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Time Machine: Muhammad Ali
A day with ‘The Greatest’ in Cedar Rapids
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
“He boxed, he clowned, he lectured and he performed magic,” Gazette Sports Editor Mike Chapman wrote about the day that three-time world heavyweight boxing champ Muhammad Ali visited Cedar Rapids on June 6, 1982.
The visit came about six months after Ali’s final fight, a loss to Trevor Berbick. Although he was retired from the sport, he still made appearances around the world.
Billed as the “Ali Extravaganza,” the show was held at the Five Seasons Center (now the Alliant Energy PowerHouse) in downtown Cedar Rapids.
Ali was in town for a fundraiser for the Advisory Committee for Economic Growth, an organization that hoped to raise money to build a cultural achievement center for underprivileged youth. The committee included Jane Gibson, a social worker and daughter-in-law of educator Viola Gibson; Roslyn Martin, a minority business enterprise officer; and Juan Cortez, chief bailiff at Linn County District Court.
The 90-minute event included an exhibition sparring match between Ali and Cedar Rapids boxer Steve Eden, the national light heavyweight Golden Gloves champ for 1980.
“Ali did all his boxing in street clothes, but still went two fast-paced, three-minute rounds with Eden,” Chapman reported. “The two exchanged blows crisply on several occasions, and when it was over, Ali paid Eden a handsome tribute.
“ ‘He’s good,’ said Ali, back in his corner. ‘I don’t know if he ever thought about turning pro, but he could have done pretty good.’ ”
After the match, Ali spent time with the kids who had come to see him, performing magic tricks.
Chapman was amazed that only about 500 fans showed up to see the legendary boxer.
‘Finest moments’
After the exhibition, a banquet was held in Ali’s honor at the Stouffer’s Five Seasons Center Hotel (now the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Cedar Rapids Convention Complex).
“One of the finest moments I witnessed came after the boxing exhibitions,” Chapman wrote a few days later. “Ali, about to leave the ring, picked up a small girl and embraced her. She clung to his neck as though unwilling to ever let go. He responded in kind, nuzzling her cheek and holding her close for a long time.
“It was a beautiful sight, one that I shall never forget. I admire Ali the fighter very, very much. I admire Ali the man even more.”
‘Giving back’
Years later, the story of how Ali was paid for his appearance surfaced. The committee had agreed to pay him $5,000, but with the low turnout, he settled for $1,500.
When Ali was riding to the airport the next day, accompanied by Chapman and the event organizers, he asked if they made a profit. When he was told they broke even after the costs of advertising and comping tickets for underprivileged children were figured in, Ali took the check they had given him out of his pocket and tore it up.
When he was asked by a stunned observer why, he said, “It’s my way of giving back.”
Ali’s career
Ali, who won the Olympic light heavyweight gold medal in 1960 as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., went on to box professionally, winning 19 pro fights before the end of 1963. By then, his self-proclaimed reputation as “The Greatest” was firmly established.
He also earned the media moniker of the “Louisville Lip.”
He defeated Sonny Liston in February 1964 to win the heavyweight title. The next day he announced his conversion to Islam and a name change to Cassius X. More than a week later, Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad gave him the name Muhammad Ali.
Ali was in the local news for a 1965 closed-circuit showing of the Muhammad Ali-Floyd Patterson fight in Las Vegas. The telecast to more than 200 outlets in the U.S. and Canada included one to the RKO-Iowa Theater in Cedar Rapids (now Theatre Cedar Rapids).
Gazette Sports Editor Gus Schrader was at the theater. His assessment of the fight – which lasted 12 rounds, ending in a technical knockout – was that Ali was “the best heavyweight of this time. Anybody who can afford to toy with a victim as he did … has got to have plenty of talent in the bank.”
His title was stripped in 1967 when he refused to be inducted into the Army during the Vietnam War. Indicted and sentenced to five years in prison, he remained free on bail while his conviction was appealed. It was eventually overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, but he had not been allowed to fight for 3 1/2 years.
When Ali died June 3, 2016, he was remembered in several Gazette stories.
One of those recalling his experiences with Ali was Mike Chapman, who asked Ali if he knew fellow Olympic gold medalist Dan Gable.
Ali replied, “The greatest wrestler of all time.”
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