People forget that Ali once talked a man off the ledge

by:Nick Roush06/04/16

@RoushKSR

Screen Shot 2016-06-04 at 1.08.40 PM As the stories from throughout Mohammad Ali's life are being retold, you see plenty of perspectives that made up his one of a kind personality.  Often referred to as a humanitarian, this story embodies his mantra as "The People's Champ." He was for the people, no matter who they were. It was January of 1981.  "I'm no good," the 21-year-old man shouted, leaning out over a ledge nine floors above Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. Yahoo Sports retells the man's story, “I'm going to jump!" The man was suffering, claiming the Vietcong were after him, until Ali appeared in a window next to him.  Ali heard about the man's plight while tending to business a few blocks away.  He came as quick as he could to help.

"I'm coming out," Ali shouted. "Don't shoot me!"

"I won't shoot you," the man said. "I don't even have a gun."

Ali then began the delicate work of bringing the man in off the ledge. “I’m your brother,” Ali shouted. “I love you and I wouldn't lie to you ... I want to help you.”

The man told Ali that he couldn't find a job, that no one loved him. "Why do you worry about me?" the man shouted to Ali. "I'm a nobody."

The former heavyweight champ replied that to him, the man wasn't a nobody.

His efforts appeared to be futile a few times during the 20-minute talk, but eventually, the man came down from the ledge.  Afterwards, Ali pledged to help the man find a job and speak with his family members who called him a "nobody."  Watch the story from CBS News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=72&v=LFCH9QdMd2Y [Yahoo Sports]

Discuss This Article

Comments have moved.

Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.

KSBoard

2024-03-28