WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:00.720 What up is Muschin? 2 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:03.120 You checking out The Cruise Show podcast? Make sure to 3 00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:06.799 subscribe right this shit The Cruise Show Real ninety two three. 4 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:09.560 Jeff Garcia the sports Dude. I'm Jay Cruz and he's back. 5 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:12.160 Jim Lampley, the living legend himself. How are you, sir? 6 00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:13.919 I'm doing well. How are you guys? 7 00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:15.960 We're doing okay, We're doing all right. You're in San 8 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:17.879 Diego now, and then as soon as you're done here, 9 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:20.079 you're headed the Los Angeles and we're going to the 10 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:21.519 Wildcard gym. 11 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:24.320 That is correct, and it's very, very exciting to be 12 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:26.480 going back into the wild Card for the first time 13 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:29.679 in years. I've been living in North Carolina for the 14 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:34.840 last six years, so I haven't seen Freddy but once 15 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:38.039 or twice. Haven't been in the wild Card. Freddy got 16 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:41.560 married since the last time I was there. I really 17 00:00:41.560 --> 00:00:43.079 thrilled to be going back today. 18 00:00:43.479 --> 00:00:45.920 Yeah, I've been there before. I had the opportunity to 19 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:49.000 be there once with where when Matt, you know, Manny 20 00:00:49.079 --> 00:00:51.000 was having a fight and he was in their training 21 00:00:51.079 --> 00:00:52.679 and you know, they had media there as you know, 22 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:56.000 and you know, the place just smells of like of 23 00:00:56.200 --> 00:01:00.479 just of strength. It's that it's got that that that smell. 24 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:03.759 That that's it's it's very unique, right, and uh, it's 25 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:05.640 just blood, sweat and tears, I guess is the best 26 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:06.920 way to describe it. 27 00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:10.680 It is boxing. You know, in case you have no 28 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:14.920 idea what the atmospherics of boxing are, go spend an 29 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:17.640 hour in the Wildcard. You'll feel it, you'll see it, 30 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:24.319 You'll learn from it. And obviously many Pacau was the 31 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:30.680 heart and soul of many unforgettable sparring sessions and unforgettable 32 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:35.040 training sessions. Uh. In the Wildcard, his relationship with Freddie 33 00:01:35.079 --> 00:01:39.000 was so bonded, so thick, so good, h and a 34 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:41.480 huge part of Manny's success. 35 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:47.560 It happened the memoir Uniquely Lucky Life in sports television. Uh, 36 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:49.319 you know, I know we say it's luck, right, but 37 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:51.000 how much of it is luck? 38 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:55.079 Well? There are a lot of things that I point to. 39 00:01:55.319 --> 00:01:57.680 I have a lot of friends who pushed back and said, 40 00:01:57.879 --> 00:01:59.640 why do you say lucky? You were good, you knew 41 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:02.480 what you were doing, who had fills? And I say, yeah, 42 00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:07.920 but when you are the one person chosen from among 43 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:12.479 four hundred and thirty two candidates in a national talent 44 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:16.919 hunt to find the very first person, ostensibly college age, 45 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:19.159 who's going to stand on the sideline of a college 46 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:22.120 football game with a camera and a microphone. And you 47 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:24.520 are the one person among the four hundred and thirty 48 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:28.280 two who is not undergraduate age, who is in graduate school, 49 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:31.599 who is not eighteen to twenty two, who is twenty five, 50 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:37.759 who is not completely fresh with no experience in broadcasting. 51 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:40.520 I had done a great deal of stuff in Chapel 52 00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:43.439 Hill at the University of North Carolina. All of those 53 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:48.039 things about me, my age, my educational credential, my background 54 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:51.120 as a broadcaster. That was supposed to disqualify me. The 55 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:54.520 way they build the whole search, they were supposed to 56 00:02:54.520 --> 00:02:58.560 be looking for somebody completely different from me. And at 57 00:02:58.599 --> 00:03:02.319 the last minute, before they chose the person who was 58 00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:06.159 going to go on the sideline, the boss of the organization, 59 00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:09.919 the famous runa Arledge had of ABC Sports, had a 60 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:13.199 last minute sort of cautionary thought, Wait a minute, we're 61 00:03:13.240 --> 00:03:15.319 about to put somebody on who's never been in front 62 00:03:15.319 --> 00:03:18.080 of a camera before, never held a microphone before. Did 63 00:03:18.120 --> 00:03:22.159 we actually interview somebody who has done those things? Well, yeah, 64 00:03:22.439 --> 00:03:26.960 there was one guy, and I was that guy. And 65 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:32.560 the evaluation form for my interview. My screening interview was 66 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:40.599 four words, and those words were arrogant, antagonistic, abrasive, might 67 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:42.360 as well have been an asshole. I don't I don't 68 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:47.800 really know. They were called the fora's and and so 69 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:53.319 I was definitely not supposed to get that gig, but 70 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:55.680 I did, and that was the beginning of my network 71 00:03:55.719 --> 00:03:58.719 television career. I spent three years on the sideline. That 72 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:01.319 was another thing. It was supposed to be won, and 73 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:03.759 then they were going to go find somebody else. But 74 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:07.639 the best laid plans always go haywire somehow, and I 75 00:04:07.719 --> 00:04:12.240 wound up not just continuing on the sideline of college football, 76 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:15.400 but doing an apprenticeship under which I went out to 77 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:19.519 all of the crazy wide worlds. All of the older 78 00:04:20.439 --> 00:04:23.480 Hall of Fame type announcers on the ABC sports staff 79 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:26.439 at that time hated the idea of me at first, 80 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:29.560 and then eventually loved the idea of me because they 81 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:32.279 realized that I was a person who was going to, 82 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:34.519 at least for a period of time, have to go 83 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:36.720 back to the wrist wrestling and the log rolling and 84 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:39.920 the barrel jumping and the demolition derby and the motorcycles 85 00:04:39.959 --> 00:04:44.120 on ice every year until I was finished paying my 86 00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:47.560 dues and they wouldn't have to do those things anymore. 87 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:52.120 So it's all an unlikely path. And then there are 88 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:56.199 many other lucky breaks that take place, all leading up 89 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:59.600 to in nineteen eighty seven, the ultimate lucky break, when 90 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:02.839 a new incoming president of ABC Sports who had replaced 91 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:06.120 roent Knowledge, wanted to get rid of me and decided 92 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:07.920 that the best way to get rid of me would 93 00:05:07.959 --> 00:05:12.040 be to assign me to boxing, and I became the 94 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:16.040 boxing commentator on the staff of ABC Sports. And the 95 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:18.639 other thing he didn't realize, besides that I knew a 96 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:21.240 lot about boxing and cared about it, was that they 97 00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:24.800 had just signed a get Acquainted Looxie contract with a 98 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:27.800 nineteen year old heavyweight from upstate New York whose name 99 00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:31.360 was Mike Tyson. So the first five or six television 100 00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:36.560 network boxing events I called were Mike Tyson fights. During 101 00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:38.480 that period of time, he was well on his way 102 00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:41.720 to becoming not just the biggest public figure in boxing, 103 00:05:41.959 --> 00:05:45.759 but the biggest public figure on the planet, and I was, 104 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:49.759 in effect the curator of his story. So all of those, 105 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:52.319 and there are many many more, but all of those 106 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:56.519 are the characteristics and the events by which I say lucky. 107 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:02.160 It was highly concidental, it was intuitive, It was great 108 00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:04.600 for me, and I got a big career out of it. 109 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:07.279 Isn't it crazy how things or someone is sent out 110 00:06:07.319 --> 00:06:09.399 to destroy you, or something is sent out to destroy 111 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:12.639 you ends up, you know, creating something special. 112 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:16.800 Be careful how you think you're going to destroy somebody. 113 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:21.319 I mean, he played right into my hands. And just 114 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:26.199 to continue that narrative, his name was Dennis Wwanson and 115 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:30.399 he had a huge credential coming into ABC Sports. He 116 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:34.319 had been the station manager of WLSTB in Chicago, where 117 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:37.480 he had given a daily talk show to a woman 118 00:06:37.560 --> 00:06:41.360 named Oprah Winfrey. Pretty good credential, Okay, so he had 119 00:06:41.399 --> 00:06:45.759 some juice and was supposed to be able to evaluate talent, 120 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:49.600 and he, you know, went to the wall to try 121 00:06:49.639 --> 00:06:52.480 to embarrass me, destroy me, and get rid of me. 122 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:56.360 And know the instant that he chose as his vehicle 123 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:59.360 for that, to assign me to boxing. I just couldn't 124 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:02.600 believe my good fortune. The very first sports event that 125 00:07:02.680 --> 00:07:06.120 my mother ever sat me down to watch on television 126 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:08.519 after my father died when I was five years old, 127 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:10.800 The first sports event she ever sat me down to 128 00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:13.600 watch while saying to me, this is what your father 129 00:07:13.639 --> 00:07:15.759 would be doing with you if he were still alive, 130 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:19.879 with Sugar Ray Robinson versus Bobolsen for the Middleway Championship. 131 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:23.079 So let Friday Night Fights in nineteen fifty five. I 132 00:07:23.160 --> 00:07:26.279 watched the Friday Night Fights on Jellette. Listen to Don 133 00:07:26.360 --> 00:07:29.240 Dunfied teach me about boxing all the way through the 134 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:33.360 nineteen fifties into the nineteen sixties, and then at the 135 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:36.600 nineteen sixty Rome Olympics, I saw my hero, and my 136 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:42.839 hero was Cassius Clay, And eventually I was at my 137 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:46.279 very first live prize fight, which was Cassius Clay versus 138 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:50.360 Sonny liston Miami Beach, February twenty five, nineteen sixty four. 139 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:53.879 And the rest of the story just flows on from there. 140 00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:59.120 So Lucky is inescapable, and I'm not diminishing myself when 141 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:04.519 I say it. Just a fact unusual is written all 142 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:09.079 over this. It was very counterintuitive. It shouldn't have happened 143 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:12.560 exactly the way it did. Uh, but it did. And 144 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:18.240 and on I went until eventually HBO and the heart 145 00:08:18.279 --> 00:08:24.040 of my identity now as a sports broadcaster, we got. 146 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:28.240 To remind everybody on Saturday, two pm. Wildcard Jim Jim 147 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:30.720 will be there. Jim Lampley will be there signing his 148 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:34.080 book It Happened, a uniquely lucky life in sports television. 149 00:08:34.679 --> 00:08:35.080 You could. 150 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:37.600 You're gonna be able to meet him, get it signed. 151 00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:41.039 Freddie Roach will be in the building, I'm assuming as well, Jim. 152 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:42.200 Right Saturday at two. 153 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:45.279 Yeah, they'll be. Freddy will be there. We're both gonna 154 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:47.559 be signing books. I just thought of this while you 155 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:53.080 were saying it. Wildcard gym, in the Wildcard gym. My 156 00:08:53.159 --> 00:08:57.600 whole life is a wild card, right, So it's going 157 00:08:57.639 --> 00:09:00.519 to be very exciting to be there signing books for 158 00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:04.080 boxing fans again, to be shoulder to shoulder again with 159 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:09.320 Freddie about whom I created and produced a six part 160 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:14.879 documentary series called On Freddie Roach that is HBO several 161 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:19.799 years ago. So a sort of micro examination of what 162 00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:23.559 life with Parkinson's is really all about and how you 163 00:09:23.879 --> 00:09:27.519 get through it hour by hour, day by day. His courage, 164 00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:34.240 his perseverance, his amazing skill and devotion as a boxing trainer. 165 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:40.159 I always found him to be a remarkably attractive and 166 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:42.679 meaningful human being. And it'll be great to be back 167 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:46.440 side by side and shoulder to shoulder with Freddy. You know, Jim, we're. 168 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:49.120 Radio guys, right, so we're sound guys. And I read 169 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:51.759 that you narrated your book as well, which I think 170 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:54.879 is amazing because who better to tell the story and 171 00:09:54.919 --> 00:09:57.320 you have such a powerful voice and a voice that 172 00:09:57.759 --> 00:09:59.279 you know that you just can't forget. 173 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:03.360 That was a no brainer, you know, I hadn't hadn't 174 00:10:03.399 --> 00:10:08.080 really thought of it at first, but the publisher said, 175 00:10:08.360 --> 00:10:10.840 are you going to read the book? And I thought, hm, 176 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:16.360 you know, is that too egotistical to self congratulatory? And 177 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:20.399 the publisher said, no, that that is absolutely natural and 178 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:24.440 that's what the readers and listeners are going to want. 179 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:28.200 So the audiobook is doing well, I'm pleased to say, 180 00:10:28.759 --> 00:10:32.559 And I guess people aren't tired tired of my voice yet. 181 00:10:32.919 --> 00:10:36.279 And it's it's two hundred and seventy two pages. Took 182 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:38.679 it took a while to read, but it was It 183 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:41.679 was fun because I liked the writing. I was, you know, 184 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:44.919 I was reading day after day and thinking to myself, 185 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:46.039 this guy's pretty good. 186 00:10:46.679 --> 00:10:49.039 That that's a nice. 187 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:51.159 Turn phrase there. Yeah. 188 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:57.159 I want to say congratulations on the broadcast over last weekend. 189 00:10:57.559 --> 00:10:59.360 Sink of the mile fights over there in New York. 190 00:10:59.399 --> 00:11:02.960 Congratulations on being back in it and calling fights. I 191 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:05.399 wish there were a few more better fights for you 192 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:06.399 to have called that weekend. 193 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:08.720 I was a little as a pointed, I wish there 194 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:11.720 were a few better rounds. I wish there were anything 195 00:11:11.879 --> 00:11:14.600 to sink my teeth into. It was, you know, from 196 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:19.559 a boxing interst entertainment standpoint, it was dreadful, but it 197 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:21.919 was thrilling to be there, and it was thrilling to 198 00:11:21.960 --> 00:11:24.320 be back on the microphone calling fights. 199 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:27.159 It sounded amazing, but we did get one good thing 200 00:11:27.240 --> 00:11:30.039 coming out of it, and that's Canelo and Crawford confirmed 201 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:33.639 for later this year. Right, your initial thoughts on that 202 00:11:33.799 --> 00:11:35.279 and Crawford coming up and all that. 203 00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:41.120 Stuff, fantastic fight. My my thoughts for a long time were, well, 204 00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:44.759 Terrence is just too small. That's that's too big a 205 00:11:45.080 --> 00:11:50.279 weight gap, and particularly given Canelo's amazing punch resistance, the 206 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:52.600 way that he takes a punch. It was for a 207 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:54.600 long time I was thinking, I'm not sure I can 208 00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:58.320 see Terrence hurting Canelo, and then I realized I was 209 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:03.879 selling Crawford short. The best way to watch Terrence Crawford 210 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:06.399 do something meaningful and spectacular to is tell him he 211 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:09.879 can't do it. He is one of those people who 212 00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:13.279 is absolutely determined to prove that he can do what 213 00:12:13.320 --> 00:12:16.480 you tell him he can't do. Going back to his 214 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:20.799 very first television appearance, which was on the undercart of 215 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:23.720 a top ranked pay per view in Las Vegas, where 216 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:26.679 he was thrown in more or less as a last 217 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:30.879 minute opponent against a rising prospect from South America named 218 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:36.879 Bratis Prescott, and the feeling was, who is Terrence Crawford. 219 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:41.679 Nobody really knows him, and Prescott is a thrilling talent. 220 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:46.080 This is going to be a perfunctory undercard fight. I 221 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:48.440 believe it was on a packout pay per view, and 222 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:53.720 it was Tim Bradley who had told the top ranked 223 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:56.519 people when he knew they were fishing around for an 224 00:12:56.519 --> 00:13:00.840 opponent for Prescott. Bradley had sparred with Crawford, said put 225 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:03.360 Terrence Crawford in against him, I think you'll be surprised 226 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:06.000 at what you get. And Crawford won every round against 227 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:10.759 Bratis Prescott. And that was the very first time I 228 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:14.120 had seen him, so I bonded with him from that 229 00:13:14.279 --> 00:13:19.159 moment forward. He is a deeply intense competitor he is. 230 00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:23.240 I will prove it to you from the core out. 231 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:27.519 And he comes from a river city in the United States, 232 00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:32.399 which is a long and storage tradition in American boxing. 233 00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:37.679 Guys from Detroit, guys from Saint Louis, guys from Gary, Indiana, 234 00:13:38.039 --> 00:13:40.720 all of those are river cities. Ezer Charles was a 235 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:45.679 river city fighter, And so you could go on and on. 236 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:49.000 But at the end of the day, I have managed 237 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:52.639 to wake up in the past few weeks and realize 238 00:13:53.480 --> 00:13:56.960 this is not a mismatch. This is Terrence Crawford. And 239 00:13:57.000 --> 00:13:59.879 this is Terrence Crawford coming up in wait with competent 240 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:04.279 training and adequate preparation, and he's as smart as any 241 00:14:04.279 --> 00:14:08.600 fighter alive. And I just hope for Canelo's sake, I 242 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:11.759 mean Canelo's neighborhood right now, by the way, I'm probably 243 00:14:11.799 --> 00:14:13.919 no more than a half mile from his house. I 244 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:17.840 just hope for Canelo's sake that he is taking Terrence 245 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:20.679 as seriously as he needs to take him. Because he 246 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:24.279 takes him lightly. I think he's going to be shocked. 247 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:27.399 Terrence Crawford is a spectacular competitor. 248 00:14:29.000 --> 00:14:30.480 Hey, Jim, you know what I wanted to ask you 249 00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:35.559 what's like, what's the best or the coolest memorabilia that 250 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:35.960 you have? 251 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:42.879 The coolest memorabilia I have. I have a glove that's 252 00:14:42.919 --> 00:14:47.480 autographed by Muhammad Ali, so yeah, you can't beat that. 253 00:14:47.799 --> 00:14:53.480 I have even more than that. I have a photograph 254 00:14:53.919 --> 00:15:00.240 of Ali with my eight year old daughter, Brooke's now 255 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:05.080 forty four, the day that they spent the whole day 256 00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:08.519 together at the United States Boxing Writers' Association dinner in 257 00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:11.440 New York in nineteen eighty eight, when Brook was an 258 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:15.559 eight year old girl spending the whole day at a 259 00:15:15.639 --> 00:15:21.720 boxing awards event and Ali was there to sign books 260 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:25.399 all day. Tom Hauser had just published his definitive biography 261 00:15:25.559 --> 00:15:27.720 of Muhammad Ali, and there was a moment when I 262 00:15:27.720 --> 00:15:31.159 needed to go out and run some errands in Manhattan traffic, 263 00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:36.720 and I knew that I would be taking a lot 264 00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:38.480 longer to run those errands if Brook were going to 265 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:41.240 go with me. So I turned around in the media 266 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:44.759 room and looked around and said, I need somebody to 267 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:46.879 watch Brook while I go out and run these errands. 268 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:50.000 And Ali instantly stuck his arm up and said leave 269 00:15:50.039 --> 00:15:53.879 her with me, And he wound up spending hours with 270 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:59.879 her magic tricks card tricks, just talking and all day 271 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:03.279 and that night he looked out into the audience at 272 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:06.360 the dinner and saw her getting a little tired, flagging, 273 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:08.879 and he motioned her and brought her up onto the 274 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:13.240 dais and sat her down between him and me. And 275 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:17.200 I have a photo of the two of them together 276 00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:22.200 and me with them, and it's unforgettable. And that's my 277 00:16:23.080 --> 00:16:27.399 single most treasured Beasts of Boxing memorabilia by far. By 278 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:30.840 the way, she's forty four years old now, she's arguably 279 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:35.159 the number one most important art dealer in the entire world. 280 00:16:35.480 --> 00:16:39.240 From that day onward, she has always known that she 281 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:43.799 was special. And I'll never forget riding home to drop 282 00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:46.200 her at her mother's apartment that night, when she turned 283 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:48.799 me in the car and said, Dad, who was that guy? 284 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:53.240 And well, they're going to grow up and read about him. 285 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:55.840 You're going to grow up and know all about that. 286 00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:58.559 You know, there's a lot to tell, and I couldn't 287 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:00.480 possibly tell you all of it right here and now, 288 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:03.360 but I'll just give you this to take to bed tonight. 289 00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:06.359 He's the most famous man in the world, and no 290 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:09.400 one can deny that he's the most famous man in 291 00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:12.680 the world. It's not even an argument. She said, you mean, 292 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:14.200 I just spent most of the day with the most 293 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:16.559 famous man in the world. I said, yes, you did, 294 00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:19.079 and even more to the point, he spent most of 295 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:24.039 the day with you. Wow, the story, whoa, it's in 296 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:28.680 the book. By the I just gave something away, of course, 297 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:32.559 But you know the book is filled with things of 298 00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:35.559 that nature. That but you ask what's the best that's 299 00:17:35.640 --> 00:17:36.079 number one? 300 00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:39.240 Yeah, is there a story that was the toughest to tell? 301 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:45.079 No, it wasn't a story that was the toughest to tell. 302 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:49.440 It was poignant for me because the book is dedicated 303 00:17:49.480 --> 00:17:54.799 to my double widow mother, maybe the most courageous person 304 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:58.359 I've ever known, and my one hundred two year old 305 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:02.440 paternal grandmother. She died at a hunt and two, but 306 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:07.839 you know I knew her for forty five years before that. 307 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:11.440 But at any rate, the book was dedicated to them 308 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:16.559 because they were both NonStop, inveterate storytellers. My storytelling style 309 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:20.799 comes from them, and I can hear them in my 310 00:18:20.839 --> 00:18:24.359 head even today. I heard them the whole time I 311 00:18:24.440 --> 00:18:30.359 was writing the book. And so there's a poignancy in that. 312 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:37.119 My mother raised me selling insurance in Florida, my father 313 00:18:37.319 --> 00:18:39.880 died when I was five years old. I would go 314 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:43.359 spend the summers with my grandmother, so all year long, 315 00:18:43.400 --> 00:18:45.559 I would listen to my mother in the kitchen in 316 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:48.000 Florida telling me her stories. Then I would go to 317 00:18:48.039 --> 00:18:51.680 North Carolina and listen to my grandmother telling me her stories. 318 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:56.279 And both of them shaped me. Had tremendous influence on me. 319 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:00.880 And the storytelling that you read and experience in the 320 00:19:00.920 --> 00:19:06.000 book is directly influenced by those two women. That's amazing. 321 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:10.480 We got to remind everybody again. Two o'clock Wildcard, Jim Saturday, 322 00:19:10.680 --> 00:19:12.400 Jim will be there. You could buy the book there 323 00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:14.519 by the way and have him sign it right there. 324 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:16.440 I guess if you have a copy of your own 325 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:18.400 you can bring it down, but make sure that you 326 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:20.000 get down there. That's all they're going to be signed. 327 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:22.240 That's all he's going to be signing, So is the book. 328 00:19:22.279 --> 00:19:23.920 So make sure you have a book. If not, buy 329 00:19:23.960 --> 00:19:26.799 one there. Two o'clock Wildcard, Jim. I want to ask 330 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:28.480 you one last question, because I know you got to 331 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:31.599 go of all the people that could have written your forward. 332 00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:34.839 I mean, there's you could have Jim had your choice. 333 00:19:35.319 --> 00:19:36.599 Why Taylor Sheridan. 334 00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:40.480 I love him. I think he's amazingly talented. I love 335 00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:41.400 all his shows. 336 00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:43.759 I was just like, Wow, that was a unique pick. 337 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:50.559 I met him at a boxing match in Las Vegas. 338 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:58.319 I met him in a restaurant after Canelo Albres versus 339 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:02.920 Jamel Charlow. And when I went to that dinner, which 340 00:20:03.079 --> 00:20:07.000 was organized by film director Antuine Fuqua that directed me 341 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:11.920 in southbaw Me and Jake Gillenhall and I went into 342 00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:14.480 the restaurant and there was a chair reserved at the 343 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:17.400 end of a long table, about sixteen or eighteen people there, 344 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:19.519 and the chair was right next to this person I 345 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:22.799 didn't recognize, and that was Taylor's share. So I sat 346 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:27.839 down and he proceeded to interview me for two and 347 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:30.839 a half hours. It was a NonStop conversation and it 348 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:33.119 was all boxing. Tell me about this fight, Tell me 349 00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:36.640 about this fight, tell me about this fight. He has 350 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:42.720 encyclopedic knowledge of boxing. And it was a stunning conversation. 351 00:20:43.240 --> 00:20:46.119 And I went back to North Carolina. He went back 352 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:48.440 to Fort Worth and he started calling me late at night. 353 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:52.160 I reached a point where every time the phone would 354 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:55.079 ring past eleven o'clock at night, my wife would say, 355 00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:59.240 that's your boyfriend, and it was my boyfriend, and we 356 00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:03.359 were talking boxing NonStop. So then the second time I 357 00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:06.519 saw him face to face again after a fight in 358 00:21:06.599 --> 00:21:11.119 Las Vegas, walked into a restaurant, same general group, the 359 00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:15.759 Hollywood group, although Taylor doesn't go to Hollywood. He's not Hollywood. 360 00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:21.279 He is fort Worth and I walked in saw him 361 00:21:21.799 --> 00:21:23.920 and he said, so, what you been doing. I said, well, 362 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:27.039 I'm writing my autobiography. He said, well, I hope I'm 363 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:29.960 writing the forward. I said, Taylor, I was going to 364 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:32.319 ask you for a blurb. I know how busy you are. 365 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:34.920 He said, no, I don't want to write a blurb. 366 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:37.880 I want to write the forward. And I went back 367 00:21:37.880 --> 00:21:40.240 to Chapel Hill and told my as told to author, 368 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:43.519 Taylor Sheridan's going to write the forward. Oh, how could 369 00:21:43.559 --> 00:21:46.160 you fall for that kind of Hollywood bs. He's the 370 00:21:46.200 --> 00:21:49.200 busiest writer in the world. Everybody knows. He's writing three 371 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:51.839 different series right now. He's not going to have time 372 00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:54.160 to write the forward for the book. I said, I 373 00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:56.000 don't know what you want me to do. He told 374 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:58.160 me he was going to write the forward. I'm certainly 375 00:21:58.160 --> 00:21:59.720 not going to call him and tell him that he's not, 376 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:02.680 et cetera. So the forward showed up on the day 377 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:06.720 of the deadline, perfectly written forward by Taylor Sheridan. What 378 00:22:06.839 --> 00:22:10.000 a gift. That's That's one amazing gift. I did a 379 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:12.839 bookstore appearance in Chapel Hill last week with my neighbor 380 00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:16.680 John Grisham, who is the number one fiction selling author 381 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:20.240 in the United States. We sold a hundred books at 382 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:23.720 that bookstore appearance. Why because Grisham was sitting with me 383 00:22:23.960 --> 00:22:27.160 and saying, you know, you've got to read this book, 384 00:22:27.240 --> 00:22:29.599 and he's another one. When I told a friend of 385 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:32.000 mine I was going to ask Grisham to write a blurb, 386 00:22:32.039 --> 00:22:34.039 he said, oh no, no, don't even bother. You're just 387 00:22:34.119 --> 00:22:37.279 going to embarrass yourself. Grisham doesn't write blurbs for other 388 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:40.359 people's books. So then a week after that, I was 389 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:41.920 out of lunch with him and I said, well, I 390 00:22:41.960 --> 00:22:43.880 was going to ask you for a blurb, but somebody 391 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:46.400 who knows a lot, seems to know everything, told me 392 00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:48.960 that you don't write blurbs. Who the hell said that? 393 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:51.599 Where did you get that? I write blurbs all the time. 394 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:53.640 I'm eager to write a blurb for your book. So 395 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:55.920 I got that. And then the other thing that happened, 396 00:22:56.359 --> 00:23:00.720 which is ironic beyond ironic, is that George Foreman died 397 00:23:00.759 --> 00:23:04.519 two weeks before the publication date. The title comes from 398 00:23:04.519 --> 00:23:09.279 my call of Foreman's win over Michael Moorer. The blurb 399 00:23:09.319 --> 00:23:11.759 he wrote for the back cover was one of his 400 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:17.720 last public acts. There are the prologue. The first thing 401 00:23:17.720 --> 00:23:19.880