I'm pleased to say that I met the great man once. Not in his prime,but when he was fifty. It was in Croydon,South London when he was on a book signing tour. I'll never forget it.
Met Joe a couple of months before he died he and my brother were singing beatles songs LOL and then he was kidding my wife ( she was heavly pregnant) on saying havent we met before? lol. And met Tyson he was very friendly but the set of fans that he attracts was pretty scary. Me and my brother sat there and i said 'Baddest man on the planet' he aint even the baddest man in the room.
I met Ali back in 1977 for the first time. One of my classmates from a NW NJ high school was making his pro debut at the Playboy club/hotel in Great Gorge NJ. Ali came in and walked right by where I was standing at ringside. After he was introduced I waled over to where he was standing and asked for his autograph. He could not have been nicer smiling and raising a ruckus. The second time I met Ali was a Newark airport maybe 12 years ago. I walked into the Northwest counter area and saw so many travel bags piled here and there. Someone said those were Alis bags and that he was on his way to the NM lounge. So I ran down the hallway catching Ali and his wife along with several others getting out of a motorized cart. Was able to shake his hand and tell him about meeting him so many years prior. He smiled and waved and was hustled into the lounge.
My old man meet the younger version of Ali and he always says "He had the two most beautiful black women I have ever seen"
i met this guy that did a great impersonation of Ali,,, plus i met the nephew of the friend of Larry Holmes wife
No, but I would like to, though. I highly doubt it will happen. At the very, very, very best I'll get to see him in person but that's a stretch too. I've met some of Ali's oponents, though. Larry Holmes Ron Lyle Leon Spinks Ken Norton George Chuvalo Earnie Shavers Ernie Terrell And his trainer, Angelo Dundee.
It couldn't be as good as Jerry Quarry's Ali impression. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYWRuLJBQf8&feature=player_detailpage[/ame] The sound may be out of sync but Jerry's Ali is bloody spot on.
I met him on the same tour when he came to Nottingham - it was April fools day an I thought my school mates were winding me up about him being in Nottingham when I confirmed it I rang my dad and he told me to skip school at dinner and head straight to Nottingham and my dad met me there - had a little play fight with Ali he was great - he was my dads hero and my dad actually wept when he hugged him - I lost my dad to a Parkinson's related illness a couple of years back - always wondered whether dad knew at that time that he had it and didn't tell us? One of my favourite boxing memories and one of my favourite dad memories too - he didn't give a damn he just said forget school for today just hop on a bus to notts and I'll see you there!! Haha my dad NEVER let me bunk off school EVER thanks dad
What a great day you and your father had there. Ali has that effect on people. I have been in his company in large crowds and i tell you the reaction is extraordinary. One particular memory springs to mind from when Bruno was fighting Witherspoon and the training camp was at the Basildon festival hall in the UK. Ali was not in the best of health that day and was sitting at a table signing autographs on pretyped paper. When the public training session was over we all went outside where there was approx 3,000 people along with the TV crews. Witherspoon came out first and everyone flocked round.....then Ali appeared. It's times like this when you have to be there to appreciate just how popular the man is. I remember a woman in the crowd with a small child and Ali made his way over and picked the little girl up and kissed her and the mother burst into tears. Hand on heart, you could have had the Queen of England there and she wouldn't have got a look in. The man has his faults as we all do but is there honestly a more beloved Human being on the planet ?