...Part 1 of a Three week installment by Repton Team Captain Ryan Pickard.

 I have been boxing since the age of 7 (19 years) at The Repton Boys club in Bethnal Green, and I’ve represented my country in the ring. I have had around 105 fights with 40 odd England vests. My proudest moments have been being England captain, Repton captain, Junior world silver medalist, Youth commonwealth Gold medalist, EU bronze Medalist. I have just wrote a few words for those that are partially interested in boxing and would like a bit more of an insight into the noble art, and also to tell of some of the inspirational people and fights that have inspired me in not only my boxing career but life in general.

Ok, so I will go from the obvious, Muhammed Ali, yes he’s a legend, one of the most famous people ever and a great person in and out of the ring. My reasons for loving Ali go past his boxing skills, although he was a great boxer I believe he is known for being the greatest because of his mental strength and huge personality.

A perfect example of this was The rumble in the jungle. This is where he fought the younger, bigger, stronger, knockout merchant known by the name George foreman. Ali was over the hill and heading into the ring to face someone physically superior to himself, I think that he was clever and strong enough to see this and build his game plan from the moment the fight was signed for. He used the location ‘Zaire’ in his favour for starters, the minute he got there knowing both fighters are out of their comfort zone he got the people of Zaire on side and spent time training among the people. Foreman carried on his normal regime punching holes in bags meanwhile Ali was becoming a god like figure amongst the people of Zaire.

This, as well as enjoyment for Ali and his own mental preparation was also going to affect Foreman when he came towards the ring and the whole crowd be shouting “Ali Bombaye! Ali Boombaye!” the task of beating Ali would seem a daunting one. With this preparation and confidence Ali’s game plan for the fight which was a brutal one would be all the more achievable, His game plan being the ‘rope a dope’ which means letting your opponent fire all his ammunition at you while you cover up and still stand there as if invincible! Ofcourse ‘The Greatest’ did this while reminding Foreman “you can’t hurt me George I’m God!” “I’m the greatest” among other taunts and by the 7^th round Foreman started to believe him. Ali went on to stop George Foreman and was pissing blood the next day from the beating he’d received from Foreman. That is mental strength and will power!

This is one of many stories I could tell about Ali, and I think these are the reasons he is thought of as ‘The Greatest’, plus the fact he was a heavy weight helps as Joe public are always drawn to big guys fighting rather than small guys which helped him on his road to stardom! So I agree that Ali was the greatest but not for his superior boxing skills or talent, for his mental strength, for his genius in and out of the ring and for what he done for the sport of boxing!

Next week...More Heavy Weights and 'The Fabulous Four'