The Greatest: Interview with the Cast and Showrunner of the Muhammad Ali Series

Suppose, or at least we hope, that the name Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali remains familiar to most Italians. It would certainly be a good thing for younger generations to rediscover the history and the life of this legendary champion, who was not only the greatest boxer of all time, but also a symbol—an icon, as we would say today—of freedom, nonconformism, and the fight against inequality and racism. To tell us this story even in its most intimate moments, not solely on the boxing ring, is a beautiful Prime Video series produced with the support of Ali’s family, which granted access to unpublished documents. We are talking about The Greatest, written and directed, in the first two episodes, by showrunner Ben Watkins and starring in the lead role a young breakout actor, as Michael B. Jordan once was, among the producers of the show, who goes by the name Jaalen Best and who has immersed himself with great plausibility in the boxer’s skin, portraying him from his early youth to a more mature age. Surely we will hear more about him in the future, in his first lead role after minor appearances in American Horror Story, All American: Homecoming, and the new Magnum P.I. In the role of Muhammad Ali’s coach, the famed Angelo Dundee, we find a well-known and beloved actor like Giovanni Ribisi. The first episodes of the series were world-premiered in Rome, where the story begins, when young Cassius Clay wins the 1960 Olympics and visits the Colosseum, later celebrated by the athletes. We had the great pleasure, as boxing enthusiasts and as lovers of Ali’s legendary figure, to interview on this occasion Ben Watkins, Jaalen Best, and Giovanni Ribisi. Do not miss this telling of the life of the man who truly was the greatest, and you will discover aspects you did not know by watching The Greatest, available from November 4 with eight episodes on Prime Video.