MEETING MUHAMMAD ALI

MUHAMMAD ALI

MEETING ALI  1972:  By Brian Zelley

With the birthday of Muhammad Ali, many boxing fans and alumni of boxing 

recall meeting Muhammad Alia aka Cassius Marcellus Clay at some 

event, some club or at a Boxing tournament.

My personal meeting with Muhammad Ali took place in 1972.

I had seen him in an exhibition in Vancouver the night George Chuvalo 

defeated Charley Chase in a Canadian heavyweight fight.

Also, I saw him at the gym in North Vancouver  training for a bout

with George Chuvalo.  At that time, a fellow amateur boxer named

Dan Wright and I were hanging our with one time 

welterweight contender Manual Gonzalez and his trainer from

Houston, Texas Billy DeFoe.

Also at some of the gatherings was Ray Ormandy,

a cousin to John Ormandy who helped Dan and I start the 

Nanaimo Boxing Club in 1971.

Manny was scheduled to fight Canada's CLYDE GRAY 

in the semi-main event to ALI - CHUVALO so we took Manny and Billy 

to the gym for training during the same time that Ali was training.

MANUEL GONZALEZ

THE REAL MEETING

Of interest, for Dan Wright and myself, there was never any plan to 

visit Ali, but due to a number of circumstances, there was an opportunity

 to meet him face-tp-face and in the privacy of Ali's penthouse suite

at the Hotel Georgia.

It was after dropping Manny and Billy off  and walking them

 to the ninth floor to say goodbye until the next day.

On our way out we happened to run into a well known 

boxing promoter (in future years) and he wanted to know

 why we were on the floor .  So we told him and he asked us

if we would like to see MUHAMMAD ALI.

Now we had all ready seen him at the gym, but this was

an opportunity to visit him in person.  So he gave us some Ali

 photos and told us where he was staying.  But, there was

no guarantees that he would give us the time of day.

That's when I remembered the story of 

a young Cassius Clay knocking on a hotel door  to 

see WILLIE PASTRANO.

WILLIE PASTRANO

THE MEETING

So, we left the 9th floor to go to the top floor and Ali's penthouse suite.

We knocked on the door, and the door opened, and a larger than life 

MUHAMMAD ALI stepped out to talk to WRIGHT and  ZELLEY.

After a bit of small talk, I mentioned to Ali about the Willie Pastrano

 moment  and his meeting a young Cassius Clay so many years ago.

Those few brief comments created an instant change in the

face of Ali from a serious athlete spending a few moments

with possible fans to a great big smile and a grin.

Then while still in the hall Muhammad opened the room door wide 

and said come on in.  So we did,

Then we got to chat about serious stuff like  about

Luis Rodriguez and other boxers.

Before leaving he asked to sign the photos that we had in our hands.

It was after this meeting with Muhammd Ali

and Manuel Gonzalez that I would have my last

fight and I would win big time in one of my

most perfect fights ever.

BRIAN ZELLEY vs CLARK MACLELLAN

"The post fight pose of the last fight"

My performance was aided by my 

days with Manny Gonzalez who 

showed me some great moves of moving

only inches instead of feet to make them miss

and be in range to score punches with ease.

Part of our experience was included in the 

Nanaimo Daily Free Press when I visited sports editor Mark Kiemele

but we did not talk about the visit with Ali because at the time

it was a private moment  and not a hot media story. 

(Note:  For those that do not know who Billy DeFoe is:

Think of Willie Pep, the all-time great featherweight champion,

then think of former lightweight champion Joe Brown.

And, a name behind those two great champions was 

Lou Viscusi, but Billy was a trainer, and after Joe

lost his title to Carlos Ortiz, Billy became the 

full time trainer of Joe Brown then known as "Old Bones"

Back in Houston Texas there was a whold gym full

of talented fighters including Cleve Williams and

a young Manuel Gonzalez who had a classy style

handed down by the likes of Pep and Brown.

Then in the mid-Sixties, the stylish Manny

turned puncher when he faced top contender 

Garland Rip Randall and the rest is history. 

Manny got a not-title fight with the great Emile Griffith

 and won the decision.  It  led to a title fight and a lot of other

top fights with the world's best welterweights in

the mid to late Sixties with Billy Defoe in the picture)

A Facebook Site

http://www.facebook.com/groups/126275204108234/

The above site was established some time ago

but has not been active, but with Ali expected 

to arrive in Victoria, BC, Canada

May 26,  2012

attempts will be made to activate the site.