SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Arriving in Beijing as part of a 3-man TV team that would broadcast the first-ever televised professional boxing card from the Peoples Republic of China, I learned that there had NOT been a fight there since Mao’s Communist takeover in 1949!
Tight with Ali on Our First China Trip
Muhammad Ali, his wife Lonnie and Pedro as a trio were “repulsed by the food” the Chinese prepared for us in 1993. We were doing “Intermittent Fasting” decades before it was a fad! Turns out the best food we could find in Beijing was McDonalds.
Chinese Mickey D’s Nothing like in the U.S.
The last time I ate at McDonald’s was circa 2012 in Budapest, Hungary and the food was good. The same can be said of Beijing where Ronald McDonald saved us from freezing in 18’ degree weather under sunny skies. Chinese winters I found out can be brutal!
Muhammad Ali, Pedro Fernandez & Howard Bingham
Chinese put Beautiful Spy on Me
And while I had met a United Flight Attendant on the way over that I would see for a couple of years, the Chinese Government “assigned Pedro” a tour guide of sorts. What I remember “most” was an abundance of cleavage, her French name Antoinette and she spoke near perfect English.
“Ant Knocks” on My Room Door
And while I was certain Antoinette was a “Chinese Government Agent,” it didn’t take away from her stunning looks. Looking through the peep hole at what Pedro concluded was a plot to “set me up” in a Communist country, I just DIDN’T answer the door!
Chinese Thought Pedro was an Agent?
That’s the only logical conclusion I’ve come up over the years is that the Chinese Government thought that with my San Francisco Police Dept. background, that Pedro was, don’t laugh, a Spy! And repeatedly Ant would say, “I am here to help you Mr. Pedro” all the while flashing those 36 C’s. I asked around, Pedro was the “only-est” American offered a tour guide on what was my first of seven trips to China.
They Brought Ali “Bacon and Sausage”
Four days in, Muhammad, Lonnie & myself, the three of us are “dropping weight” due to “undercooked eggs” and are you ready for this? The Chinese prepared Bacon & Pork Sausage with those runny eggs and the Ali’s ARE Muslim’s who don’t eat Pork. We ended up doing Mickey D’s “so often” I still can recall Muhammad liked Quarter Pounders, Big Mac’s & Milkshakes.
Pick Up the Phone and It’s Ant
Having ducked my “Lady Spy” for a day or so, the phone rings at 7 AM and it’s her. “Mr. Pedro, when will you be ready to go sight-seeing? I have a private car for us.” And AGAIN folks, nobody else on this trip is getting this kind of attention from a “stunner.” Even Muhammad’s eyes got a “little wide” after Ant “flashed” him too!
Ant Making Pedro Feel Even More Paranoid
I tell Ant we’ll “meet in the lobby at 10 AM” all the while knowing I’ll be on my way to the Great Wall of China via limousine at 9 AM. So I hit the lobby @ 8:30 or 90 minutes before the scheduled 10 AM ditch job AND Ant is “already there.”
How Did She Know Our Times?
Further proof she was a Chinese spy, Ant “knew exactly what time we were leaving,” AND that I was trying to “ditch her.”
Limo Semi-Packed So I put Ant on a Bus
The schleps, maybe that’s the wrong term, those folks NOT with the royal family meaning Muhammad & Lonnie, they made the 76 mile trek in ‘23’ degree weather from Beijing to the Great Wall on a bus, again with the sun shining seemingly brighter than Las Vegas and yet it was “bone chilling” cold!
10 Minutes on the Wall and Back in the Limo
Not only was it 23’ degrees Fahrenheit & sunny, the winds were ripping. So Ali tells me once we’re out of the car, “Let’s take some pictures & get back to the hotel.” Photographer Howard Bingham did his thing and before you knew it, we were back in the Limo & the heat was on high!
Remembering Ali Speaking About Race Often
On our way back to Beijing, with the actual fight card featuring Leeonzer Barber, Mike Weaver, Mike Sedillo, et al is 3 days away. Somehow the subject of Racism came up & Ali blurts out. “The Chinese they were the original Niggers. Then the White oppressors realized Black men were “stronger” and we replaced the Chinese.”
Muhammad Ali on Slavery Today
“Today, it’s the Mexican’s being exploited by the White Man. At the end of this the 20th century, the Mexican is the new Nigger slave.. Same role, different race.’
Please Let That Sink in for a Minute and…
You realize that Ali’s spouts on Racism are even truer NOW than they were 30 years ago! Who is abused more racially in 21st century America than the “hardest working” ethnic group on the planet, the Mexicans? Nobody!
Launching Website and Blog in Several Weeks
Having secured the rights to www.TheLastRealBoxingWriter.com I expect to have it up and running in the next 6-8 weeks we will be developing a site to coexist with https://substack.com/@pedrofernandez393511
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Pedro Fernandez
Note: Mr. Fernandez is a multi-award winning writer whose career in Journalism has taken him to 34 countries. He is also a former San Francisco Policeman who was Muhammad Ali’s “Executive Protection” & “Publicist” on some international junkets. Pedro also attained a National Ranking in amateur boxing and along the way snagged 4 Golden Gloves championships.
In addition, Pedro hosts “Ring Talk Worldwide” a syndicated radio talk show airing on the Sports Byline USA Network that has been on the air 41 years! You can watch it ANYTIME DELAYED ON YOU TUBE OR LIVE Sat & Sun @ 11:06 AM PT on YouTube or Twitch.TV via the Sports Byline USA channels. Find Pedro on Facebook at RINGTALK