wow. They had some amazing footage, way before it's time. It was pretty much 24/7, amazing. And it was horrible. Gotta love Holmes, an ATG heavyweight and the humblest of any. But Jesus Christ, a completely different Ali, so sad and just straight up pathetic that anyone allowed this fight to occur. His team was made up of a bunch of cowards. The damage was already done to Ali, the Parkinson's was on its way, but this did not help the cause. He was obviously not the same guy! He was damaged goods beyond recognition. What a horrible night.
I didn't get to see it from the beginning, but what I saw was very, very good. Great footage - footage I have never seen before. But you're right, it was a little sad. It was plain to see that Ali was already showing signs of brain damage. You could hear it in his voice, and see it on his face. It was also sad to see him trying to be the Ali of years before, trash talking, and whatnot. But to Holmes' credit, at least he didn't go all out on the faded champ. He pulled his punches...that was probably the right thing to do.
I kind of wished I hadn't. Our sport is still very broken in some ways, but I think one of Ali's greatest legacies is that this fight and the worsening of his condition forced athletic commissions to take health precautions seriously. They still fail miserably sometimes, but rarely in such a blatantly awful way. But the show was produced excellently, and as with all the shows I've seen dealing with Holmes's career, I come away with nothing but respect for the man and a touch of sadness at the cards fate dealt him.
