The arrival of Muhammad Ali to Munich brought an unexpected surge of excitement and optimism where previously there had been only despair. As Ali strutted into town with over 50 assistants, including helpers, healers, and various hangers-on, the atmosphere shifted noticeably. Despite my years of covering major sporting events around the world, I had never seen anything quite like the circus that accompanied Ali. They took over every part of Munich, with Ali’s team chartering a flight from the United States and filling 40 rooms at the five-star Bayerischer Hof hotel and another ten at the Munich Hilton, where the Dunn party stayed.
Throughout Ali’s visit, I noticed that he didn’t bother changing his wristwatch from US time. He ate breakfast in the evening and dinner in the morning, and though many believed that he wasn’t training, he snuck off to the gymnasium in the middle of the night to practice with his sparring partners. While he knocked lumps off his white sparring partner, Rodney Bobick, he was more gentle with his four black hired accomplices. I noticed he didn’t have a southpaw among his sparring partners, which I questioned. Unperturbed, Ali simply replied with a smile and a dismissive quip: “Southpaw, north paw, east paw, west paw, I’m gonna knock your boy clean out. Have you told him he’s fighting the greatest heavyweight the world has ever seen?”
Ali saw me as a way to reach Richard, and though we had worked together before, he knew I was in Dunn’s corner. Despite this, he respected me, though I idolized him. Throughout our conversations, I’d noticed that there were different sides to Ali’s personality: the flashy, brash Louisville Lip who would say anything to sell tickets, the caring humanitarian, and the quietly inquisitive man who was more interested in listening than talking. Though he openly shared his exhaustion after touring the world to promote his recently published autobiography, The Greatest, Ali made no mention of his ghostwriters, Richard Durham and Toni Morrison.
I chatted with Ali over coffee one morning, where he expressed his concern that very few tickets had been sold, putting his reputation at risk. He told me that he planned to make Dunn famous by knocking him out: “I’m gonna make him famous by knocking him all the way back to Yorkshire.” He spoke with a slight slur, which concerned me. Later, his physician, Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, confided in me and Mickey that he believed Ali was starting to show the toll of his numerous fights. Though Pacheco had urged Ali to retire, Ali refused, and Pacheco felt that many members of his entourage were leeches who were just happy to take a free ride.
As the days passed, it became clear that the German promoters had little interest in promoting the fight, which left Ali’s PR team scrambling to generate some publicity. Ali’s third morning in Munich began with a call from Top Rank, who threatened to pull out of the fight because the Germans had failed to pay the contracted $250,000 to cover Ali’s taxes. Ali was prepared to head home, but Jarvis managed to convince the German company to pay the outstanding amount. Ali immediately purchased $200,000 worth of tickets and distributed free passes to American military personnel. Back home, Ali’s generosity drew savage criticism from those who accused him of being unpatriotic for refusing to fight in Vietnam, yet giving free tickets to American soldiers. Ali’s response: “I can’t win. There are some people back home, mostly white folks I have to tell you, who would have…”
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