MIAMI BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 25: Cassius Clay (right) and Sonny Liston square off during their bout at the Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, February 25, 1964. Cassius Clay won the World Heavyweight Title by RTD in round 6 of 15. (Photo by Stanley Weston/Getty Images)
Getty Images
The Greatest, the first scripted series about Muhammad Ali authorized by the boxing icon’s estate, is taking a different approach to telling Ali’s story.
Production on The Greatest began earlier this year, and the series will begin streaming on Prime Video “in the fourth quarter” of 2026, Ben Watkins, the series’ showrunner and executive producer, told Deadline on Sunday. Watkins also told the publication that viewers should expect stories about the boxing great that have never been told before.
“It’s a show that’s designed to show you all the stuff that wasn’t in documentaries and isn’t available in terms of watching old fights and old interviews,” Watkins told Deadline.
The Greatest is also executive produced by Muhammad Ali’s widow, Lonnie Ali, and Sinners Best Actor Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan. Season 1 of the series will consists of eight episodes.
Muhammad Ali’s nickname, of course, was “The Greatest,” a moniker he earned after the former 1960 Olympics gold medal-winning boxer — then known as Cassius Clay — turned pro and became a heavyweight champion and ultimately the greatest boxer of all time.
At Amazon’s Upfront event in New York City in May, Lonnie Ali and Jordan introduced Jaalen Best, who will play Clay/Muhammad Ali in the boxer’s formative years.
“We knew from the start that whoever plays Ali has got to be Ali,” Lonnie Ali, standing alongside Jordan, said as she introduced Best to the crowd (via The Trade Media). “He has to have the courage and the conviction, the heart. He’s got to have the looks. All of it. Muhammad was pretty.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 11: (L-R) Jaalen Best, Lonnie Ali, and Michael B. Jordan attend the Amazon Upfront at Beacon Theatre on May 11, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Amazon)
Getty Images for Amazon
Season 1 Of ‘The Greatest’ Runs From 1960 To 1964
Ben Watkins told Deadline that the first season of The Greatest chronicles the early years in Muhammad Ali’s career.
“We filmed Season 1, which starts in 1960 when he wins the gold medal and ends in 1964 when he wins the heavyweight title for the first time,” Watkins told Deadline. “In between, there is a coming-of-age story, and a very intimate coming-of-age story, that really shows a different side of Ali, who was then Cassius Clay.”
Michael B. Jordan — who, of course, starred as Apollo Creed’s son, Adonis Creed, in the Creed boxing movie series in collaboration with his Sinners director Ryan Coogler — noted at Amazon’s Upfront how The Greatest marks a big first for the boxer’s estate.
“Muhammad Ali is a man who transcended sport. No athlete, no celebrity, no public figure had an impact quite like Ali,” Jordan said. “Until now, no project has ever been authorized by the Ali estate.”
Muhammad Ali died on June 3, 2016, at age 74 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Muhammad Ali (R) strikes a boxing pose with wife Lonnie (L) at the Muhammad Ali Center 18 November, 2005 in Louisville, KY before the grand opening of the new center. Directors declare the USD 75 million center more than a museum, although many exhibits will pay homage to the life and career of the famed fighter, whose refusal to be drafted into fighting in the Vietnam War cost him his title. Designed to be a global gathering place for sharing the legacy and values of the heavyweight boxing legend, the Muhammad Ali Center opens with ceremonies 20 November 2005. AFP PHOTO/JEFF HAYNES (Photo credit should read JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Lonnie Ali Says Jaalen Best Is The Best For The Role Of Muhammad Ali
Jaalen Best is a relative newcomer to acting. He played a bit role in FX Network’s American Horror Stories in 2022, played a recurring role in three episodes of the CW sports drama All American: Homecoming in 2023, and appeared in a small guest role in CBS’ action series Magnum: PI the same year.
Despite Best’s limited screen exposure, he somehow found his way into Lonnie Ali and Michael B. Jordan’s orbit while conducting a nationwide search to fill the boxer’s shoes.
“We looked high and low,” Lonnie Ali said during Amazon’s Upfront presentation. “And I’m telling you, his mother would be so proud of this young man.”
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 20: Jaalen Best attends the 39th annual American Cinematheque Awards Honoring Michael B. Jordan at The Beverly Hilton on November 20, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for American Cinematheque)
Getty Images for American Cinematheque
After embracing Ali and Jordan after his introduction, Best said, “I just want to say it’s a complete honor to be standing here and to be introduced by Michael B. Jordan — someone I look up to, not just as an actor, but a person as well. And to have the honor to stand next to the great Lonnie Ali … I would just like to say, too, you know, without her blessing for this role, without her trust in me, I would not be standing up here on the stage.”
As for playing Muhammad Ali, Best noted at Amazon’s Upfront that it is “one of the most humbling, terrifying, exhilarating, inspiring all at once, all together situations for me. I put my all into this role. I gave it everything that I had and I’m proud of the person I became after it. And because of this moment, it’s changed me forever, and I hope that I’ve done everything I needed to do to uphold the legacy of one of the greatest — the greatest — of all time, Muhammad Ali.”
Muhammad Ali, of course, was previously played by Will Smith in 2001’s Ali, which earned the performer his first Best Actor Oscar nomination. More recently, Ali was portrayed as a supporting character by Dexter Darden in the Peacock limited series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist in 2024.