Watching The Man In The Mirror

"Perfect." Dundee said.

"Is the closed-circuit system O.K.?"

"They say it is."

Outside, the noise of the crowd, impatient now, began to beat at the door. A big roar went up. "Quarry," someone said. "Quarry's gone."

Seconds to go. Ali stood immobile for a moment, perhaps to pray, which is his habit, and Jesse Jackson hopped off the rubbing table and embraced him, almost trembling with emotion.

A knock sounded on the door. "It's time," a voice called. Muhammad Ali gave one last peek at himself in the mirrors, and he went out into the corridor, his people packed around him.