James McNichol has shared moments with some of the most famous celebrities of the last four decades. Few have meant as much to him as the minutes he spent with boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
McNichol, who has lived in Durango the last 10 years since retiring from acting and moving from Santa Barbara, California, was in New York City at the right time in 1977. While attending a function at American Broadcasting Company headquarters with his sister and fellow child actor Kristy McNichol, Ali walked into the room and the focus immediately shifted toward the three-time World Heavyweight Champion and 1960 Olympic gold medalist.
“Ali was a superhero,” McNichol said Friday in a phone interview with The Durango Herald while Ali’s memorial service was held in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. “When he walked in, he was somebody where you just said, ‘Yup, he’s the man.’ He was just incredible.”
Ali died last week at the age of 74 after battling Parkinson’s disease for more than 30 years. The world collectively mourned the boxer known as “The Greatest,” and stories were told of his incredible ability to touch the hearts of anyone who met him.
“He had personality, and words just flowed,” McNichol said. “He was a magnet, and it was truly a blessing to be near him. We didn’t talk shop, we had fun. He let us punch him, and we were boxing him in the elevator. It was really wild. We got to touch the ‘King of bad.’”
McNichol was sitting in a restaurant when he learned of Ali’s passing. He knew Ali had been admitted into the hospital but said he didn’t think twice that anything could happen to him. Overcome by grief, McNichol found an old photograph taken of himself with his sister and Ali and shared it with family and friends.
“Were so blessed to be in his presence, not a bad bone in his body,” McNichol wrote. “An amazing father, champion, a gentle man with his sense of humor...unstoppable. He will always be missed, loved and revered, till the end of time.”
McNichol compared the loss of Ali to that of John Denver, John F. Kennedy Jr. and Princess Diana.
“When you lose warriors like this and they leave the planet, it’s like a giant hole that can never be filled again because their work was so important,” he said.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
