OF ALL the legendary wins in Muhammad Ali’s life, few are as little known as the one he pulled off exactly 25 years ago this week.

Defying the odds and the American government, Ali travelled to Iraq, where 15 Americans were being held hostage by Saddam Hussein in the run-up to the Gulf War.

As with much in Ali’s life, his mission was misconstrued and criticised. President George H.W. Bush did not approve.

“I basically believe these people are playing into the propaganda game that Iraq is holding here,” said Joseph Wilson, then the top American diplomat in Baghdad. “These people travelling to Iraq are making a serious mistake.”

Even The New York Times criticised Ali, suggesting that he was just another egomaniacal celebrity out of his depth.

“Surely the strangest hostage-release campaign of recent days has been the ‘goodwill’ tour of Muhammad Ali, the former heavyweight boxing champion ... he has attended meeting after meeting in Baghdad despite his frequent inability to speak clearly.”

At that point, Ali was 48 years old and had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for six years.

In August 1990, shortly after Iraq invaded Kuwait, Saddam took thousands of foreigners hostage. After the United Nations passed a resolution demanding that Iraq pull out of Kuwait, Saddam still had 15 American men, using them as human shields by holding them in buildings America was likely to bomb.

Some of the men had worked at the GM plant in Baghdad. All were civilians.

As recounted in the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Ali: The Mission, America’s most famous Muslim went to Iraq. He landed on Nov. 23, 1990, Day 113 of the crisis.

“It was well-announced to the Iraqis that Muhammad Ali, world champion, world-renowned hero, is now in Baghdad,” said Vernon Nored, who was Ali’s liaison from the US Embassy.

Everywhere he went, Ali was swarmed. “The Iraqis would ask him for autographs, want to stand and talk to him ... Ali never, ever turned anybody down.”

The remaining hostages had no idea Ali was there — they only knew war was imminent. As Saddam kept Ali waiting for days, the fighter took to the streets, visiting children in schools and praying in mosques. “We hope and pray there is not a war,” he told the press, which followed him everywhere. “And with the little authority from the fame that I have, I’ll show the real side of Iraq.”

Ali had been in Baghdad for one week, with no word from Saddam, when the unthinkable happened: Ali ran out of his Parkinson’s medication.

“He could barely get out of bed,” Nored told 30 for 30. “He couldn’t stand up. And he couldn’t talk, because his voice wouldn’t go above a whisper.”

Ali fought through it, appearing suited and seated at yet another press conference, where an aide explained that Ali wouldn’t be speaking. Nored, meanwhile, tracked down emergency meds at the Irish Hospital in Baghdad.

The following day, Ali was told Saddam would meet with him. The Bush White House insisted this was all favourable propaganda for the Iraqis, and rumours circulated that Ali and other would-be do-gooders were in it for a Nobel Prize.

“Loose-cannon diplomacy” was the term.

Ali’s meeting with Saddam on Nov. 29, 1990, was open to the media. Ali sat patiently while Saddam praised himself for treating the hostages so well. Once he sensed an opening, Ali promised Saddam that he’d bring America “an honest account” of Iraq.

“I’m not going to let Muhammad Ali return to the US,” Saddam replied, “without having a number of the American citizens accompanying him.”

Ali got all 15. Once released, the men were filmed going into Ali’s modest hotel room, where an exhausted Ali sat on the foot of his bed. One by one, the former hostages thanked him. An emaciated older man named George Charchalis lightly touched Ali’s shoulder and said, “He’s our guy.”

On Dec. 2, 1990, Ali and the hostages flew out of Baghdad, headed for JFK. The men remained overwhelmed.

“You know, I thanked him,” said former hostage Bobby Anderson. “And he said, ‘Go home,’ be with my family ... what a great guy.”

“I was just lucky enough, for some reason, to be on Muhammad Ali’s list,” said Harry Brill-Edwards.

“He’s a marvellous individual,” said Sergio Coletta. “Marvellous man.”

Ali was humbled. “They don’t owe me nothin’,” he said in Baghdad. “They don’t owe me nothin’.”

Just weeks later, on Jan. 6, 1991, the United States began bombing Iraq. Ali himself was still dogged by criticism that his mission was one of self-aggrandizement, that he was just in search of more publicity.

The old Ali roared back.

“I do need publicity, but not for what I do for good! I need publicity for my book, I need publicity for my fights, I need publicity for my movie — but not for helping people,” he said. “Then it’s no longer sincere.”