BoxRec

Twenty years ago I met my hero Muhammad Ali. My father introduced Ali into my world when I was much younger and he got me into boxing around the time Hagler fought Leonard.
It was late in the winter of 1993 I received a call from my best mate Gary ; First thing on a Sunday morning, I thought a relative had died ! Anywho..he told me that Ali was at a book signing down The Old Kent Road.
I told my dad who didn't believe me but once I had convinced him we (along with my brother) took the thirty minute drive. The weather was absolutely shocking...foot deep of snow and blowing a blizzard. I remember being so excited and not believing Ali was visiting my home town, a couple of miles from where I was born. When we arrived at the Henry Cooper pub the queue was a mile long...It made me smile and I remember thinking who else would draw a crowd like this on a snowy morning is South London. We queued and queued and queued...the atmosphere was great and even standing in the snow all that had gathered were having fun...2 hours passed and we were still waiting.
Then a small group of cars pulled in and out stepped Howard Bingham and then Muhammad Ali appeared...He smiled to the crowd and waved appreciatively. I remember thinking he looked the kindest, cutest man in an almost teddybear sort of way lol.. .
We carried on waiting for what seemed an eternity until the queue progressed in the building...As we arrived at the main room Henry Cooper came in and was mingling around the crowd...happy to sign autographs, happy to pose for photos and always smiling Our 'Enery was. Henry Akinwande was there and I also remember the famed cornerman Dennie Mancini being there.
When it was our turn to meet Ali my brother and my father literally pushed me forward to meet the Champ.
I was 19 then and hadn't had much experience of things like this and I was almost lost for words....I kept saying 'your the greatest , your the greatest' and other gibberish that spilled from my mouth lol. . Ali looked at the crowd and done his 'crazy' sign and made everyone laugh at me...but to me that was an honour !!
I then said 'assalamualaikum' and he stood up and kissed me on both cheeks. I was so nervous but I raised my fists into a fighting stance and he done the same. . I remember staring deep into his eyes and was just blown away..you have no idea!!! I remember thinking ' all the history those eyes have seen, all the fighters he has faced all the roads he traveled' .I was lost in a dream at that point...it was mesmeric and I was in a daze....kept on thinking of him staring out Liston, Foreman, Shavers and now it was me. It was almost surreal!. I could sense my brother and dad from the corner of my eye smiling and laughing. . Next I heard was ... move along now...I said 'bye champ' and then we had to leave the room. . .

The most magical day of my life....I remember my father so happy and laughing . . my brother taking lots of pics...and now my father is gone now...It's funny the day before I lost my dad he asked me to shave with him, he looked so ill. He then asked me to cook his favourite meal ( which he couldn't eat ) and then he asked me to sit down with him and watch an Ali fight. . the next day he was gone....


...and that is why Ali is special...he moved people....good and bad...and he was one helluva fighter...!!

Sorry for waxing lyrical . .


evrenb

That's awesome, he was a big deal to me as well when I was a kid. The Lyle fight was the first one I recall watching live. As I grew older I'm more of a Frazier fan, but I'll always like Ali.

I could picture it all the way you described it, wonderful post.

Good story and good for you for getting the chance to meet him

loaded_gloves wrote:I could picture it all the way you described it, wonderful post.

(if i anyone even tries trollying this gem of
a thread, i will crush him to a forum-pulp).

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:That's awesome, he was a big deal to me as well when I was a kid. The Lyle fight was the first one I recall watching live. As I grew older I'm more of a Frazier fan, but I'll always like Ali.

Thankyou...Frazier and Foreman are as much in my heart as Ali...

In fact the days after my father passed away I was so distraught and for some reason I e-mailed George Foreman and he replied the most beautiful message. Amazing how things like that can help....

Thanks for all your comments..

evrenb wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:That's awesome, he was a big deal to me as well when I was a kid. The Lyle fight was the first one I recall watching live. As I grew older I'm more of a Frazier fan, but I'll always like Ali.

Thankyou...Frazier and Foreman are as much in my heart as Ali...

In fact the days after my father passed away I was so distraught and for some reason I e-mailed George Foreman and he replied the most beautiful message. Amazing how things like that can help....

Thanks for all your comments..

I wrote a piece after Joe died and his son caught wind of it and contacted me. We still text.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:

evrenb wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:That's awesome, he was a big deal to me as well when I was a kid. The Lyle fight was the first one I recall watching live. As I grew older I'm more of a Frazier fan, but I'll always like Ali.

Thankyou...Frazier and Foreman are as much in my heart as Ali...

In fact the days after my father passed away I was so distraught and for some reason I e-mailed George Foreman and he replied the most beautiful message. Amazing how things like that can help....

Thanks for all your comments..

I wrote a piece after Joe died and his son caught wind of it and contacted me. We still text.

I would be interested in seeing that....Joe was all business ! No b s ness ..

evrenb wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:

evrenb wrote: Thankyou...Frazier and Foreman are as much in my heart as Ali...

In fact the days after my father passed away I was so distraught and for some reason I e-mailed George Foreman and he replied the most beautiful message. Amazing how things like that can help....

Thanks for all your comments..

I wrote a piece after Joe died and his son caught wind of it and contacted me. We still text.

I would be interested in seeing that....Joe was all business ! No b s ness ..

I don't keep my blogs, wish I would have kept that one. I had a ton of emails from people crying. At the end I had Joe bobbing and weaving through the pearly gates straight into a ring entrance with the Brown Bomber in the other corner.

evrenb wrote:Twenty years ago I met my hero Muhammad Ali. My father introduced Ali into my world when I was much younger and he got me into boxing around the time Hagler fought Leonard.
It was late in the winter of 1993 I received a call from my best mate Gary ; First thing on a Sunday morning, I thought a relative had died ! Anywho..he told me that Ali was at a book signing down The Old Kent Road.
I told my dad who didn't believe me but once I had convinced him we (along with my brother) took the thirty minute drive. The weather was absolutely shocking...foot deep of snow and blowing a blizzard. I remember being so excited and not believing Ali was visiting my home town, a couple of miles from where I was born. When we arrived at the Henry Cooper pub the queue was a mile long...It made me smile and I remember thinking who else would draw a crowd like this on a snowy morning is South London. We queued and queued and queued...the atmosphere was great and even standing in the snow all that had gathered were having fun...2 hours passed and we were still waiting.
Then a small group of cars pulled in and out stepped Howard Bingham and then Muhammad Ali appeared...He smiled to the crowd and waved appreciatively. I remember thinking he looked the kindest, cutest man in an almost teddybear sort of way lol.. .
We carried on waiting for what seemed an eternity until the queue progressed in the building...As we arrived at the main room Henry Cooper came in and was mingling around the crowd...happy to sign autographs, happy to pose for photos and always smiling Our 'Enery was. Henry Akinwande was there and I also remember the famed cornerman Dennie Mancini being there.
When it was our turn to meet Ali my brother and my father literally pushed me forward to meet the Champ.
I was 19 then and hadn't had much experience of things like this and I was almost lost for words....I kept saying 'your the greatest , your the greatest' and other gibberish that spilled from my mouth lol. . Ali looked at the crowd and done his 'crazy' sign and made everyone laugh at me...but to me that was an honour !!
I then said 'assalamualaikum' and he stood up and kissed me on both cheeks. I was so nervous but I raised my fists into a fighting stance and he done the same. . I remember staring deep into his eyes and was just blown away..you have no idea!!! I remember thinking ' all the history those eyes have seen, all the fighters he has faced all the roads he traveled' .I was lost in a dream at that point...it was mesmeric and I was in a daze....kept on thinking of him staring out Liston, Foreman, Shavers and now it was me. It was almost surreal!. I could sense my brother and dad from the corner of my eye smiling and laughing. . Next I heard was ... move along now...I said 'bye champ' and then we had to leave the room. . .

The most magical day of my life....I remember my father so happy and laughing . . my brother taking lots of pics...and now my father is gone now...It's funny the day before I lost my dad he asked me to shave with him, he looked so ill. He then asked me to cook his favourite meal ( which he couldn't eat ) and then he asked me to sit down with him and watch an Ali fight. . the next day he was gone....


...and that is why Ali is special...he moved people....good and bad...and he was one helluva fighter...!!

Sorry for waxing lyrical . .


evrenb

A great and touching recollection, its amazing how many peoples lives Ali has touched, people that he's never met even, let alone the ones he has met. There will never be a sportsman like Ali again, he's a one off.

I laughed I cried....lol. Seriously, nice contribution!

When i think about it that day was spent with my two heroes...
Thanks for all your nice comments.

Fantastic post Evren, sounds like a truely special moment

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:

evrenb wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:
I wrote a piece after Joe died and his son caught wind of it and contacted me. We still text.

I would be interested in seeing that....Joe was all business ! No b s ness ..

I don't keep my blogs, wish I would have kept that one. I had a ton of emails from people crying. At the end I had Joe bobbing and weaving through the pearly gates straight into a ring entrance with the Brown Bomber in the other corner.

Suddenly got to think of this thread and after a quick google search, here you go:

http://globalboxing.com/news/8cn-boxing ... oe_frazier

Hi can anybody help I went to the book signing at Henry Cooper's pub met Ali which was amazing my friend camera turned out to be broken so I lost the only photo does anybody know if there is a way of finding images through newspapers or anything else if anybody could help it would be much appreciated thanks

evrenb wrote:Twenty years ago I met my hero Muhammad Ali. My father introduced Ali into my world when I was much younger and he got me into boxing around the time Hagler fought Leonard.
It was late in the winter of 1993 I received a call from my best mate Gary ; First thing on a Sunday morning, I thought a relative had died ! Anywho..he told me that Ali was at a book signing down The Old Kent Road.
I told my dad who didn't believe me but once I had convinced him we (along with my brother) took the thirty minute drive. The weather was absolutely shocking...foot deep of snow and blowing a blizzard. I remember being so excited and not believing Ali was visiting my home town, a couple of miles from where I was born. When we arrived at the Henry Cooper pub the queue was a mile long...It made me smile and I remember thinking who else would draw a crowd like this on a snowy morning is South London. We queued and queued and queued...the atmosphere was great and even standing in the snow all that had gathered were having fun...2 hours passed and we were still waiting.
Then a small group of cars pulled in and out stepped Howard Bingham and then Muhammad Ali appeared...He smiled to the crowd and waved appreciatively. I remember thinking he looked the kindest, cutest man in an almost teddybear sort of way lol.. .
We carried on waiting for what seemed an eternity until the queue progressed in the building...As we arrived at the main room Henry Cooper came in and was mingling around the crowd...happy to sign autographs, happy to pose for photos and always smiling Our 'Enery was. Henry Akinwande was there and I also remember the famed cornerman Dennie Mancini being there.
When it was our turn to meet Ali my brother and my father literally pushed me forward to meet the Champ.
I was 19 then and hadn't had much experience of things like this and I was almost lost for words....I kept saying 'your the greatest , your the greatest' and other gibberish that spilled from my mouth lol. . Ali looked at the crowd and done his 'crazy' sign and made everyone laugh at me...but to me that was an honour !!
I then said 'assalamualaikum' and he stood up and kissed me on both cheeks. I was so nervous but I raised my fists into a fighting stance and he done the same. . I remember staring deep into his eyes and was just blown away..you have no idea!!! I remember thinking ' all the history those eyes have seen, all the fighters he has faced all the roads he traveled' .I was lost in a dream at that point...it was mesmeric and I was in a daze....kept on thinking of him staring out Liston, Foreman, Shavers and now it was me. It was almost surreal!. I could sense my brother and dad from the corner of my eye smiling and laughing. . Next I heard was ... move along now...I said 'bye champ' and then we had to leave the room. . .

The most magical day of my life....I remember my father so happy and laughing . . my brother taking lots of pics...and now my father is gone now...It's funny the day before I lost my dad he asked me to shave with him, he looked so ill. He then asked me to cook his favourite meal ( which he couldn't eat ) and then he asked me to sit down with him and watch an Ali fight. . the next day he was gone....


...and that is why Ali is special...he moved people....good and bad...and he was one helluva fighter...!!

Sorry for waxing lyrical . .


evrenb

Amazing story! It shows what Ali really meant to people. Thanks for sharing

Benhollands wrote:Hi can anybody help I went to the book signing at Henry Cooper's pub met Ali which was amazing my friend camera turned out to be broken so I lost the only photo does anybody know if there is a way of finding images through newspapers or anything else if anybody could help it would be much appreciated thanks

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:That's awesome, he was a big deal to me as well when I was a kid. The Lyle fight was the first one I recall watching live. As I grew older I'm more of a Frazier fan, but I'll always like Ali.

Good point. I had great respect for Ali as a fighter and as a man, but sometimes I did root for his opponent if only because they were an underdog.

Boxing Writer wrote:

evrenb wrote:Twenty years ago I met my hero Muhammad Ali. My father introduced Ali into my world when I was much younger and he got me into boxing around the time Hagler fought Leonard.
It was late in the winter of 1993 I received a call from my best mate Gary ; First thing on a Sunday morning, I thought a relative had died ! Anywho..he told me that Ali was at a book signing down The Old Kent Road.
I told my dad who didn't believe me but once I had convinced him we (along with my brother) took the thirty minute drive. The weather was absolutely shocking...foot deep of snow and blowing a blizzard. I remember being so excited and not believing Ali was visiting my home town, a couple of miles from where I was born. When we arrived at the Henry Cooper pub the queue was a mile long...It made me smile and I remember thinking who else would draw a crowd like this on a snowy morning is South London. We queued and queued and queued...the atmosphere was great and even standing in the snow all that had gathered were having fun...2 hours passed and we were still waiting.
Then a small group of cars pulled in and out stepped Howard Bingham and then Muhammad Ali appeared...He smiled to the crowd and waved appreciatively. I remember thinking he looked the kindest, cutest man in an almost teddybear sort of way lol.. .
We carried on waiting for what seemed an eternity until the queue progressed in the building...As we arrived at the main room Henry Cooper came in and was mingling around the crowd...happy to sign autographs, happy to pose for photos and always smiling Our 'Enery was. Henry Akinwande was there and I also remember the famed cornerman Dennie Mancini being there.
When it was our turn to meet Ali my brother and my father literally pushed me forward to meet the Champ.
I was 19 then and hadn't had much experience of things like this and I was almost lost for words....I kept saying 'your the greatest , your the greatest' and other gibberish that spilled from my mouth lol. . Ali looked at the crowd and done his 'crazy' sign and made everyone laugh at me...but to me that was an honour !!
I then said 'assalamualaikum' and he stood up and kissed me on both cheeks. I was so nervous but I raised my fists into a fighting stance and he done the same. . I remember staring deep into his eyes and was just blown away..you have no idea!!! I remember thinking ' all the history those eyes have seen, all the fighters he has faced all the roads he traveled' .I was lost in a dream at that point...it was mesmeric and I was in a daze....kept on thinking of him staring out Liston, Foreman, Shavers and now it was me. It was almost surreal!. I could sense my brother and dad from the corner of my eye smiling and laughing. . Next I heard was ... move along now...I said 'bye champ' and then we had to leave the room. . .

The most magical day of my life....I remember my father so happy and laughing . . my brother taking lots of pics...and now my father is gone now...It's funny the day before I lost my dad he asked me to shave with him, he looked so ill. He then asked me to cook his favourite meal ( which he couldn't eat ) and then he asked me to sit down with him and watch an Ali fight. . the next day he was gone....


...and that is why Ali is special...he moved people....good and bad...and he was one helluva fighter...!!

Sorry for waxing lyrical . .


evrenb

Amazing story! It shows what Ali really meant to people. Thanks for sharing

Both my heroes are gone now...

evrenb wrote:Twenty years ago I met my hero Muhammad Ali. My father introduced Ali into my world when I was much younger and he got me into boxing around the time Hagler fought Leonard.
It was late in the winter of 1993 I received a call from my best mate Gary ; First thing on a Sunday morning, I thought a relative had died ! Anywho..he told me that Ali was at a book signing down The Old Kent Road.
I told my dad who didn't believe me but once I had convinced him we (along with my brother) took the thirty minute drive. The weather was absolutely shocking...foot deep of snow and blowing a blizzard. I remember being so excited and not believing Ali was visiting my home town, a couple of miles from where I was born. When we arrived at the Henry Cooper pub the queue was a mile long...It made me smile and I remember thinking who else would draw a crowd like this on a snowy morning is South London. We queued and queued and queued...the atmosphere was great and even standing in the snow all that had gathered were having fun...2 hours passed and we were still waiting.
Then a small group of cars pulled in and out stepped Howard Bingham and then Muhammad Ali appeared...He smiled to the crowd and waved appreciatively. I remember thinking he looked the kindest, cutest man in an almost teddybear sort of way lol.. .
We carried on waiting for what seemed an eternity until the queue progressed in the building...As we arrived at the main room Henry Cooper came in and was mingling around the crowd...happy to sign autographs, happy to pose for photos and always smiling Our 'Enery was. Henry Akinwande was there and I also remember the famed cornerman Dennie Mancini being there.
When it was our turn to meet Ali my brother and my father literally pushed me forward to meet the Champ.
I was 19 then and hadn't had much experience of things like this and I was almost lost for words....I kept saying 'your the greatest , your the greatest' and other gibberish that spilled from my mouth lol. . Ali looked at the crowd and done his 'crazy' sign and made everyone laugh at me...but to me that was an honour !!
I then said 'assalamualaikum' and he stood up and kissed me on both cheeks. I was so nervous but I raised my fists into a fighting stance and he done the same. . I remember staring deep into his eyes and was just blown away..you have no idea!!! I remember thinking ' all the history those eyes have seen, all the fighters he has faced all the roads he traveled' .I was lost in a dream at that point...it was mesmeric and I was in a daze....kept on thinking of him staring out Liston, Foreman, Shavers and now it was me. It was almost surreal!. I could sense my brother and dad from the corner of my eye smiling and laughing. . Next I heard was ... move along now...I said 'bye champ' and then we had to leave the room. . .

The most magical day of my life....I remember my father so happy and laughing . . my brother taking lots of pics...and now my father is gone now...It's funny the day before I lost my dad he asked me to shave with him, he looked so ill. He then asked me to cook his favourite meal ( which he couldn't eat ) and then he asked me to sit down with him and watch an Ali fight. . the next day he was gone....


...and that is why Ali is special...he moved people....good and bad...and he was one helluva fighter...!!

Sorry for waxing lyrical . .


evrenb