“THE GREATEST” & PEDRO PART OF CHINESE BOXING HISTORY
Muhammad Ali & Pedro Fernandez
San Francisco, CA– A multitude of promotional entities have claimed to have been the first to bring boxing to the Peoples Republic of China. While I’ve heard an Asian-American promoter of no consequence conjure up this falsehood as well as Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, neither is true. In 1993, I was part of a three-man TV team with Hugh Malay and Arnie Rosenthal that televised the Leonzer Barber-Mike Sedillo WBO 168 lb. title bout in Beijing. Dubbed the “The Brawl At The Wall,” this was the first boxing event since the Mao take over in 1949, and while Bob Arum was there, it was only because Harold Smith needed him for “window dressing.”
LAST TRIP TO CHINA GOT A LITTLE BIT SCARY!
In 1994, I was again part of boxing history as we televised a card from Macao that ended in a riot when the aforementioned Harold Smith put together a “fixed” fight and the TV crew had no idea what was going on until the two guys got in the ring. One was a Chinese national MMA hero and the other a former wrestler Smith had conned into taking a “bump” or a “dive.” The dive was so over sold that the crowd in Macao started to riot. That is a story for another day. Of my three trips to China, this picture with Muhammad Ali was on my second Chinese excursion as we are on our own private railroad car nearing Hong Kong after a week on the mainland.
ANY OTHER AUTOGRAPHS LIKE THIS ONE?
“To Pedro with Love, Muhammad Ali.” Ever seen Ali sign a photo with that verbiage?
Pedro Fernandez