Ever meet a champ?

I met Henry Cooper and Frank Bruno at a couple of promotions in department stores. And,on a book signing tour,my all time hero,Muhammad Ali ! THAT was quite a moment. I did my party piece Ali impression in front of him. The champ laughed politely........

 

More than it would be easy to read...

Think I've met every single belt holder in the last 30 years who was in the States for more than 3 years working.

 

Which one was your favourite ?

 

Sugar Ray Leanord
Roberto Duran
John Conteh
Charlie Magri
John H Stracey

 

Been very lucky to meet loads of champs and other great fighters.
Peter Kane
John Conteh
John H Stracey
John Caldwell
Walter McGowan
Ken Buchanan
Alan Minter
Terry Downes
Howard Winstone
Frank Bruno
Tim Witherspoon
Bonecrusher Smith
Vitali Klitscho
Juan Laporte
Barry McGuigan
Lloyd Honeyghan
Ricky Hatton
Carlos Zarate
Alfonso Zamora
Rafael Herrera
Roberto Duran
Sergio Martinez
Javier Castillejo
Zab Judah
Robbie Regan
John Mugabi
Iran Barkley
Jeff Harding
Robbie Peden
Barry Michael
Johnny Famechon
Glenn McCrory
Johnny Nelson
Miguel Angel Gonzalez
Paul Hodkinson
Shea Neary
Glenn Catley
Toshiaki Nishioka
Gabriel Ruelas
Rocky Mattioli
Enzo Maccarinelli
Ricky Burns
Jane Couch
Sharon Anyos
Humberto Chiquita Gonzalez
Charlie Magri
Terry Marsh
Shannon Briggs
Carl Froch

and probably a few others along with loads of other top fighters.

 

Out of the ones I've met, the ones that were/are the most fun to be around are:
Basilio- Was always up to shenanigans and mischief
Holmes- Very welcoming and gets everyone in the conversation or someone random not paying attention involved
Mercer- Funny guy, especially when speaking of Morrison making him fart with body shots
Carlos Ortiz- Just an all around happy and joyful fellow
Ruben Olivares- I knew I liked him when the first time I met him he was drinking crown royal right out of the bottle
Vito Antuoufermo- Very intimidating looking guy, but he's actually very friendly and will chat for ages.
Marlon Starling- Kind of quarky, but an all around great guy.

 

Marciano...
Hagler...
Dempsey...
Liston...
Basilio...
DeMarco...
LaMotta...
Pep...
Foster...
Sharkey...

 

Al,that's mind boggling!

 

Ive only met Tyson, Frazier and witherspoon.

 

Mr. Al Francis,,,,,,,,

Crowned Champion

The Champion of meeting Champion's.

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Not at all. I'm 44. I got an early start I guess you could say. Started going to those WBHOF banquets around 1987, so I was lucky in that I got to meet many great (and good) fighters.

 

Ive had conversations with Willie Pep, Stevie Collins, Vinny Pazienza, Winky Wright and Nate Campbell. Have met loads of other champions as well.

 

I as a young boy shook hands with a young Ray Robinson ,just BEFORE he turned pro,and to cap it off i shook hands with Robinson a year after he retired waiting on line
for our cars at the Concord Hotel in Sullivan County...
And I sat about 3 feet away from Joe Frazier at Grossinger's Hotel whilst he was taping his hands before entering the ring...He and I were alone for about 8 minutes, and I wanted to say to him " Joe , I saw you fight Buster Mathis in the Olympics", but I felt awed by this GRANITE looking man sitting a few feet away from me...Then his trainer Yank Durham entered the gym with some sparring partners...After the sparring I had a 10 minute conversation with the affable Yank Durham...Not long after I saw Frazier whip Ali in the FOTC in MSG.
Another memorable time was at a cocktail party at the Concord Hotel ,when Emile Griffith
entered alone and was surrounded by a few guys and myself...One of the guys asked him
about his upcoming fight next week with Benny Kid Paret...Emile became agitated and in his sing song dialect, shouted "i KEEL Paret, he call me a *** [in spanish]...I KEEL him...
Little did we know Emile's prediction would come true....

 

I met Tony 'The Tiger' Lopez. Very nice down to earth guy. I had followed his career and was pretty excited to meet him. It was unexpected.

I also met Micheal Moorer who was with Teddy Atlas. Didnt really speak much to Moorer as he wasnt very friendly. Teddy was very cool though and I enjoyed talking to him.

 

So much badassness here.