Loew: Ali brought the art to boxing

June 5, 2016 at 12:10a.m.

• Ali will draw world to hometown for funeral

By BRIAN DZENIS

Even on a closed-circuit TV, Muhammad Ali exuded greatness.

To see his fights in Youngstown, viewers could pay a fee to watch boxing matches on a TV in Stambaugh Auditorium. Jack Loew was too young to go to these fights, but he had an in. He couldn’t buy a ticket because he was under 18, but his grandfather ran the concession stand. It was through him that the future owner of Southside Boxing Gym saw an unprecedented sight: an agile heavyweight whose mouth moved as fast as his feet. Loew was enthralled.

“There were a lot of brawlers then, and I love guys who brawl, but he brought the art to boxing,” Loew said.

Ali died Friday night in a Phoenix hospital of respiratory failure. He was 74.

“The Greatest” will be remembered for his outspoken personality, his fierce objection to the Vietnam War and for being one of the greatest fighters in his sport.

The classic 1965 photo of him towering over a defeated Sonny Liston hangs in gyms across the world, including Loew’s office at Southside.

By sheer force of personality, he became more than a champion boxer.

“He was the perfect combination of entertainment, celebrity and sport,” said Dr. Adam Earnhardt, a professor at Youngstown State University who studies sports identity and fandom. “When people are attracted to a team or athlete, there’s usually a family, geographic or social factor. He transcended all of that.

“He wasn’t afraid to say what he thought,” Earnhardt said. You don’t hear the things he said from other athletes.”

Ali talked a lot of trash wherever he went, and a couple of local boxers got to see that up close.

Warren fighter Earnie Shavers became friends with Ali in 1973, and the two squared off in 1977 in Madison Square Garden.

“He talked the whole time. He’d say ‘Shavers, throw some punches,’ and I’d tell him ‘You throw some punches,’” Shavers said.

Shavers lost in a unanimous decision, but Ali had high praise for his opponent, telling reporters “Earnie hit me so hard, it shook my kinfolk back in Africa.”

The two never took the fighting or the trash talk personally and until his death, the two would speak a couple times a year.

“When I fought him in ’77, it was like the whole world had its eyes on you,” Shavers said. “It gave me a lot of exposure, and people still come up and ask me for my autograph.”

After Youngstown native Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini won the WBA World Lightweight title in 1982, he went on a promotion tour in Italy. Ali also was on that tour, and the two met while filming TV promos. In between takes, Mancini said Ali would make noise with his fingers that sounded like crickets. Mancini’s father became annoyed and threatened him, but Ali responded with a laugh and a hug.

“Ali was not my style,” Mancini said. “He brought psychological warfare not just into boxing, but into all the sports, but he did it tongue-in-cheek and not everyone immediately got it.

“In the ’60s, there was a lot of social upheaval and he talked brash and he was flashy, going on about ‘I’m too pretty,’” Mancini added. “A lot of people thought, ‘This guy needs to get his [expletive] kicked.”

The most divisive moment of Ali’s career came in 1967 when he refused to be inducted into the military to fight in the Vietnam War. It cost him four years of his prime as his heavyweight title and his boxing license was stripped from him.

“It was his one move I didn’t agree with,” Shavers said. “I think if your country calls on you to serve, you do it. We never discussed it and he never brought it up.”

Ali was able to prevent a fall from grace during his ordeal simply by continuing to be a great quote.

“He took a political stance, and he did it with gusto. He didn’t issue a press release, he got in front of the camera,” Earnhardt said. “With Ali, you always had a quote or soundbite, regardless if it’s a fight with the government or with somebody.”

Harry Meshel, former Ohio state senator, supervisor on the International Boxing Council and World War II veteran, is more forgiving of Ali. In his mind, he’s not the worst of those who dodged the draft.

“I’m not offended; I was more offended by rich folks buying their way out,” Meshel said. “These families put their kids in the ministry, sent them to medical school or to Canada. The lesser-off didn’t have a choice.

“He didn’t want to do something that he didn’t believe in.”

Loew concurred.

“He stuck up for what for what he believed. He was a great ambassador for peace.”

Two years after his return to boxing in 1972, Ali made an appearance in Youngstown as part of a fundraiser for fighter Bobby Bell, who suffered from muiltiple sclerosis.

Meshel hosted the event at Stambaugh Auditorium and had a film projector and invited Ali to commentate on one of his fights. After his ordeal, he still had the magic ability to get people to root against him, then love him.

“He was just friendly as hell,” Meshel said. “He made fun of the white folks, then wink at me.”