Historical Roasts season 1 finale recap: Muhammad Ali

The season 1 finale of Netflix series Historical Roasts looks at the fascinating legacy of transcendent sports icon Muhammad Ali — AKA “The Greatest.”

Fittingly, the season finale of Historical Roasts is hosted by comedian Jeff Ross dressed as iconic sportscaster Howard Cosell. Ross correctly calls Muhammad Ali (Jaleel White), a “transcendent world figure,” and introduces the roster of roasters. They are Babe Ruth (John Gemberling), Bruce Lee (Leonardo Nam), Elvis Presley (Josh Homme), Angelo Dundee (John DiMaggio), and Joe Frazier (Jamar Malachi Neighbors). Rather than spoil every joke, this recap will highlight many of the historical aspects of the episode, and also discuss certain things not mentioned.

The beginning

While it’s hard to usee Muhammad Ali and “humble” in the same sentence, the boxer did have relatively humble beginnings and certain struggles. Ross mentions that Ali (born Cassius Clay) had dyslexia and received some fight training from a police officer after his bike was stolen as a kid. While still named Clay, Ali won boxing’s light-heavyweight Gold Medal during the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. However, as Ross notes, he tossed his medal into the Ohio River due to frustrations with racism.

Partly because of such feelings, he changed his name to Muhammad Ali and joined the Nation of Islam (who were initially reluctant to have him due to his boxing profession). Ali beat Sonny Liston, becoming a world champion at age 22. Ali’s also famous for being a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War

The roasters and the facts

Babe Ruth enters Historical Roasts with some rather funny riffs on his (real or alleged) health issues. One of the first celebrity American athletes, Babe Ruth popularized the home run and is often considered one of the greatest baseball players. In this characterization, Ruth tells kids to quit school and gets tongue-tied while discussing a “pair of pugnacious pugilist.”  As the above picture demonstrates, Babe may have been in better shape than Historical Roasts suggests.
Joe Frazier also shows up, mentioning how he couldn’t eat bananas after being called a gorilla by Ali. (That’s not entirely accurate, though, as Ali weirdly referred to Frazier’s “conscience” in that fashion, as you can see in this clip.)

While introducing Bruce Lee, Jeff Ross unexpectedly demonstrates his own has nunchaku skills. Leonardo Nam as Bruce Lee is probably the funniest roaster of the episode, delivering what may be the best joke about a Hyundai. He also notes that Elvis Presley was in some really bad movies. He says Lee and Ali would never have fought, due to mutual respect. When Elvis shows up, he says he was also into MMA — mixing methamphetamine! It’s stated that Ali respected Elvis for his ability to match the great black singers. When Muhammad Ali speaks, he notes that he “shook off” his Parkinson’s and never stayed down because “struggle makes muscle.”

What the episode leaves out

As with any historical figure, there are some aspects not frequently mentioned. There are good things not discussed, like the time Muhammad Ali talked a man down from a window ledge.
Oddly, Historical Roasts doesn’t mention the man’s impact on hip hop culture and how some even consider him the first rapper!  No doubt Ali has inspired people to use language more openly in general, as he was never one to hold back.

There are murkier details overlooked, too. For example, Ali’s association with Malcolm X will always be controversial.  There were surely questionable moments even for members of the Nation of Islam. For example, at one NOI speech, Malcolm X spoke alongside the American Nazi Party’s leader, George Lincoln Rockwell. This was due to a perceived overlap between their mutual interests in racial segregation.

On the brighter side, Malcolm X said he functionally negotiated a truce between the Nation of Islam and the Ku Klux Klan, which likely reduced the potential of violence between the two organizations.  Historical Roasts obviously doesn’t delve into the complex, contradictory nature of such associations, although the Nation of Islam figured heavily into Ali’s political awakening.  [NOTE: This historically accurate source obviously contains language/topics which some may find offensive.]

This isn’t meant to condemn Ali.  He was actually quite literally transcendent politically. His politics were rather difficult to pin down. He was both affiliated with Malcolm X and against the Vietnam War yet willing to support President Ronald Reagan’s re-election, because Reagan was “keeping God in schools” (although, in Reagan’s case, it was most certainly the Christian God).

Ali also supported the cause of Palestinian refugees, negotiated with Saddam Hussein to release American hostages, served as a “U.N. Messenger of Peace,” and worked with actor Michael J Fox to address Parkinson’s Disease. In other words, Muhammad Ali was never just a boxer.  He has a complex legacy where the good seems to outweigh the bad by a large margin.

What are your thoughts on this Historical Roasts episode and the legacy of Muhammad Ali? Let us know in the comments!