ROU ND ONE 1982 Take it slow, Muhammad Ali. Read a book now and then. Go to the supermarket once in a while. That''s right, you just put the food in the basket as you wheel the thing around the aisles. Cut the lawn. Take out the trash. Ride a bus. There isn''t a lot of stuff out here that you''ve been doing in the last 20 years but that''s all right.

You''ll survive. We all do. Just don''t watch a lot of television. That''ll rot your mind faster than any combination Trevor Berbick ever imagined Leigh Montville, TheBoston Globe, 1 January 1982 ON NEW Year''s Day,Body and Soulopened in select movie theatres across AmericaA blaxploitation flick crossed with a Rocky film, it starred Leon Isaac Kennedy as Leon Johnson, a wannabe doctor forced into the boxing ring to pay the medical bills of his ailing sisterPlaying himself, Muhammad Ali is on screen for less than five minutes and one snarky review said of his performance, ''Laurence Olivier need not worry'' Still, Ali''s presence in the cast was enough to warrant a ''With Muhammad Ali'' sticker on the posters advertisingBody and Soul His most notable scene is in a gym where he briefly pummels the speed bag before Johnson begs him to become his trainer ''Look, my friend, people come to me all the time for help, business deals,'' says Ali''Buy this, invest in this, invest in that, train this man, train that manEverybody knows I''m the greatest, right? But I''m not obligated and I don''t have time to make you the greatest'' * * * An invited guest at the inauguration of Harvey Sloane for his second term as Mayor of Louisville on 4 January, Muhammad Ali wrote a poem for the occasion, poking fun at his long-time friend, a politician he affectionately used to call ''a hippie'' ''You''re the finest of men, we all agree But why don''t you ever call Muhammad Ali? Two times mayor makes you rate Three times champion make me great!'' During the official ceremony at the Macauley Theatre, Ali sat just behind the city''s first family on stage, causing a bit of a stir when he got up in the middle of proceedings and walked outLater, he explained he had left to go perform Salat, one of the five times per day when every Muslim must kneel and pray towards Mecca * * * On 13 January, a federal grand jury found Harold Smith, founder and CEO of Muhammad Ali Sports Promotions, guilty on 29 out of 31 charges related to embezzling more than $21m from the Beverley Hills branch of the Wells Fargo BankIn 1977, Ali had granted Smith permission to use his name in return for a fee, but was not involved in the day-to-day operations of the company''I''m shocked,'' said Ali''I''m just now hearing itI''m surprised he was found guiltyI still don''t believe itI just don''t think one man can embezzle a bank [out] of so much money and not be caught while committing the crime'' * * * A former Hudson County investigator and Verona police offer named Ron Lipton was on trial in the Superior Court of Newton, New JerseyFollowing an incident in which he hit Alex Klein, 20, with a baseball bat, he faced a litany of chargesHis defence was that he used the bat to disarm Klein, who was wielding a knife in a dispute outside Lipton''s homeThe victim had been one of several men who had, for some time, been terrorising the family and menacing the neighbourhood A one-time amateur middleweight prospect in the 1960s, Lipton spent more than a decade as a sparring partner of Muhammad Ali''sIt was Lipton who first told Ali the story of the injustice done to the incarcerated boxer Rubin ''Hurricane'' Carter and the pair travelled to Rahway State Prison together to visit himTheir relationship remained so strong that Ali flew 3,000 miles to testify to Lipton''s good character in his hour of needThat he would do so seemed such a long shot when first mooted that one prosecutor had a bet with a journalist covering the trial that the celebrity witness would surely never show up Arriving at the Sussex County Courthouse in a chauffeur- driven yellow Cadillac on 21 January, Ali wore a brown pin- striped suit and caused an inevitable stir in the building even before he was brought to testify in front of Judge Frederic G WeberAsked by first assistant-prosecutor Vincent JConnor Jr if he knew what Lipton was charged with, Ali said ''not exactly'', then offered a resounding character reference''I love Ron and we have been through everything together,'' said Ali''I am here today because there is no one I would do this for, not for $100,000, except for RonI will always be there for himI wouldn''t be here all the way from California for nobody if I didn''t believe he was honestI''m here because he''s a good man and I wouldn''t come up here and risk my reputation for somebody that I didn''t know that wellHe''s a good man, a God-fearing manHe did all he could for Rubin even though he was white and Rubin was blackHe put himself on the line, his family, his jobIt''s people like this man that''s going to change the world and make it better for all races'' When Connor questioned him about dates and times of events involving Lipton, Ali responded, ''If I knew I were going to be in court, I would have kept a diary'' Not the last laugh he got from the gallery''People said I was hit on the head too many times,'' said Ali''Who had the nerve to tell you that?'' asked Connor After pausing a moment, Ali answered, ''My mother'' And the whole court guffawed At the conclusion of his evidence, Ali left the witness box and shook hands with every member of the juryAn unorthodox move, the prosecutor told reporters afterwards he didn''t think Ali''s magnanimous gesture/breach of legal etiquette would affect the outcome of the caseIf anything, he said, it was proof the defence had very little else to offer The jury acquitted Lipton of all charges except possession of a weaponAt a second trial, he was acquitted of that too * * * Two weeks later, Muhammad Ali was at the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada for a magic convention and an audience with the celebrated Siegfried and Roy duoWhile a photograph of the double act with Ali and a plethora of white rabbits made newspapers all over the country, he immersed himself in the event At one point, he came across a blind man wearing a fedora and sunglasses, tapping his way down the corridor with a white cane ''Are you a magician?'' asked Ali''I am the amazing Haundini!'' replied Gary HaunHe improvised the name on the spot but, after being rendered blind by an accident while serving in the US Marines, he had taught himself to do magicWith Ali rapt, he did a card trick and followed that up by making a coin disappear ''Wow!'' said Ali, ''You really are amazing!'' Everybody at the convention knew Ali had a voracious appetite for seeing magic up closeBill Gardner, a young up-and-comer from Wichita, Kansas, was one of many invited t.