This is Muhammad Ali speaking to you
Neither event prepared us for the explosive impact the man would have on sport and politics in the years that followed, particularly after he changed his names to Muhammad Ali.
Ali briefly came into my life in the 1970s as a result of an unemployed labourer and former bare-knuckle boxer from Abingdon by the name of Paddy Monaghan, who wanted George Best who I knew and worked with to say a few words in praise of The Greatest for his fan club magazine.
Ali had come into Paddys life after being shown a petition signed by thousands of British people sent by Paddy to the boxing authorities in the United States in protest at the ban imposed on Ali because of his refusal to fight for his country in the Vietnam war.
So impressed was Ali that he sent Paddy airline tickets so that he could join him on a lecture tour of America. During the lectures Ali would call Paddy on stage, introducing him to the audience as My greatest fan. When Ali returned to boxing, Paddy had a place in his corner for one of his title fights. Some of Paddys neighbours in Abingdon were sceptical about his association with Ali until the day The Greatest arrived on his doorstep.
Paddy stayed at my home before meeting George Best and gave me Alis New Jersey telephone number. He then called him and introduced me to him. If Ali was not at home he invariably left a number where he could be contacted. As a result I w! as able to speak with The Greatest before and after several of his fights. I hesitate to use the word interview because as soon as I introduced a topic Ali would do all the talking.
For example, the day after Joe Frazier lost the world heavyweight title to George Foreman in Jamaica I asked Ali for his thoughts.
Joe Frazier is a fool, he growled down the telephone. If he was going to get beat he should have let me beat him that way we would both have made a lot of money. I know Ill beat George Foreman because he fights like a wash-er-wom-an.
Ali paused and said: Say, whats that newspaper of yours?
The Daily Express, I said.
Well, youre sure getting a good interview.
George Foreman visited London a short time later and I had the opportunity to exchange a few words with him. When I told him what Ali had said, he responded: Im too busy thinking about my own career to worry about somebody elses.
Their careers famously collided on 30 October 1974, when Ali regained the title by knocking out Foreman in the eighth round of the Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire.
At one point in 1972 there had seemed to be a possibility of Paddy Monaghan working for Ali in Britain through George Bests agent, Ken Stanley. To that end I accompanied Paddy and one of Ken Stanleys representatives to meet Ali in Dublin, where he was due to fight an American compatriot, Al Blue Lewis.
Two memories stick in my mind about that meeting. The first is of Alis footwear. He had just returned from a training run and was wearing what looked like diving boots. The second memory is of a rhyme ad-libbed by Ali after I asked him to say a few words into Paddys cassette recorder for my two-year-old son, Christopher. Ali riffed:
Christopher whos only two
This is Muhammad Ali speaking to you
Dont be no fool
Obey the rule
And go to school
Or Ill be after you
When Ive beaten Blue
Later, when I attempted to replay the message, I realised I had failed to press the correct button and the! re was n o recording. What a disappointment.
Years later I made the mistake of telling the story to Christopher, who has still not forgiven me.
For more from John Roberts, click here.
Picture: Getty Images
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