AllMovie

Ali the Fighter was made in 1975, when the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight was still fresh in everyone's memory banks. Thus, a generous portion of the documentary's running time is given over to graphic footage of that famous bout. Filmmaker William Greaves frames these scenes with a fine thumbnail sketch of Ali's rise to glory, beginning with his "Cassius Clay" days back in Louisville. Fortunately, the film was made long before Ali's profound physical and mental debilitations. Ali the Fighter contains little that is new, but serves as an acceptable introduction to those sports fans unfamiliar with its subject.