But the quiet inside the large facility on race night speaks loudly.
The punishment Ali took on the way to victory in Zaire that night spoke of an inner strength that has since served him far beyond the ring.
They say: She sings: Night speaks: I think it must be something in this line - though I cannot now see what.
Listening to the wind when you have gone is like having an African Grey to keep me ghostly company, who at night speaks from under a shroud in the kitchen corner in your voice.
He remembers a night speaking at a rally in a cornfield in Iowa, and after the event an old white man came up to him and said: "Reverend, you have a good message, but we are just not there yet.
Old memories tend to crop up more often – for example, you might dream about someone you saw on TV that night speaking in an office conference room you used three years ago.
I mean, he is going to look so small, standing at this rally on such a big night, speaking from a prompter, with all of the excitement completely out of his sails because he has been spooked by this.
He'd been camping at the site for five nights, speaking often with reporters and serving as an amateur medic.
