By Angela Moore

NEW YORK (Reuters] – Next week, a rare collection of drawings and paintings that Muhammad Ali, the American boxer, has put up for auction. Ali loved drawing during fights.

Ali loved the 24-piece collection. Many of them are in cartoon-style and some have been signed. But there are some pictures of Ali in the ring.

“Ref., he did indeed float like an insect and sting like one!” This is the speech bubble that was spoken by a boxer after he was defeated with his arms extended in triumph.

Bonhams auctioneers claimed that Ali created the “Sting Like a Bee”, painting in 1978 while filming the historic miniseries “Freedom Road”, in which he starred. The Oct. 5 auction is anticipated to bring it in the neighborhood of $40,000-$60,000.

Bonhams claimed that Ali loved drawing, though it was not widely known. He liked sketching to unwind after fighting or training.

Because no one knew that he was an art historian or knew of this amazing treasure trove, a lot of people are very excited. Bonhams’ Helen Hall is the director of popular culture.

Rodney Hilton Brown worked alongside Ali to collect the paintings for sale.

After a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease, the former champion world heavyweight champ, announced that he converted to Islam in 1964 during his peak career. He died in 2016, at age 74.

From 1967, “The Starving Children of Mississippi” shows a short-shorted figure saying “I only wanted the fight to feed you poor Black children.”

Hall said, “There is one that refers to the race riots of L.A. in ’65/’67.” One of these paintings is dedicated to Islam. He was just converted. Some of the others have a light tone and are more in line with boxing.

The works “America: The Big Jail” is a 1967 work, while “War in America” has an estimated pre-sale price of $25,000-35,000,000.