Is it true that Ray Robinson refused to give Ali an autograph?

I read about that in "Ali" by Jonathan Eig, so it very well could be true.

 

If it’s true props to Ali for not holding a grudge

 

It's in Thomas Hauser's book too, as a verbatim quote from Ali, so I guess it's true.

 

Did Ali have a run in with Robinson?

 

My friend many years ago met Evander Holyfield. He was in some city to meet with Boza Edwards, who was a boxing promoter for Top Rank. But before that about 15 minutes before, he saw Evander and Evander didn't want to sign any autographs even for his kid. Then my friend met up with Boza to talk about his fighter fighting and sitting at the table with Boza at the restaurants was Evander. Evander than acted nice to my friend yet obviously knowing he was justrude, but my friend told me he wouldn't even shake hands with him after that. My friend has a bit of an attitude, I would have forgotten about the earlier incident, but he wanted Evander to know he didn't care about him after how he acted earlier.

 

Ray is supposed tp have said "**** off kid I aint got time"

 

"Be nice to people on the way up because you'll meet them on the way down." - Wilson Mizner

 

that is pretty rude. I have a buddy from New York who seems to be dazzled by celebrities as though they are more than people. To me that is BS. Most people have worked hard in their life to get where they are one way or another and have lived long lives with hard things happening, just that those people did boxing or whatever for a career to be famous. I love boxing and I respect the punches they take and everything else, but they should be nice to me if I am taking time to respect what they did. I don't care. If they are not nice to me, I won't be polite back to an extent. I won't try to be rude, I just won't care and that would include Thomas Hearns if he were rude to me..

 

To be fair, I can imagine Cassius Clay being a particularly annoying kid.

 

Im going by memory of a conversation i had about 20yrs back with a friends father so the exact details im not too sure about but its basically this. My friends father was over in the USA on holiday with his wife roundabout the late 70s early 80s, and they were in a restaurant having dinner when around a dozen or so guys weighed in and got seated for their meal. After a while he got talking to one of the guys and mentioned he was on holiday and asked where they here for work or holiday, something like that. He said they were here for a fight at the weekend and long story short, it turned out it was tommy hearns and some friends, sparring partners etc... My friends dad said he was a boxing fan and wished them well for the fight (he told me he didnt even recognise hearns, they had baseball caps and that on them). As the group went to leave, one of the guys came over to my friends father and gave him 2 tickets for the fight and told him to enjoy himself. I cant for the life of me remember who hearns was fighting nor if it was in vegas or florida. I'll have to ask my friend to ask his father again, but he told me this story himself, the father, and said what a nice bunch of fellas they were. Couldnt have been nicer

 

Great story. I read a story where Hearns went to a convention where people had to pay to get his autograph, but he was in the bathroom signing autographs for people who could not afford it. At that same convention Evander refused to sign anything for anyone who was not part of the convention. One guy I saw a few times is Hagler. Great down to earth guy. Such a real person.