WS Chronicle

BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY 

THE CHRONICLE

As a child, I was introduced to boxing by my father, Timothy J. Ramsey Sr. During my early years of watching the sport, I thought Mike Tyson was the best boxer that ever lived. That was until my father showed me clips of Muhammad Ali fighting Joe Frazier and epic battle with George Foreman. I then began to appreciate the man he was inside of the ring.

You couldn’t help but admire a man that told his opponents what he was going to do to them before he entered the ring, then had the skill and talent to back it up. His classic rhymes and one-liners were before his time, and his verbal battles with the legendary Howard Cosell will live on forever.

I remember when I was living in St. Petersburg, Florida, and I was able to meet Muhammad Ali at a banquet. At that time, the was the first celebrity I had ever met. I was very intimidated, but he could not have been a nicer person.  This was in the early ’90s, so his Parkinson’s had not taken over his body as much. He was able to converse with me for a short time. It was the highlight of my year.  He signed an autograph for me that I still have and treasure to this day.

As I matured, I was able to understand the impact Ali had outside of the ring and admired him more and more. He will surely be missed.

For more coverage of Ali’s passing, click here