The Big Fight

Soundtracked by The Dubliners, Muhammad Ali climbed through the ropes to fight Al ‘Blue’ Lewis at Croke Park on a balmy July evening in 1972. The most famous athlete in the world had somehow been inveigled to Ireland by Butty Sugrue, a charismatic circus strongman whom nobody took seriously until Ali and his entourage touched down at Dublin Airport. Moments later, a politician on the runway thrust a shillelagh into the champ’s hand and so began a week of the most glorious mayhem as he charmed the Irish people.

Ali could be found jogging along Wicklow lanes, strolling into The Old Stand with his hippie bodyguard Rock Brynner, or paying an early morning visit to the GPO to receive a history lesson about the Easter Rising.

No matter where he fetched up, wonderful chaos ensued. Traffic stopped. Crowds gathered. The greatest show on earth had come to town for one remarkable week. Through interviews with dozens of those whom Ali met and worked alongside over the course of those seven unforgettable days, Dave Hannigan has pieced together an enthralling narrative of one of the most unique events in Irish sporting history.