10 things we learned about Muhammad Ali from Ken Burns' epic documentary

"He's the top jock of the 20th century," Burns tells CNN. "I'd beryllium blessed to beryllium connected a barstool and reason that he's the top jock of each clip -- period, afloat stop.

"His beingness and his nonrecreational beingness intersected with each the main issues of the 2nd fractional of the 20th century, that has to bash evidently with athletics and the relation of sports successful nine and besides contention and authorities and religion and Islam and warfare ... He's conscionable the astir compelling fig successful each of sports."

The manager shares helium has a neon motion successful his editing suit that reads, "it's complicated." The aforesaid applies to Ali's life. Alongside the acquainted heroics, Burns gives the disfigured broadside of Ali -- the bullying, the promiscuity -- ample space. "There's nary message" to the documentary, helium insists, "we're successful the past business."

"All of quality beingness is analyzable and contradictory and sometimes controversial, but there's a majesty to this peculiar life, and I don't deliberation I've met an American arsenic filled with the benignant of tone and consciousness of intent arsenic (Ali)," says Burns.

Walking done Ali's beingness is simply a well-trodden way for boxing fans, but by dint of the measurement of worldly Burns had to manus determination are inactive immoderate surprises. Here's immoderate lesser-known Ali trivia from the series.

Ali's fearfulness of flying was truthful utmost helium erstwhile wore a parachute

When a young Cassius Clay traveled from Louisville to San Francisco for Olympic trials, truthful frightened of flying was the amateur boxer that helium bought a subject parachute and wore it connected the flight. When helium won the competition, helium pawned 1 of his prizes, a watch, to wage for a bid summons location instead.

Ali's country erstwhile enactment crystal cubes down his shorts mid-fight

Fighting Henry Cooper successful the UK successful June 1963, then-Clay famously took a immense near hook seconds earlier the extremity of the 4th round. The doorbell arrived conscionable successful clip for the American, whose country did everything they could to aftermath him up for the adjacent round. That meant smelling salts wafted nether his chemoreceptor and crystal cubes down his shorts. It worked -- helium came backmost swinging and won successful the 5th erstwhile the referee decided Cooper was excessively severely chopped and bloodied to continue.

Before their bitter rivalry, Ali and Joe Frazier archetypal met arsenic friends

A young Frazier was 14-0 erstwhile helium walked into an Ali grooming league and introduced himself. Ali said he'd combat the up and comer successful 2 years if helium kept connected doing what helium was doing and sent Frazier disconnected with an autographed photo. It took longer than that, but by March 1971 the 2 undefeated boxers yet met.

Racists erstwhile sent Ali a decapitated canine successful the mail

Ali's ineligible quality implicit his refusal to combat successful the Vietnam War is good raked implicit successful Burns' documentary, including the horrific racist vitriol the boxer faced arsenic a result. Convicted for draught evasion successful 1967 and stripped of his boxing licence and title, Ali was forced into the boxing hinterlands successful his premier years. Ahead of his 1970 comeback combat against Jerry Quarry successful Atlanta helium was sent a container with a decapitated achromatic canine wrong and a enactment that read, "We cognize however to grip achromatic draft-dodging dogs successful Georgia." Ali's presumption arsenic a conscientious objector would yet beryllium vindicated erstwhile the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the condemnation 8-0 successful 1971.

When Ali mislaid to Frazier, Muammar Gaddafi declared a time of mourning

When Frazier won "The Fight of the Century" connected March 8, 1971, Ali fans were distraught. The combat had been broadcast astir the satellite and audiences were riveted by the $5 cardinal fight. Hunter S. Thompson described the effect arsenic "a precise achy acquisition successful each way," and Libyan president Gaddafi declared a time of mourning, reports Burns. (The dictator would aboriginal determine the athletics was excessively convulsive and ban it successful his ain country.)

He was erstwhile talented a boxing robe from Elvis Presley

And it was axenic 70s Elvis. Ali wore the robe for his March 1973 combat against six-foot three-inch erstwhile marine Ken Norton. White and covered successful jewels and with bluish lettering connected the backmost speechmaking "People's Choice," the acquisition did not beryllium a bully luck charm, with Norton inflicting Ali's 2nd nonrecreational loss.

Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko confiscated George Foreman's passport successful the pb up to "The Rumble successful the Jungle"

After spending each that wealth financing "The Rumble successful the Jungle," the 1974 mega-fight betwixt Ali and Foreman successful Zaire (today, the Democratic Republic of Congo), dictatorial person Mobutu wasn't going to fto thing halt it. Ali and Foreman some trained successful Zaire successful abstracted camps up of the fight. When Foreman was chopped supra the close oculus successful a sparring session, his doc said it would instrumentality weeks to heal and called for a postponement. The boxer wanted to alert to France oregon Belgium for a 2nd opinion, but Mobutu said nary -- he'd reportedly confiscated his passport. The combat was postponed by conscionable implicit a period and some boxers stayed put.

By the extremity of his career, Ali was dying his hairsbreadth

Even the astir casual boxing fans cognize Ali kept boxing for excessively long, his assemblage needlessly taking punishment agelong aft his estimation arsenic The Greatest was assured. But by 1980, erstwhile a 38-year-old Ali got successful the ringing with Larry Holmes, helium was showing his property and dying his hairsbreadth achromatic to conceal the gray. It didn't rotation backmost the years -- Ali was pummeled by Holmes. "It was similar watching a person get tally implicit by a truck," sportswriter Dave Kindred tells Burns.

He was a dab manus astatine magic

Ali met Fidel Castro successful 1996, by which constituent the erstwhile champion was mostly incapable to talk owed to the onset of Parkinson's disease. He was inactive an entertainer however, and truthful performed magic tricks for the Cuban leader. But, believing it went against Islam to deceive, Ali showed Castro precisely however he'd done them consecutive after.

Ali primitively declined to airy the Olympic occurrence astatine Atlanta '96

By the mid-90s Ali had taken a measurement backmost from the limelight, though helium often traveled for humanitarian work. When the Atlanta Games asked him successful concealed if he'd airy the Olympic flame, helium said nary astatine first, citing the frailties that came with his advancing Parkinson's diagnosis. But his friend, lensman and biographer Howard Bingham, convinced him to, saying, "the satellite is saying convey you for each you've done implicit your life. There volition beryllium a cardinal radical watching." Ali's astonishment quality remains 1 of the defining images of immoderate Olympic Games.

Ken Burns' "Muhammad Ali" debuts connected September 19 connected PBS.