It took me 45 years to get my exclusive one on one interview with Muhammad Ali to the big screen. Today marks the 1st anniversary for the debut November 23, 2019 at the Miracle Theater on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC. On October 30, 1974 Muhammad Ali shocked the world when he knocked out the undisputed and undefeated 25 year-old George Foreman to become the heavyweight champion for second time.
This was his first shock, he saved his second shock for his arrival back in the United States. His for first call for an exclusive one on one interview was not to Ed Bradley (60 Minutes) not Bryant Gumble (NBC) and not to Howard Cosell (ABC). He made a little unknown sports talk show host in Washington, DC, The Chosen One. Harold Bell of W-U-S-T radio was “The Chosen One.” Ali shocked the sports media again.
I would like to take this space and thank those of you who made this great interview on the screen of the Miracle Theater with “The Greatest” possible. My wife Hattie (we will also celebrate our 52nd wedding anniversary on Monday), Rahman Ali, Rodney Brown and Wil Williams, Luke Moore, John ‘Turk’ Edwards, Andrew Johnson, Furman Marshall, Lee Jones, Willie Wood, Roy Jefferson, George Nock, Maggie Linton, Jackie Jones, James Young, Gary Johnson, About Time Magazine, Johnny Sample, Jim Clemons, Chuck Atkins, Don Baker, Larry Law, Harold Burke, Harry Horton, Victor Perry, Juliet Main, Ernest Clover, the No Name Band, Robin Sugar Williams, Shaza, Phila. Jake, Dog Turner, Zack, Slippery Jackson, Cornell Jones, Nook Williams, and cast of hundreds of others who lifted me up and refuse to let me fall.
I celebrate with a heavy heart that aches because as we head into the Thanksgiving holidays 2020 will also mark the deadliest year in the history of Black America.
George Nock in Black and White
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