It’s a bittersweet time in the life of Glenn Singleton, the well-known Muhammad Ali historian, enthusiast and Ama resident – he lost a hero, but has witnessed a world of people celebrating the life and legacy of the man many consider “the greatest of all time.”
Ali passed away Friday at the age of 74, after being hospitalized in Scottsdale, Ariz. with a respiratory illness.
Singleton, who has met Ali several times and has forged a friendship with the Ali family, learned of Ali’s illness through a phone call with Rahman Ali, Muhammed’s brother.
“I just started praying,” Singleton said. “About 6:30 Friday evening, Rahman called me told me it doesn’t look too good. Again, I came into the Ali room and prayed.
“(Then,)I get the bad news. I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach.”
The “Ali room” Singleton speaks of is the Ali showroom at his home in Ama, full of pictures of Ali’s conquests and a few more of Ali with Singleton and his family. He built it to stand as a museum of sorts for the younger generation to appreciate a man who was a hero to Singleton.
While Singleton was drawn to Ali the fighter, Ali the man is who he more often chooses to speak of.
He fondly recalled two stories that deeply spoke to Singleton about the kind of person Ali was. In the first, Ali was in attendance at an event for fans celebrating his “Rumble in the Jungle” victory over George Foreman of years earlier. An announcement was made that Ali wouldn’t be able to give autographs to anyone because of his condition — he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome in 1984 and the side effects of the illness would make it difficult for Ali to give his signature.
“Man, he got out of this wheel chair … he’s shaking, he raises up, gets to his feet and he beckons to everyone as if to say, ‘you’re my fans, come and see me,’” Singleton recalled with a broad smile. “He signed those autographs. He was trembling. It was small print, not his regular signature, but it was just the idea that he did it. If it was a dot, everyone would know it came from Ali”
Another time, Ali was training in New Orleans for a fight with Leon Spinks, one in which Ali would become the first three-time world heavyweight champion.
“One of his corner men asked him, ‘Champ, where we going today? To walk down Bourbon Street?’” Singleton said. “And Muhammed Ali said no. He said ‘we’re going to visit children in the projects and in the hospital. I’m their champion, too.’ I was with him when he went down to the Iberville projects. And man, it was like Mardi Gras. He was picking up kids, kissing kids, hugging everybody.
“Ali was always willing to reach out and touch people, love people, and be the man of the people. That’s why Muhammed Ali is recognized as the people’s champion.”
The champ had a clear and long term impact on Singleton’s life, particularly after Ali autographed a photo album with the notation, “To my best fan, Glenn Singleton.”
That was what inspired Singleton to build the Ali showroom —‘how can I prove I’m worthy of that statement?’ was his sentiment.
Singleton’s daughter, Precious, said that growing up in her father’s household made learning about Ali an inevitability.“I grew up with his pictures all around me. With the showroom … you had no choice but to know (Ali),” she said with a laugh. “I’d put together projects in middle school (about Ali) and coming in first place based on the knowledge I received from my dad.
“I didn’t get it at first, but as I got older, I realized that this man was a hero. He really is the greatest. Talking about Ali and what he represented, standing up for your beliefs and your faith … it impacted not just us and our community, but our country and the entire world.”
Ali has been such a presence in their lives, she said, that Precious named her daughter with Ali in mind: Pey’Tience M’Aliyah Alexander.
“He’s so important to my dad and the family that I had to put Ali in my daughter’s name,” Precious said. “He will forever live on through her … I feel blessed and beyond grateful to know my dad is so close to him and his family.”Singleton’s passion for Ali is known by many, and he received numerous calls, texts and visits in the days after the fighter’s passing, all of which he noted he was grateful for.
One gesture in particular, made by a woman named Sally who, like Singleton, is active in St. Martin’s church, truly touched him. She gave him a special pair of rosary beads as a gift. Singleton, who was preparing to travel to Ali’s Friday funeral in Phoenix, said he hoped to be able to place the beads in Ali’s casket as one final gesture of goodbye.
“She gave me a gift. She was feeling my pain,” Singleton said. “It’s so touching. I’m gonna try to place those rosaries in his casket, if I can … in the champ’s casket.”Of course, while Ali made a huge impact outside of the ring, Singleton certainly appreciated “The Greatest’s” work inside of the squared circle.
“I loved waiting to see the round that he was gonna predict he’d knock someone out,” Singleton said. “Most often, his prediction was right.”
Singleton frequently refers to Ali simply as “the champ.” It represents how he’ll always see his hero.
“I want to remember Ali not just as a great champion, but a champion outside the ring for the whole world,” Singleton said. “There will never be another Muhammed Ali.”
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