Why was Muhammad Ali commonly known as “The Greatest”?
Partly, of course, it was for his ring-craft. Ali was a champion renowned for his lightning reflexes and his ability to slip past punches and hop around the ring—to “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” as he poetically described it. That skill helped Ali apply a beat-down to a hefty lift of heavyweight legends including Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, and George Foreman.
But he never shirked a challenge outside the ring either whether it was from the boxing authorities, the US government or ultimately his own once-perfect body. Ali always faced any confrontation with his eyes open with defiance and unwavering bravery.
Now Tag Heuer are paying tribute to the iconic sportsman in the form of the Carrera Calibre 5 ‘Ring Master’. Modelled on a 1950s Heuer stopwatch, the Ring Master has twin boxing scales on the perimeter of the dial to track the rounds of a boxing match. One shows 15 three-minute intervals, separated by a minute’s break between rounds to reflect the duration of heavyweight bouts in Ali’s glorious hey-day. The second scale reveals 15 two-minute bouts, the allocated time for rounds used in other weight divisions.
Weighing in 43mm with a $3750 price-tag in steel and limited to just 750 pieces, it’s a watch that reflects the retro swagger of the great man himself.
