Chewing the Fat with Jeff Fisher - Jeffy's Corner: 'Just a Shy Guy'; Remembering Muhammad Ali w/ Boxing Announcer Mark Beiro

Episode Date: June 4, 2016

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Sad news out of Phoenix yesterday. Muhammad Ali dead at the age of 74. We talked a little bit earlier about Muhammad and how, you know, one of the most recognized men on the planet and a little bit of his history. The funeral will be Wednesday in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. never ashamed to call himself the greatest. Joining me now, an old friend, a boxing luminary himself,

ring announcer extraordinaire, Mark Biro. Mark from Tampa, Florida, USA. How in the world are you? Real good, Jeff. Thank you. Very sad day. It's very sad. So have you, I, I have you?

I'm assuming that you had a few times of crossing paths with Muhammad. Oh, yes, very much so. The first time I ever met him was, believe it or not, of all places, Tulsa, Oklahoma. And there was a charity event for children that both of us had volunteered to be a part of, and Joe Frazier as well. And the first time I saw him, he was in the lobby of the hotel that we were staying at. And he was entertaining children. He was a big, he was a big magic fan.

You know, he, I don't mean Orlando magic. Right, I got you. A magician. Yes, a magician. and these children that were in the lobby were just happened to be, they had no connection to the event that we were involved in. They were just sons and daughters of people that were either checking in or checking out of the hotel.

And he was there in the lobby, dazzling them, and I have to say, me too, with a lot of magic tricks. It was great. I remember he told me the first time he talked to me after I was sitting with the kids watching him do all this. And he said in that soft voice that he had, and he said, I wish I could get, I wish I could make you disappear, Mr. Announcer. Well, I can guarantee that he's not the first one to think that. Boy, you took it right out of my mouth, Jeff. Thanks a lot. But that's the kind of guy he was.

He was, you know, as boisterous as he was in the show business of boxing as a person, he was a very quiet guy. And in fact, anything you read about him in his early years, he was very much a very shy guy. You know, you just couldn't believe the way he transformed himself. Well, he transformed himself really after. I was just saying he transformed himself really after the first bout, right? When he stopped being Cassius Clay, when he became Mohammed, I mean, that was the big transformation for him. Yes, but he also, as Cassius Clay, when he was starting out in the 50s, and he modeled himself after the professional wrestler, Gorgeous,

George. He really couldn't believe when he saw Gorgeous George on TV promoting his wrestling matches, he actually went and bought a ticket and went to the arena to see all the people that just hated Gorgeous George and wanted to see him get beat. And he said, wow, that's a good way to sell tickets. Right. Right. Just look how pretty I am. Look how pretty I am. That's right. And you know, the truth is when he was an Olympic hero, he never drank, he didn't smoke, he didn't run around, he always stayed within his own community, and he had a great mind for knowing who's a great people in boxing that he admired. And one of the first people he went and reached out to was Angelo Dundee.

And Dundee always said. A great Angelo Dundee. The great Angelo Dundee, and Angelo, he and I would talk over dinner many times, and he'd tell me, you know, if people knew what kind of a guy this man was, you know, they would love him all the more because he is that genuine and he's a good kid. He always called him that. He's a good kid. Well, anytime you met Angelo Dundee, you were always a kid anyway. That's right. That's right. That's right. He asked me, I remember Muhammad asked me one day. He said, Mark, did you ever box? And I told him, no, I just looked this way naturally. Very funny. Very funny. But he was really good guy. It was a shame. You know, I was reading as you go back and you read a little bit of the history today. trying to remember a little bit of his life that maybe you had forgotten because, I mean, he was Muhammad Ali.

I mean, who doesn't know Muhammad Ali, right? But, I mean, for years, he was, aside from all being the, you know, the hated boxer, the look how pretty I am, I can't stand that guy, I want him to beat, when he decided to be a, be an observer and not go to the war, man, he grew a lot of hate for a lot of people. people. In hindsight, I think now we all go, pooh, man, good for him. Well, that, you know, as hated as he was for that stance, I could tell you, Jeff, personally, I was in high school, and that affected me because I made a decision not to go myself if I was ever called, and I was just very lucky that I was never called, but I have to

tell you, to me, he was an inspiration in that endeavor. But the thing that really stands out about his refusal to serve was that the government offered him all kinds of cushy guarantees. He wouldn't even have to carry a rifle or even be near a confrontational zone. He was almost guaranteed all of that. and he still wouldn't do it on the principle that he had based it on. Right, and knowing that, look, the whole point was him not going. If he just sits at a desk for a couple of years, they still use him as some sort of promotional tool, and that's ridiculous. That's correct. That's correct.

And Joe Lewis did the same thing in World War II. he put on many benefits and raised a lot of money for the folks on the home front, milk fund and all of that. Ali would have done the same thing. And the other thing, he would have been able to hold on to the heavyweight championship. And he would have done legitimate benefits and also personal monetary endeavors. but he gave all that up. And let me tell you, one of the things that isn't well known is that during his illegal exile after he was stripped of the title, the person who helped him financially on many occasions was Joe Frazier.

And Joe Frazier and he both dreamed of the day that they would finally recognize. reconcile the championship after Ali was stripped and Joe Frazier won tournaments to make him the champion. Frazier gave him a lot of his purse of money to keep Ali afloat. Ali was in bad straits. The ironic thing about that is the Supreme Court, when it ruled on Ali's case, ruled eight to nothing in his favor. Yeah, that was great. And the one abstention was Chief Justice Rehnquist, who recused himself from the case because he had been involved in a lowercase decision, and he recused himself. Otherwise, it would have been nine to nothing.

Wow. Think of that. Yeah. All right. So Mark Biro, joining us now. Talk a little about Muhammad Ali and his run-ins with Muhammad. Muhammad Ali, obviously, sad news passing away yesterday in Phoenix at the age of 74, struggling from Parkinson's and having respiratory issues that he couldn't overcome yesterday.

Very sad news. We watched him to prove what a great icon he was. Even when struggling was such a horrible disease, he took it out in front of the people and said, hey, here I am, and this is what I'm struggling with, and I'm still Muhammad Ali, I am the greatest. I mean, it was tremendous. Well, in many Las Vegas

cards that I was involved in which he was a guest, these arenas that would hold, you know, six, eight thousand people and in the outdoor parking lots even more than that, 20,000, when he would come into the arena, and he

had this Parkinson's, and you could see him just moving. He had this slight smile on his face. He was never, you know, he wasn't boisterous at that point. Right. As soon as he walked into the arena. Still, Mohamed. The entire, yes.

The whole place stood up. And, you know, from the time at the outermost part of the arena to sitting at ringside, the entire arena would give them a standing O. You know, I mean, it was, you see the respect of people, including those who never took a liking to him. They all loved him and respected and admired what he really stood for. So one final story of a run-in with Muhammad. Well, time for one more. Okay.

when Leila Ali was fighting for the women's championship, I happened to be the ring announcer for that event. And we had gone out to eat together at one of the casino restaurants. And while we were sitting there, Ali was across the table from me, and he said, I just got me a dog. And I said, oh, you do? You got a pet, a dog? And he said, yeah, guess what kind it is?

And I said, I don't know, Mohammed. What is it? A boxer. The whole place just cracked up and, you know, everything. That's kind of, he never stopped, you know. Mark Beiro, boxing announcer extraordinaire and a good friend. Thank you, Mark. I appreciate it.

And you can go on. Jeff, give me a call on your own. I enjoyed it, brother. I will. I love you. We'll talk to you. Mark Beiro from Tampa, Florida, boxing announcer extraordinary, talking a little Muhammad Ali, and the sad news that Mohammed passed away yesterday at the age of 74.

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