Now I’ll tell you right from the start, that I’m a huge Elvis Presley fan, and have been for decades. I’ve been to Graceland 4 times to see his home, and the only music I listen to at the gym is my Elvis music. My love for boxing and Elvis began pretty much at the same time, during the period just after graduating from high school. The passions have intertwined during my adult life, and this blog is about Elvis and his personal interest in boxing.
Elvis began studying karate in the 50’s, and achieved black belt status after years of practice. He also loved professional boxing, and in 1962 starred in the movie Kid Galahad. HIs character Walter Gulick, becomes a boxing star after leaving the service by fighting for his manager, who needs to pay off his gambling debts. Of all of his movies, it’s one of my favorites, and his acting performance is really good, quieting a lot of the critics who said Elvis couldn’t act.
In 1973, while at the International Hilton in Las Vegas, Muhammad Ali came to visit Elvis in his suite. The two became instant and lifelong friends, and remained so until Elvis’ death in August of 1977. To show his admiration and respect for Ali, Elvis gifted him with a beautiful $10,000 boxing robe, which had the words ‘The People’s Choice’ written on the back. The robe was supposed to say ‘The People’s Champion’, but the makers messed up. Ali was deeply moved and grateful, and wore it into the ring for his bout with Joe Bugner on February 14, 1973 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Six weeks later, Muhammad wore the same robe into the ring for his fight with Ken Norton in San Diego. After Norton upset Ali, and broke his jaw during the bout, Ali never wore the robe again.
Ali said something amazing about Elvis with the words “I don’t admire nobody, but Elvis Presley was the sweetest, most humble and nicest man you’d want to know.”
Elvis even visited Ali at his Deer Lake training camp in Pennsylvania in 1975, and stayed close until Elvis sadly passed away.
You can realistically say that the friendship between the two men, was with the two most famous people on the entire planet. There still isn’t a person alive who doesn’t know who you are talking about when you mention Ali or Elvis, and that will remain so as long as there is a planet Earth. ,
No one has had an impact on my life musically more than Elvis. While I never saw him in person, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing well over 200 live performances by a host of different entertainers, in both Atlantic City, Philadelphia and in Las Vegas. While many were great, no one can touch Elvis, who I call ‘The Friend I Never Met’.
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