The picture's story is simple: a man wins the heavyweight boxing championship, his title is unfairly taken from him, and he is exiled from boxing. There is a parallel story as well. It is a voyage where in Ali discovers who he wants to be and makes himself into that man. What excited me about the project was the possibility, in telling both of these stories, of taking people inside Ali's world.

Michael Mann"s Ali takes us behind the myth of Muhammad Ali to reveal this complex, constantly evolving man from the inside out. This official companion book to the long-awaited film, starring Will Smith as Ali, goes behind the scenes to movie locations throughout America and in Africa as Mann explores the momentous decade from 1964, when young Cassius Clay wrested the heavy-weight crown from Sonny Liston, to 1974, when All regained it from George Foreman in the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" inZaire.

The Resume 13

The Cast  16

ROUND 1 18

1964 21 Clay the Contender 23

Louisville Boy 26 Playing an Icon:

Will Smith on All 31 In Cassius Corner 34

A Fighter Who Can Act 38 All vs. Liston I 43

ROUND 2 48

A change gonna come 51

Citizen of Islam 52 Malcolm, the Mentor 57

Discovering Africa 61 Stand by Me 62

Road Work: Re-creating Alis America 66

Sonji: Scent of a Woman 70 All vs. Liston II 72

ROUND 3 76

Aint got no quarrel 79 Champion Under Siege 80

Ali and the Press 83 Lacking Due Process 87

Family Man 89 Bundini: Poet of the Streets 90

Ali on the Set 95

ROUND 4 96

1974 99 Coming Back 101

Don Kings Rumble in the Jungle 102

The Homecoming 107

Foreman the Invincible 108

On Location: Africa 110

The Once and Future Champ 115

THE SCREEENPLAY 120

Film Credits 174

Further Reading and Viewing 175

Acknowledgments 176