Elvis & Ali: The special bond between ‘The King’ and ‘The Greatest’

A celebration of Elvis Week 2019

Special to the Times One was the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time. The other was the greatest Rock n’ Roll singer of all time. Together, they were two of the most celebrated figures of the 20th century. Muhammad Ali and Elvis Presley might seem like the unlikeliest of friends, but the two men shared a genuine fondness for one another that lasted until Elvis’s untimely death on August 16, 1977.

Now fans of “the King” and “the Greatest” can get a glimpse of that friendship and the life and times of Muhammad Ali in a new exhibit at Graceland.

“Muhammad Ali: Greatest of All Times” is one of the highlights on display at Graceland in its new 80,000 square foot state-of-the-art Graceland Exhibition Center. The new showcase opened in May and is located next to the Elvis Presley’s Graceland complex and will host traveling exhibits that will offer visitors and families a chance to explore new worlds outside of Elvis.

“Ali” celebrates his rise from humble roots in Louisville, Kentucky, to becoming the three-time heavyweight champion of the world and “The Greatest of All Time.”

Born Cassius Clay, Jr., the young boy got his start as a boxer when he threatened to “whup” whoever stole his bike. A Louisville police officer urged the 12 year-old that he better learn how to box. You can see the bike (or one just like it, I should say) that started it all in the exhibit. A timeline will walk you through all of the major milestones of Ali’s celebrated career from his Summer Olympics gold medal win at age 18, to his conversion to Islam and taking on the name Muhammad Ali in 1961, to his surprise TKO against Sonny Liston in 1964 where he won the world heavyweight championship at age 22. It was at that fight where he taunted the champ and turned the pre-bout weigh-in into a media circus then brazenly shouted to the ringside press flowing his win “I am the greatest.” The exhibit also details the controversy when Ali refused to be drafted into the Army in 1966 because of his religious views and opposition to the Vietnam War and was convicted of draft evasion and stripped of his titles. His actions made him a hero of the counterculture. Ali also became a high profile supporter of the Civil Rights Movement.

Ali’s reputation as the greatest heavyweight champion of all time was further cemented by his historic bouts with Joe Frazier and George Foreman in the 1970s. His fight with Foreman, known as the “Rumble in the Jungle,” has been called the greatest sporting event of the 20th century and was watched by an estimated one million viewers worldwide. The exhibit showcases several pairs of boxing gloves from those matchups and video clips where visitors can rediscover the brash, trash-talking Ali and his rhyming spoken poetry at his best. You can also put some gloves on and take a few jabs at a real training bag and even try the famous “Ali Shuffle.”

But it is Ali’s connection to Elvis that may surprise you the most. On February 2, 1973 Ali attended Elvis’s show at the Las Vegas International Hotel.

After the show, Ali was invited backstage where he posed for pictures. Elvis presented Muhammad Ali with a custom designed robe with rhinestones and jewels similar to the jumpsuits he wore on stage and the words “People’s Choice” on the back. It was supposed to say “People’s Champion” and Elvis was upset by the mistake, but Ali wore it anyway. Ali presented Elvis with a pair of autographed boxing gloves inscribed “You are the greatest.”

Ali, it turns out, was a big Elvis fan. Asked in the 1970s who his favorite singer was, Ali said that Elvis was his second favorite after Sam Cooke.

“When I was 15 years old I saw Elvis on TV. I wanted to be Elvis,” Ali told author Tim Shanahan. “Other kids in the neighborhood were listening to Ray Charles and James Brown, but I listened to Elvis. I admired him so much and I decided that if I was going to be famous, I’d do it just like him. He’s one of the reasons I wanted to entertain people and be loved by people.” Ali was particularly impressed that Elvis bought his mother a house and a car when he became rich. “After my first pro fight, I bought my mother a pink Cadillac…and after my second fight I bought my folks a house, just like Elvis,” Ali said.

Ferdie Pacheco, Ali’s fight doctor who was there when Elvis gave Ali the robe, said that it was something to see, the meeting of the two icons. “They really didn’t know what to do with each other,” Pacheco recalled. “Obviously Elvis was enthralled to be in Ali’s presence, but so was Ali. He loved Elvis. Both of them looked at each other like good-looking women would look at each other and appraise how they look.” Ali wore the robe in his match against Joe Bugner on February 14, 1973 at the Las Vegas Convention Center and won in a 15 round decision to successfully defend his North American title.

Before the fight the referee can be heard saying ‘That’s quite a robe Muhammed.”

Ali wore the robe a second time on March 31, 1974 at the Sports Arena in San Diego for his match against Ken Norton. Howard Cosell asked Ali “Where did you get that beautiful robe?” Ali told him “Elvis gave it to me.” Ali suffered a broken jaw and lost the match and never wore the robe in the ring again.

With the closing of his February concert run, Elvis invited Ali to drive back with him to Los Angeles in his gold plated Cadillac station wagon but Ali had plans to return to Louisville. Ali said later that he regretted not taking Elvis up on his invitation.

“I always wanted Elvis to drive me down Beale Street in a convertible so his hometown could see that Muhammad Ali and Elvis were good friends,” Ali said. “Then I’d bring him to Louisville and do the same thing.” The two would remain friends.

Before Elvis’s dinner show performance at the Las Vegas International on January 28, 1975, Elvis watched the Ali-Frazier fight. He went on stage and after a few songs told the audience “Good evening ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to our show. In case you’re interested Muhammad Ali won the fight in the 12th round.’ The audience roared for Ali.

On August 16, 1985, Ali accepted an invitation from longtime Elvis friend George Klein to speak at his annual memorial service to Elvis during Elvis Week. Ali gave a heart warming speech about his friendship with Elvis and sang a few lines a capella of his favorite Elvis song – “Don’t Be Cruel.” “When it comes to boxing, nobody has the class, the style, the wit, the speed, the beauty of Ali,” he said.

“And when it comes to singing, nobody had everything like Elvis.

I’ll tell the world, Elvis was the greatest of all time.” Ali also visited the Meditation Garden at Graceland to pay his respects. “People don’t realize what they have till it’s gone,” Ali said.

“Like President Kennedy, there was no one like him, the Beatles, and my man Elvis Presley.”

The robe Elvis gave him is now on display at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville.

In addition to “Ali,” the Graceland Exhibition Center is also hosting “National Geographic Presents: Earth Explorers,” which brings the adventures of the men and women who venture into dangerous and remote parts of the world to discover new places, and “Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum Presents: A Century of the American Motorcycle” which explores a century of developers, inventors, and dreamers who pushed the envelope on what two wheels can do.