MUHAMMAD ALI gave legendary Sun boxing writer Colin Hart his biggest story in an entirely serendipitous and moving encounter.
In December 1981, 39-year-old Ali suffered the last sickening defeat of his magnificent career, ten long, hard-to-watch rounds against Trevor Berbick.
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Ali’s health was already under suspicion before the one-sided beating in the boxing backwater of the Bahamas.
And six years later, the tragic news that he was struck down by Parkinson’s spread around the world.
Our man Harty smelled a very different smell in Las Vegas in 1987, around the same time as his agonizing diagnosis.
But when he went to Sin City in search of the Baddest Man on the Planet, he ended up being approached by the Biggest.
And the 89-year-old doyen relived the harrowing but inspiring moment in a SunSport video.
The revered ring veteran explained: “Mike Tyson had just won the world title (in November 1986) and I knew he would carry the spit bucket for his great friend Edwin Rosario for his world title fight against Julio Cesar Chavez ( November 1987). ).
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“I asked my boss to send me because it was already a big fight, but I also thought I could get an interview with Mike Tyson.
“It was a great fight, Tyson got the bucket, but Rosário was defeated in the 11th.
“But the next morning I was at the newsstand, minding my own business and waiting for breakfast outside the Hilton hotel in Las Vegas.
“And who should come but Muhammad Ali. I was at his last fight in the Bahamas and he naturally came just to chat.
“But it had just come out that he had Parkinson’s.
“I told him I was sorry to hear that and he just started talking. He said, ‘If I die, I have no regrets.
God gave me Parkinson’s to show me I’m just a man
Muhammad Ali to Colin Hart
“’I have an obligation to stay healthy. But the final decision belongs to my creator.
“’I tried to live a good life and do the right thing. But I’m not afraid of dying, because I made peace.
“’God gave me Parkinson’s disease to show me that I’m just a man, like everyone else, to show me that I have human frailties like everyone else. Because that’s all I am, a man.’”
In typical Sun fashion, Hart dropped everything – including his appetite – to get his copy to London as quickly as possible.
And, in one of Fleet Street’s most decorated careers, it remains the pinnacle of our modest man.
He said: “I was absolutely surprised by this and I was 42 years younger, so I forgot breakfast and ran to my room and wrote on my typewriter.
“That was the biggest scoop I’ve ever gotten and it came out of nowhere.”
Ali, who is widely considered the greatest sportsman who ever lived, died in 2016 at the age of 74.
Muhammad Ali’s boxing record
MUHAMMAD ALI turned professional in 1960 after winning gold at the Olympics. Here’s the lowdown on his iconic boxing career.
Fights: 61
Wins: 56
Losses: 5
Knockouts: 37
Height: 6 ft 3 in
Reach: 78 in.
World titles: 3
Olympic gold medals: 1
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
