By RAYMOND PIETRORAZIO
Muhammad Ali
I was working for a major mechanical contractor in 1969. When I went to New York City to attend a seminar on mechanical service management, I never expected to have breakfast with boxing great Muhammad Ali.
The seminar was being held at the Americana Hotel on West 38th Street, about three blocks from Times Square as I recall. It was early morning, 7:15 a.m. to be exact, as I made my way to the breakfast dining room in the basement of the hotel.
I noticed there were a few tables not yet occupied. I placed my jacket on the back of a chair at a two-person table because the dining room was filling up fast. After going through the serving line and purchasing my breakfast, I returned to the table and noticed there were practically no seats left.
“Wow,” I said to myself, “I was lucky I arrived when I did.” Just then, in he came, the great Muhammad Ali. He wore a pinstripe suit and made his way through the line, where people allowed him to go ahead of them.
After Muhammad got his meal (about a half dozen eggs with toast) he turned and was looking for a place to sit. I waved to him and pointed to the empty chair at my table. He smiled and immediately came over and sat down, extending his hand as I did.
I was surprised at his height. He was quite a bit shorter than he appeared on television in the boxing ring with his trunks on.
We said very few words to each other as I could see he was in a real hurry. I asked him for his autograph, “not for me, but for my wife who thinks the world of you.” I jokingly said I personally could do without it. He laughed heartily and signed my lapel pocket identification card.
Moments later, a crowd surrounded the table, and the poor man hadn’t even finished his breakfast. He ate while he signed autographs!
After the human deluge subsided, he asked what I was doing at the hotel. When I explained my work and the seminar, he seemed very interested and said, “Well, what do you know about that?” He thanked me for sharing my table with him and wished me well. Then he left before another crowd gathered. As we shook hands again, I told him he had made my day.
Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would have the privilege of meeting such a well-known and respected man – and a boxer to boot! My uncle was a professional boxer, and was Jack Dempsey’s sparring partner for awhile. He also took the Cuban title away from Cuba while serving in the U.S. Army.
My father and a younger brother of his also fought as amateurs in what were called “Smokers,” often at the Buckingham Building in Waterbury. What a coincidence I thought, my coming from a family of boxers, and while being in New York for two days, I got to meet and have breakfast with “The Greatest.” It had to be destined!
Yes, Ali was a fighter in the ring. He also was a fighter against all things bad. Of the billions of people who have inhabited the world, very, very few leave their mark in such an indelible way. A great man passed on June 3, 2016, but Muhammad Ali will be with us forever; in spirit, in verse, and in genuineness.
Ali left us with quotes that will last into eternity. However, I think I will remember him by a quote from Albert Einstein: “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but rather by those who watch and do nothing.”
Ali didn’t sit around on the boxer’s stool and do nothing; he got up and fought for righteousness with each step through his journey of life, and for it we are all richer.
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