Reliving Ali’s fight at Stateline
By Steve Sneddon, Reno Gazette-Journal
Muhammad Ali fought professionally in Northern Nevada only once, on Nov. 21, 1972, at the Sahara-Tahoe Hotel (now Hard Rock) in Stateline. Ali won the match via an eighth-round knockout of Bob Foster. The Reno Evening Gazette’s Steve Sneddon covered the match and wrote about Ali in his column, “From My Corner.” Ali died June 3 at the age of 74.
The guy that wears the white shoes did his thing.
No, Pat Boone wasn’t in the area.
We’re talking about “the guy” — Muhammad Ali.
Maybe Boone discovered white shoes but Ali has shown everyone what they can do.
The Ali footwork that the fans saw at the Sahara-Tahoe Hotel was the pre-1967 variety.
Ali was a real treat, a gentleman in every respect.
The SAHARA TAHOE was a parade of bejeweled fur covered blacks the likes of which had not been seen here at Tahoe. Howard Cosell and the Oakland Raiders the place was a huge party for days!~
I was the runner that Sahara asked to run with Ali the week he was there to fight Bob Foster
Prior to the Ali-Foster fight, Muhammad Ali and Bob Foster had their workouts outside. For two bucks the public got a beer and a seat to watch the workout.
The day I went, after the workout was over and about 1/2 the fans had left Muhammad yelled “STOP”. One guy in the audience had been heckling Ali during the whole workout.
Ali continued saying “My Grandma was right. When I was a boy growing up on a farm, there was a mule that loved to bite me and kick me. One day I took up a two by four and I smacked that mule across the side of the head. My Grandma saw what I had done and yelled at me that if I kept hitting that old mule I would end up killing that mule and that mule would come back and haunt me. The next day that mule kicked me again and I wound up with that 2×4 and hit that mule as hard as I could and I killed that mule.”
Ali continued “My Grand Ma was right, cause there’s that ASS out there now, haunting me.”
I don’t think that anyone in that audience spent a better 2 dollars ever, including the heckler who was laughing as hard as anyone else.