I Am Ali Page #6

that had fired the arrows

that were out to get him.

I was stunned how bright

it was, how smart.

How almost poignant.

When the cover came out, it absolutely

blew the minds of millions of people.

I mean, I've had hundreds

of people come up to me

and talk to me about what

that cover did to them.

If you didn't wanna fight in the war, you

were a coward or you were a traitor.

And... or you were a nerd

or you were fearful, etc.

And along... and along comes

the most manly person,

forget about fighter,

that ever lived

and he became an incredible symbol

specifically to young people, you know.

So I'm proud of it for,

not only for helping Muhammad,

but helping to

fight against the war.

Finally he got the license back.

He said, "Well, maybe we should

get our own training camp. "

So that's what we did. I mean,

here's a guy as big as he was.

He didn't have to pay someone

to have to rent their gym.

He had his own place and he designed all

of it. He called it Fighter's Heaven.

These are the little ponies

we bought just for children.

In summertime

when the children come up,

we saddle up ponies and let

'em ride around on 'em.

- Heckle and Jekyll.

- Heckle and Jekyll?!

Yeah. Heckle and Jekyll,

Mutt and Jeff.

Heckle and Jekyll,

and Mutt and Jeff.

My wife. My wife names

all these horses.

These cabins and things you see, we

built all this from the ground up.

And I always, as a kid, wanted

to train in a real training camp

with the logs and the rocks

and the trees and the woods.

We had hotel bills, so I built my own

cabins for the fighters to stay in.

Then we had eating bills, so I

built my own kitchen around heres.

His mom and dad would come up

and cook, and his Aunt Coretta.

That was his domain. He loved it.

He loved every part of it.

His brother Rahaman was there. It

was something that he created.

- This is my brother here, Rahaman Ali.

- Hi.

He just... he just got up.

He likes to sleep and eat.

He just got up.

He's come to get a comb.

He works hard, so it's why

he's gotta sleep and eat.

He works so hard.

I put 'em all to work.

The comb should be

in the restroom there.

Always open to the public. All

the people would come by there,

and it was really like the

boxing shrine of the world.

He enjoyed it and there was a lot of

great champions came up there to train.

A lot of celebrities came by

to visit there.

I went up to his training camp

and I got in the ring with him.

You know, just for...

Just for fun.

So, um, I said, you know,

"Take it easy, you know,

because how are we gonna get around,

you know, how are we gonna do this?"

"Don't worry about it. " He said, "Just

don't worry about it. Just get in. "

So then he

started to, you know...

And then tried to wind me up

a little bit, you know,

and he said, "Trigger. You called me

Trigger, right? It was Trigger, right?"

I said, "I didn't call you

anything. " "Yes, you did," you know.

So we just...

So then we started.

So he said, you know,

"Throw something at me. "

So I threw a, um, a left jab

and a right cross.

You know, not hard, because I

didn't want him to hit me.

So it was like, you know, bang,

bang and they both connected

and he threw out a left, you

know, just automatically

that, you know, just caught me.

The end of it just caught me.

And I thought,

"Oh, you know, my teeth,"

because I wasn't wearing

any, um, mouthpieces.

You know, it was just a

friendly little thing there.

But just to stand in the ring with

this man and just, you know...

He would telegraph everything

he was throwing at me.

You know, it was only,

thank God, a bit of fun.

And just to block his arms

coming at you, you know,

even though you knew each one he

was just, you know, doing that...

I thought, "Good God. "

I mean, to get in there to fight this

man for real must be terrifying.

So then Ali says

to me, you know,

"Just, just throw one,

you know, for the... "

So I said, "Oh, OK," you know. So

I went like this and he dropped.

And he's on the, you know,

in the ring on the floor

and, you know, and I'm standing

over him like, like this.

'Cause, you know,

it's just for publicity.

And, apparently,

Gene Kilroy was telling me

that, um, when the photos went

all over the world,

some of Ali's fans were concerned and

said that, um, Ali should stop now.

If Tom Jones can knock him

down, you know what I mean,

then he should stop boxing.

We were in Deer Lake,

Pennsylvania, one time

and there was a little boy

there who looked frail

and he wanted to

meet Muhammad Ali.

I said, "No problem," and I

brought the boy in and his dad.

Muhammad looked at the boy

and he said,

"Why do you have this hot wool hat on?"

He said, "It's so hot out there today. "

He said, "I got leukemia and I lost

all my hair. I'm getting this chemo. "

And Ali said,

"I'll tell you what. "

"I'm gonna beat George Foreman

and you're gonna beat leukemia. "

The boy looked at him.

He said, "Oh, I hope you're

right, Ali, I hope you're right. "

I went and I got my camera and I took

a picture of the little boy and Ali.

And I got the father's address.

I had Ali write on the picture,

"I am gonna beat George Foreman

and you're gonna beat cancer. "

"God bless you, Muhammad Ali. "

So about two weeks later I get a call.

It said, the boy's father, he said,

"Jimmy's very sick. He's in the

University of Pennsylvania Hospital. "

"He's not gonna make it, but the thrill

of his life was meeting Muhammad Ali. "

I said, "Jeez, I'm sorry to hear it.

Is there anything we can do?" "No. "

So that next morning

we're doing roadwork,

4:
30 in the morning before the

sun is up, when he can run,

and I tell him about the boy.

He said, "OK,

here's what we're gonna do. "

"When I get done,

my exercise and all,

we take a shower,

we head down to the hospital. "

So we go down to the University

of Pennsylvania Hospital,

a two-hour ride,

and we went in.

Here's the little boy

with a white sheet.

White kid,

no hair, big blue eyes.

And he said, "Muhammad,

I knew you would come. "

And Muhammad reached

and he held the little boy.

He said, "Remember, I told you

that you are gonna beat cancer

and I'm gonna beat George Foreman

and that's the way it's gonna be. "

And the little boy said,

"No, Muhammad,

I'm gonna meet God and I'm gonna

tell Him that I know you. "

There wasn't a word said in

the two-hour ride going back.

About a week later,

the little boy died.

The father called me and Ali said he

didn't want to go to the funeral.

It was too sad.

So I went over to the funeral

and in the casket, they had the boy laid

out and they had the picture there.

"I'm gonna beat George Foreman,

you're gonna beat cancer. "

The boy was gonna go to Heaven and say

he was a friend of Muhammad Ali's

to get a better

seat or a better place.

That's... that's a great

compliment, isn't it?

- Muhammad?

- What?

I bet you don't know your ABCs.

I do!

- No, you don't.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes