ali, frazier and foreman On the wogan show 1989- Boxing Gold

[evrenb]

When I first got into boxing through my father, the tales of Muhammad, Joe and George were knee deep. In the late 80's in the midst of Tyson's Tyrannical reign as heavyweight champion I became aware of the former greats and heard stories of their legendary bouts. I was captivated and as a 14 year old was mesmerised by the legend that was Ali. In these days we did not have a VCR, there was no internet, so my boxing knowledge and entertainment were magazines, live television and of course Dad who was a notorious spinner of Ali yarns.
It was an exciting time for the Heavyweights in retrospect ; Tyson ruled but you had Bruno fighting for Britain, the old class was there with Witherspoon, Thomas, Page, Snipes, Tubbs, Weaver, Berbick. Foreman was a year into his comeback (which I was obsessed with) and the 'young guns' were on their way ; Lewis, Bowe, Morrison and to cap it off Holyfield had just jumped up from cruiserweight. What a time for Heavyweight boxing!
But compared to the stories I heard this era was 'pale' in comparison to the 1960's and 1970's. Big George represented the era I was so intrigued about and I began to follow his comeback through the newspapers and the 'Boxing News'. Every article seemed to be somehow more exciting then ; no internet and no instant TV I guess. You saw boxing when it was on and you read about it when it appeared in the papers. Glory days.
Late in 1987 (christmas I think) Dad finally got the video recorder I yearned for. I treasured that machine (and still have it). It was the greatest thing since sliced bread to me.
A week or so later I was in London, walking along Willesden High Street with a cousin of mine and we popped into a shop and low and behold they had videotapes including 'Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fights'. How this tape did not wear out I will never know as I must have watched it a thousand times, at least. I began recording all the boxing that was on TV and became obsessed with the collecting and preservation of the tapes.
Due to limited copying ability and lack of collectors I had still seen very little on the Ali - Frazier era. In 1989 a video was released called 'Champions Forever' and it was at this time that Ali , Frazier and Foreman went on a press tour of the UK. One of their stops was on the Wogan show ; a popular TV chat show at the time. Old Terry was not hosting that night and it was left to the lovely Joanna Lumley to present. The interview holds so many very special memories for me. The legends all there together, verbally sparring and flirting a little with Ms Lumley. The anectodes were all there and the camaraderie between the ex-champs was beautiful to watch. They were buddies up on that screen, legends in the true sense of the word. Frazier so genuine and classy, Ali comedic and George was the straight man (with a few of his own lines). The fantastic Harry Carpenter (British Institute) came on to the show after and helped mS Lumley along with the interview. Pure gold. I remember laughing away with Dad...especially to Ali. I watched this for the first time in so long last night (in it's entirety) and all the memories came flooding back like a Tsunami! Makes me almost sad to watch... We lost Harry now, we lost Smokin' joe...Ali still had a little bit of a voice then though very quiet...
Please watch this absolute gem of an interview and I hope it is as special for you as it is for me...

Evrenb

[BoxBuzz]

Thanks for this! Where can it be found? Or can it?

[evrenb]

Sorry i couldnt set up a link from my phone. Simply type Ali, Frazier and Foreman on wogan show..into youtube.