Muhammad Ali arrives for Croke Park fight

'Joe Frazier got the decision. Frazier also got the beating. His face was so ugly after that fight, man , it should have been donated to the Bureau of Wildlife.'

Muhammad Ali, his performance belieing the fact thathe had feeen through a sleepless night, arrived at Dublin Airport yesterday to a reception' befitting the world's number one boxer, entertainer, and Black man.

“It’s hard to be humble when you’re as good as I am,” declared Ali.

He the n proceeded to enthrall the huge press corps with tales of his epic battles, undaunted bravery , in the face of political and pugilistic opposition, and lightning punches which neither the camera nor the human eye could detect.

On the subject of the man for whom Ali has - made this trip, Al “Blue” Lewis, whom he meets in Croke Park on this day-week; the former world champion was a little more reticent.

“Naturally, he’s not the best...when you consider the opposition he’ been meeting. But all the top fighters in America have turned him down’, man, because they would have nothing to gain and everything to lose.”

Muhammad, brandishing an oversize shilellagh with which he alternatively threatens with good humour a reporter or demonstrates how he will chop down a future opponent , prefers to talk of the coming re-match with Frazier.

“People say this fight might not come off. Listen, money rules in this world. And this is the fight that the whole wide world wants to see.

"The people in South America, Asia, Europe and Africa are all waiting for that night . This will be the biggest night in the whole history of the world," drawls Ali.

Nor is there any doubt in Ali’s mind but that he will neverse the decision this time. “I’ll whup him easy. He will never be the same after the last beating I gave him. He’s dodging me at the moment, but that man has seven kids, another on the way, and he needs the money bad.”

MESSAGE TO McALlNDEN

On the possibility of fighting Dan McAIinden, Muhammad, after a lengthy pause in which to remember exactly who McAlinden was, was enthusiastic. “He’s the one who beat my brother. Sure I’d fight him. I’ll teach him good for beating up my little brother. ‘

“If that man would be fool enough to fight me, I’d take him anywhere. But you give this McAlinden a message. Tell him if he even dreamed he could beat me to wake up and apologise.”

But back to the Lewis fight. Ali has not trained since the fight with Quarry, and he is feeling tired. "I only start training for this fight today. But I'll be in top shape because I have a lot of friends in Ireland and I want to give them a good show."

Ali also admits that Lewis hits pretty good. “I trained with him for my comeback fight with Quarry. All that talk about him hurting, me was true. He cracked a rib for me there and I took quite a time to get over it. He is a hard, fast puncher.”

Muhammad is at his best, however, when remembering the second Liston fight, which he won in the first round .

“After that fight, I heard this man scream ing, give me my money back , give me

my money back. I found out about that man.

"That man had bought himself a ticket , for 300 dollars and tr avelled all the way from Los Angeles to Lewison, Maine, for the fight.

When he arrived, he went to buy himself a hamburger and a cake, and as he says himself , before he got a chance to sit down , Liston was already sitting down. “

MISSING APPARATUS

Al “Blue” Lewis, meanwhile, was finding out at Croke Park that while the opportunities to talk are legion, it is a little more difficult to get in actual physical training for the bout.

Apart from the training area itself no facilities had been provided , by yesterday afternoon and Lewis had to be content with a session of light jogging and shadow boxing.

His sparring partner , Ray Anderson, a well-rank ed light-heavyweight who took Bob Foster the distance last year, was due to arrive last night.

The Lewis camp had been expecting bags and other apparatus available. Without them , the first training session, watched by a small number of young spectators, was slightly farcical to watch as the big Detroit hopeful danced rather meaninglessly from end-to-end of the GAA headquarters' handball gymnasium.

Lewis's advisor , Don Elbaun, was rather annoyed at the treatment. "We had expected everything to be in readiness ," he said. "This will interrupt Al's training programme. He has done enough light work over the past few days and we wanted to get down to the serious training today. "

A makeshift ring for the training, due in on Monday, had not arrived yesterday. Its absence did not appear to unduly worry Lewis, whose only comment was: “You jus t make sure they have one next week , man.”

Ali, who will have Joe Bugner and John Conteh as sparring mates, will train at Croke Park at 1.30 pm each day. Lewis will make his appearance at 3.30.