Dad, Me and Muhammad Ali - Part One

 With the mega match between Flloyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao  just hours away, it seemed like a good time to tell this story.

...and there I was, a 12 year old girl with her beloved daddy in a sea of tuxedoed men and women in flashy gowns.

 Dad, me, and a night with Muhammad Ali.

 One  evening in April 1972, my dad came home from the office excited about having scored 2 tickets to an upcoming boxing match between  Muhammad Ali and Canada's own  champ George Chuvalo. He assumed my mom would be thrilled to go. She wasn't. I heard their conversation from my downstairs bedroom and flew up the stairs, shouting "I'll go! I'll go with you Dad"!

 That's how late on a warm spring afternoon the two of us ended up heading into Vancouver from Chilliwack to witness  a spectacle beyond belief.

 It was magical......

 I'd spent  my whole childhood watching boxing on TV with my dad, a huge fan of the sport. I'd heard stories of my dad, long before I was born and before my parents had their own TV, going to a neighbour's home every week to watch the Friday Night fights. 

 On the drive into the city we traded Ali-isms doing our best impressions of the larger than life champion.

 "I am  the Greatest! "  "I'm sooo pretty"

 Here's what I'm talking about:



  Ali came in with the biggest, glitziest entourage. A boxing rock star.
We had a blast that night, and relived it many times over the years.



Here's the fight : Muhammad Ali vs. George Chuvalo.

 They always said that if a match had lasted 50 rounds, Chuvalo would have been the heavyweight champion- he just couldn't be knocked down.

 Nowadays, the ravages of Parkinson's disease have taken its toll on Ali, but in this clip below, you can still see that mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
 I'll  post part 2 of this on May 5th,  the day my dad slipped away, 9 years ago  at the age of 85.  I kissed him goodbye on my birthday the day before.

So much more to tell you about my dad, my hero. The real champ.
Muhammad Ali was fond of saying " I am the Greatest ", but Dad, to me, you 're the one who will always be the greatest.



* Yesterday, while talking with my 91 year old mother about this event decades ago, I learned for the first time that she was not, I mean not happy with my dad for taking me. She  hadn't wanted to attend because she felt boxing was glorified violence. She was  royally pissed at Dad for allowing me to go. But he and I prevailed. So glad  that we won that match!