Art That Floats Like a Butterfly

For fans of the “sweet science,” few names evoke ring glory like Muhammad Ali. An Olympic gold medalist and three-time heavyweight champion, Ali ruled the golden age of boxing, becoming lionized as “The Greatest of All Time.” He also has strong South Florida ties, training at the legendary Fifth Street Gym in Miami Beach back when he was Cassius Clay, and winning the title from Sonny Liston at the Miami Beach Convention Center in 1964. This Saturday marks the last chance before the bell rings on a Wynwood art exhibit that pays tribute to Ali’s storied life and career.

Icon Art Images Gallery (147 NW 36th St., Miami) is featuring Muhammad Ali: The Greatest of All Time, a bronze sculpture by Bill Toma portraying the 22-year-old champion after winning the crown. Ferdie Pacheco, “The Fight Doctor” and longtime Ali corner man, is exhibiting Muhammad Ali paintings executed in his colorful slashing style. Pacheco’s wife Luisita, a photographer, weighs in on the action with head-jarring snaps of the peerless pugilist poet who floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee.
Sat., Dec. 27, 2008