Remembering "The Great One". .

It was February of 1964 and I was at my desk at the Barcelona Hotel where I was hired to handle public relations and edit a daily newsletter that was distributed to hotel guests. One of our regular guests approached me and asked if I would like two tickets to "the fight" that evening.

I had never been to a boxing match in my life, but I thought, "what the hell, they're free!" so I said yes and thanked him for his generosity.  Little did I know what an earth-shaking event I had just signed on for.

Next, I called my husband at his office and asked him if by any chance he wanted to go.  His response?  "Are you kidding, Joan?  That's the championship bout between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston!  Of course I want to go. I'll pick you up at the hotel. For god's sake, don't lose the tickets!"  All of a sudden, I was a hero to my husband.

I was aware that Clay was training at the 5th Street Gym because every morning during the past few weeks, as I drove from my home in North Miami to my office on Miami Beach, I would see this young black guy, in shorts and a tank top, running down Alton Road on his way to the gym.  These were times when blacks were still not allowed to stay overnight on Miami Beach, and Clay would actually run all the way from his hotel in Overtown to his morning workout. (It wasn't until Frank Sinatra made a stand about allowing Sammy Davis Jr. to stay at the Fontainebleau, when they were both appearing there, that the restriction was finally lifted.)

Our seats that evening at the Miami Beach Convention Center were fabulous.  Everybody who was anybody was there in the arena to watch hulking and silent Liston, the undefeated world champion,  make mincemeat of this young, big-mouthed upstart.  For the very first time, the crowd saw what it meant  to "float like a butterfly. . sting like a bee".  Liston looked more and more confused, right from the opening round, and when he finally refused to come out for the 7th round bell, the place went wild!

It was a night to remember and I relived it this morning when I heard about Mohammed Ali's passing.  He was truly a remarkable man and I followed his career with great interest after that very memorable night.  We were very lucky to have had the opportunity to be there on that very special evening..
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