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Fair Long Beach reacts to Muhammad’s Ali’s death
Actor Billy Crystal to give eulogy at boxer’s funeral on Friday
For people around the world, the news that former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali died last Friday at age 74 undoubtedly spurred memories of the boxer’s greatest fights, grandiose trash talk and unyielding stance against the Vietnam War that brought charges of draft evasion during the prime of his career. But many Long Beach residents also remember him as a giver.
“The City of Long Beach joins the rest of the world in mourning the loss of Muhammad Ali,” the city wrote on its Facebook page. “A true champion, both in and out of the ring, Ali was instrumental in helping raise several hundred thousand dollars of Sandy relief funds that were donated to the city by Billy and Janice Crystal in 2013.”
Crystal, Long Beach’s own actor and comedian, joined forces with Ali to raise money for his hometown after Superstorm Sandy left parts of it destroyed. He called the boxing legend and asked if he could participate in Ali’s annual Celebrity Fight Night, which raises money for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at Barrow Neurological Institute. The two had become friends after Ali appeared on Crystal’s first television show in 1974, and the comedian performed at Ali’s retirement tribute five years later, where he unleashed his hilariously uncanny impersonation of one of the world’s most recognized athletes.
At Ali’s event, with the help of other actors and comedians like Steve Martin, Robert De Niro and Robin Williams, Crystal was able to raise $888,000 for Long Beach, evening out the donation to $1 million by contributing $112,000 on his own. Crystal thanked “the greatest of all time” when he gifted the funds to the city, and will give a eulogy at Ali’s funeral on Friday in Louisville, Kentucky.
“He was a very important figure in boxing history and also in our social history in this country,” said professional boxer Seanie Monaghan, a Long Beach native who competes in the light heavyweight division. “There’s something magic about that guy.”
Aside from lauding Ali’s athleticism, Monaghan said he admired him for giving up three years of his career to stand up for his principles. In 1964, Ali — born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. — settled on his new name after joining the black Muslim group called the Nation of Islam. He was drafted into the military in 1967, but refused to fight in the Vietnam War due to religious beliefs. He was charged for committing a felony, stripped of his world title and was found guilty, sentenced to five years in prison. Ali appealed his conviction, which was eventually overturned, but had to sit out from boxing in the meantime.
“He took on a lot of issues that African Americans and other people need to have certain rights,” community activist Marcus Tinker said, “He stood up for what he believed in and because of people like him, we are able to have certain opportunities we have today.”
Ali announced that he had Parkinson’s disease in 1984, as he battled with the degenerative disorder for decades until he died on June 3 in Phoenix, Arizona. He was one that many people will try to emulate…just not Monaghan while he’s in the ring, as Ali’s unorthodox techniques are reserved only for the greatest.
“He had a very unique style…as far as basics go, he did the opposite,” Monaghan said. “If I tried to do what Muhammad Ali did, my coach would be screaming at me the whole time, but he made it work for him. He was just a special talent and a special guy.”
