09/23/2022
In November 1981, I had the incredibly good fortune to spend about a half an hour (almost alone) with Ali in the lobby of his hotel. It was a quiet time, early evening, and he came down from the top floor(s) that he occupied with his entourage to relax for a bit. It was around Thanksgiving and he was training for what ended up being his final fight against Trevor Berbick that December. His wit, sense of humor, and his charm (and of course he recited his poetry!) we’re matched only by his graciousness.
I recently came across the personalized autograph that he signed for me. He was larger than life.
What a man, what a fighter; he was and always will be the greatest!
"I'm better now than I was when you saw that 22-years old undeveloped kid running from Sonny Liston. I'm experienced now, professional. Jaws been broke, been knocked down a couple of times, I'm bad! Been chopping trees. I done something new for this fight. I done wrestled with an alligator. That's right. I have wrestled with an alligator. I done tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail. That's bad! Only last week I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalised a brick! I'm so mean I make medicine sick!" - Muhammad Ali 👑🐐🥊
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