RIP Sir.. thanks for all of it. Muhammad Ali 1942-2016

[powsmias]

Remember being at Ali's camp in pa. with a polaroid camera standing so close while he was hitting the heavy bag was afraid to take the shot cause of the flash. Several times he walked towards me and i had nowhere to back up.. his presence was overwhelming.. i was in awe watching the man put creases in the heavy bag with left hooks..He did an autograph session after his workout and turned away no one, seen my son Scott with his superman shirt on and said "come here superman" and i said hang on i need to get a camera for this one. Seen him again in Baltimore at Sugar Ray Leonards retirement party and he grabbed scott and gave him a hug, Scott and I were the only white people there and when Scott said out loud "daddy, how come everyone's black" they all cracked up.

[Cheechako]

Great story. RIP to the MAN.

[redhead]

Granted I haven't heard dozens and dozens of Ali stories, BUT every one I have heard has been positive, just like yours. He was a symbol of that era. Growing up, if we weren't watching news about the war, we were hearing the latest story about what Ali said last night...

[Dockhead]

That's one person I would have really enjoyed meeting. An icon of our generation. A beautiful specimen of humanity; a big portion of hype, another portion of real genius. RIP.

[Slowtack]

Just watched some old Ali interviews with Parkinson on BBC. Brilliant. We will not see his like again.

[rubbywilliams]

The World will never witness one more like him. A Great Legend in Legends.

[Rustic Charm]

lots of life stories and illustrations there.

not sure if he sailed though?

[powsmias]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

lots of life stories and illustrations there.

not sure if he sailed though?

He floated very well, so maybe

[Celestialsailor]

Met him while I was at the Ali Center in Louisville in 2009. He was a shadow of his former self. Over the PA, they announced that Ali was in a conference room to meet people. So I stood in line and shook his huge hand. It felt odd for me because it seemed he did not really know what was going on and his "handlers" were constantly prodding him to get his attention for the cameras. After that was over, I was sitting in the theater type seats at the center watching one of the many big screen TV's of his fights. He was brought over to where I was sitting and they sat him down beside me. I couldn't believe it. I'm 5'7", so you can imagine the enormity of him beside me. So there I was...watching one of his fights with Muhammad Ali, greatest heavyweight of all time.

[powsmias]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Met him while I was at the Ali Center in Louisville in 2009. He was a shadow of his former self. Over the PA, they announced that Ali was in a conference room to meet people. So I stood in line and shook his huge hand. It felt odd for me because it seemed he did not really know what was going on and his "handlers" were constantly prodding him to get his attention for the cameras. After that was over, I was sitting in the theater type seats at the center watching one of the many big screen TV's of his fights. He was brought over to where I was sitting and they sat him down beside me. I couldn't believe it. I'm 5'7", so you can imagine the enormity of him beside me. So there I was...watching one of his fights with Muhammad Ali, greatest heavyweight of all time.

That is a classic story mister... thanks for sharing

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Met him while I was at the Ali Center in Louisville in 2009. He was a shadow of his former self. Over the PA, they announced that Ali was in a conference room to meet people. So I stood in line and shook his huge hand. It felt odd for me because it seemed he did not really know what was going on and his "handlers" were constantly prodding him to get his attention for the cameras. After that was over, I was sitting in the theater type seats at the center watching one of the many big screen TV's of his fights. He was brought over to where I was sitting and they sat him down beside me. I couldn't believe it. I'm 5'7", so you can imagine the enormity of him beside me. So there I was...watching one of his fights with Muhammad Ali, greatest heavyweight of all time.

Wow what a story

I sat next to one of the Wriggles on a plane once

Well close enough, wasn't really next to, in the same row