I've been meaning to get to this, cuz it's dope writing and the content is up my alley. I just finished Ali vs. Inoki, which I feel you may enjoy. anyway.
pugnacious really is the perfect word to start this off, especially since it shares the same latin root as pugilist. but part of why Ali is so fascinating is the line he walked between being adored and reviled throughout his life. but the tone of voice in this captures that dynamic well. must have been epic to witness him in real life.
the metaphor-laden boxing descriptions were cool, definitely like how you played with the rhyme and rhythm, but more importantly it transitioned into the part that really got me:
Quote:
Striking something deeper in the fabric
of our emaciated nation. We needed his madness.
We needed his graceful degradations, steeped in a tragic
figure of an unforgettable age. Shaking with rage, to
shaking with the creeping lens of sadness.
The pagan, he waits. Sold his visions to false prophets.
Sold his image to cold profits. Sold his limits to our audience.
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that's it. that's basically everything that makes him so fascinating. I love the slickness of that first line, the undefined edges of the phrase "something deeper" and the word emaciated made it really evocative. from then to "limits to our audience" was just excellent rhyming and cadence without compromising the language. I think one of your greatest strengths is your ability to lead us in the direction you want, without dictating the destination. that's not easy to do, but you command subtlety perfectly in this. the emotion exists in the subtext, and even though it's undeniably present it never bleeds into hero worship or sentimentality.
this was great, maybe the best verse of yours I've read, but easily my favorite.