Word: aly
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...only from Iran but also from Iraq. When Palestine Liberation Organization Chief Yasser Arafat showed up on a self-appointed mediation mission, Khomeini refused even to see him. And when Cuban President Fidel Castro sent a message urging Iran's acquiescence in a ceasefire, Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Raja'i reported contemptuously: "What do you [Cubans] think Iran is? A lackey of the superpowers...
...supposed to be Muhammad All's last hurrah, a final comeback to reclaim, at age 38, the heavyweight championship title he had won an unprecedented three separate times over two decades. It was, instead, a sad farewell. Too old, too slow, too punched-out, Ali was pummeled by Defending Champion Larry Holmes for ten long, painful rounds. Finally, Ali sat slumped on his stool in the corner while his handlers told the referee that he would not answer the bell for the eleventh round...
...Ali had striven mightily to turn back the clock, coming out of a two-year retirement to train harder than ever. Since his defeat of Leon Spinks in the fall of 1978, Ali had ballooned to a blubbery 254 Ibs. But after he signed (for $8 million) to fight Holmes in a 25,000-seat temporary arena specially built in the parking lot of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Ali retreated to his training camp in the Pennsylvania mountains to whittle away the excess pounds. More than two months of arduous workouts reduced him to fighting trim; he weighed...
...Ali looked lean and fit-until he started to fight. Then it became clear that weight was perhaps the least of his problems. Age had robbed Ali of the speed that had been his hallmark. The dancing feet and lightning hands were slowed. He managed to land a few punches, but when he did, they had no sting. Holmes shrugged them off and bored in. Ali, who once could snap his head away from oncoming punches with microsecond precision, now was tardy, then immobile. Holmes pounded away with jabs that jerked back the ex-champion's neck and with...
From the first round, it was obvious that Holmes was in command. At 30, he is in his prime. A onetime Ali sparring partner who had ascended to the World Boxing Council title in 1978 by crushing Ken Norton, he had since defended his title seven times and won each bout by a knockout, tying Joe Louis' record. Unbeaten in 35 fights, Holmes extended his string with a masterly display of strategy and tactics. When Ali tried to shuffle out of reach, Holmes angled across the ring, cut off Ali's escape and took him to the ropes...