Muhammad Ali 1983, thought you might like this...

[ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY]

I'm in the white tank top...JUNE 1983 in Bloomfield, Connecticut the kid to the right (my left), is Joe Jones...his sister sent me this pic recently...the guy right in front of Joe is Rick Kaletsky who I met for the first time that day (I was 15)...he wrote a book on Ali called "Ali And Me, Through The Ropes" ...I used to spar with Joe a little bit back then, he was a JO champion. Passed away 2 years and 2 months after this photo from a scooter accident. Rick still lives in CT and recently re-edited his book and re-released it for sale...crazy thing, right now today I am almost 14 years OLDER than Ali was here in this photo...what I recall most about that day was that Muhammad was very slow, had a "mask" look to his face. Ive always kind of thought that his diagnosis was new then and maybe they were experiment with different medications for him. He seemed very slow, very much like he was medicated. I dont recall him speaking at all that day, I didnt hear him say anything. I met him a few times in the years after and he was much more active and alert then.

[YoungManRumble]

Cool photo. Thanks for sharing!

Do you know who the baby is? They have bragging rights of not only meeting Ali but also landing a flush right hand to his chin.

[jaded]

Cool photo. Thanks for sharing!

Do you know who the baby is? They have bragging rights of not only meeting Ali but also landing a flush right hand to his chin.

Looks more like a thumb up his nose...like he's checking for boogers.

[YoungManRumble]

Looks more like a thumb up his nose...like he's checking for boogers.

Lol had to get my glasses out and you sir are correct. Err I mean, the baby just roughhousing trying to eye gouge.

[jaded]

Lol had to get my glasses out and you sir are correct. Err I mean, the baby just roughhousing trying to eye gouge.

Can you image how much a 1983 booger from Muhammad Ali's nose would be worth today if that kid had preserved it in a small sealed jar? That kid could have probably bought a condo in Vancouver with it.

[Cypocryphy]

That's an awesome photo, and a very interesting anecdote, with Ali being more lucid afterward. Five years later, he'd be in the ring before the Tyson vs Spinks fight, and he seemed okay? He seemed okay to me, not sure.

As an aside, how lucky was Canelo that he chose Bivol and not Beterviev to reenter the light heavyweight division? If Bivol could take his shots, Beterbiev most definitely would. Instead of a trio of judges trying to rob a guy, we'd be hearing "FATALITY" over the PA system, with Canelo's limp body on the canvass. No CHANCE for a robbery.

[ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY]

I’ve said many times over the last few months that I wouldn’t have blamed Canelo at all for not moving up to fight Artur. He would just be too big and too strong and it would be too much of a hurdle. When you see Canelo next to GGG he looked smaller and Arthur is much much bigger than GGG. And hits much much harder than Bivol.

[ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY]

Cool photo. Thanks for sharing!

Do you know who the baby is? They have bragging rights of not only meeting Ali but also landing a flush right hand to his chin.

No idea about the baby…kid would be 40 now., CRAZY

[QueensburyRules]

I'm in the white tank top...JUNE 1983 in Bloomfield, Connecticut the kid to the right (my left), is Joe Jones...his sister sent me this pic recently...the guy right in front of Joe is Rick Kaletsky who I met for the first time that day (I was 15)...he wrote a book on Ali called "Ali And Me, Through The Ropes" ...I used to spar with Joe a little bit back then, he was a JO champion. Passed away 2 years and 2 months after this photo from a scooter accident. Rick still lives in CT and recently re-edited his book and re-released it for sale...crazy thing, right now today I am almost 14 years OLDER than Ali was here in this photo...what I recall most about that day was that Muhammad was very slow, had a "mask" look to his face. Ive always kind of thought that his diagnosis was new then and maybe they were experiment with different medications for him. He seemed very slow, very much like he was medicated. I dont recall him speaking at all that day, I didnt hear him say anything. I met him a few times in the years after and he was much more active and alert then.

- - Veeeeriely Interesting Ice.

I first "met" Ali @ age 15 in the middle of his 2 staged brawls in the AstroHall with Ernie Terrell a week before their Astrodome fight. The setting was a Terrell/Clay training camp exhibition where they did their routine, and needless to say no finer specimens of Mankind could've been found in their moment, quite impressive for this 15 year old kid.

That's where I first encountered the limitations of "The Press" who weren't fully witness to my witness when they wrote up the encounter all wrong.



th?id=OIP.sZRrXa7xDC9--3wQRy_mDAAAAA&pid=Api&P=0&w=130&h=171.jpg

s-l300.jpg

[MisterHardtop]

Great stuff Ice!

What a time that was, brings back so many memories. I was still very much writing about boxing at the time and everyone seemed a bit down post Ali retirement, even though Leonard and co were magical. Little did we know we were all about to be enthralled by The Dynamite Kid!