhibition, London: The greatest exhibition on earth

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Muhammad Ali: I Am The Greatest exhibition, London: The greatest exhibition on earth

By Steve McKenna
The Muhammad Ali exhibition: Visitors can duck and weave through a warren of rooms and corridors strewn with compelling exhibits.

The Muhammad Ali exhibition: Visitors can duck and weave through a warren of rooms and corridors strewn with compelling exhibits.Credit: Steve McKenna

Charisma, confidence, cockiness and courage. Just some of the words that spring to mind when scanning the giant collage of blown-up magazine covers featuring Muhammad Ali, in his pomp, boxing, grinning, growling and show-boating.

There's a particularly dashing shot of him, all suited up and transferring wads of dollars into a bank vault, while face-offs with old foes George Foreman and 'Smokin' Joe Frazier stir memories of jungle rumbles and Manila thrillas, making the hairs on the back of my neck jab to attention.

They continue to stand, too, thanks to dramatic audio – of a ring-side bell sounding and a commentator crying: "This is a demolition derby!" – and footage of Ali skipping, sparring and waxing lyrical before reporters ("I'm so mean I make medicine sick!"). Muhammad Ali: I Am The Greatest hooks you from the start.

Posters on show at the Muhammad Ali exhibition in London.

Posters on show at the Muhammad Ali exhibition in London.Credit: Steve McKenna

Tucked inside London's giant O2 Arena, this much-hyped exhibition explores the fighter's extraordinary life, in and out of the ring – from his humble beginnings, as Cassius Marcellus Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, to his status as one of the most iconic figures on the planet.

Visitors can duck and weave through a warren of rooms and corridors strewn with compelling exhibits, from cinematic screens of Ali floating like a butterfly (and stinging like a bee), to an assortment of photographs, portraits, posters, Olympic torches, rings, belts, medals, robes and gloves that fuel the Ali legend, including a golden pair of mitts that the fighter gave his buddy Elvis Presley (an Elvis tribute, incidentally, was staged in this very venue last year).

Many artefacts are on public display for the first time – including ones collected by avid British Ali fan Trevor Beattie – while others come from Louisville's Muhammad Ali Centre, a site of pilgrimage for devotees. One of the more unusual, and enlightening exhibits is a replica of the red Schwinn bicycle that's credited with launching Ali's boxing career. The bike, a Christmas present from his father, was stolen, sending a distraught, 12-year-old Cassius into a boxing gym for the first time, driven by his determination to catch, and 'whup', the thief.

The Muhammad Ali exhibition is showing at London's O2 Arena.

The Muhammad Ali exhibition is showing at London's O2 Arena.Credit: Steve McKenna

Ali's activities outside the squared circle are explored in detail, with his political awakening, civil rights and Vietnam War protests and interactions with a cast of colourful characters (from Martin Luther King and Malcolm X to Leonid Brezhnev and Saddam Hussein) coming under the spotlight. The exhibition's co-curator is Ali's friend and biographer, Davis Miller, who tells some engaging stories on the audio guide. Miller says he wants visitors to "laugh and cry"; that might sound melodramatic, but it would take a heart of stone not to be moved by this knock-out retrospective.

The exhibition runs until August 31, with admission £20.75 for adults and £10.50 for children; see www.aliattheo2.com and www.visitbritain.com

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