I feel sick.

A few days ago, Muhammad Ali sold 80% of the rights to his likeness, name and image for $50 million in cash to CKX Inc. Basically, this means that the company, which also owns the rights to Elvis Presley, has the exclusive right to market anything brandishing Ali’s name or likeness.

Surely, this is a savvy business move. After all, despite being the most recognized worldwide name in sports history, the champ’s likeness has only brought in 7 million dollars per year in the past five years. Through aggressive marketing, CKX expects to quintuple that figure and spread Ali’s image throughout the global market place.

But this isn’t about business. This is about the greatest athlete in human history selling the very thing that made him special in the first place. Despite his fabulous talents, Ali’s status as a world-historical figure (as Grant Farred argues in his book, What’s My Name?) is linked to his struggles against the American empire. The name “Muhammad Ali” signifies more than pugilistic prowess. Rather, it reflects African people’s struggle to (re)name themselves in spaces and places thoroughly inimical to their culture, history, identities, and bodies.

Now that the tenticals of capitalism have stretched to the legacy of the “Greatest”, look out for the inevitable proliferation of billboards, commercials, and magazine ads that will transfigure our post-colonial freedom fighter into a post-modern pitchman.