When Ali Met The Beatles is a Tale Worth Re-Telling

In what may well have been the very most 60s moment of the entire 1960s, the Beatles showed up to Muhammad Ali’s gym on Feb. 18, 1964. These are the mop-top Beatles — “I want to hold your hand” was No. 1 on Billboard.

The Associated Press recounts the tale today in a feature called “The day Muhammad Ali met the Beatles.”

The story was, the Beatles had been on Ed Sullivan a few days before, and they were blowing up, but most adults didn’t know much about them.

"“I wasn’t a teenage girl,” Lipsyte said. “I really didn’t know who the Beatles were or what they would become.”"

That’s Robert Lipsyte, who you may know as the former ombudsman for ESPN. In 1964 he was a features writer for The New York Times, on assignment in Miami to cover the heavyweight title bout between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston.

So Lipsyte is at this gym covering Ali, and this shaggy British boy band shows up wanting to meet Ali and complaining the whole time.

"“They’re little guys with lots of hair and all wearing white terrycloth cabana jackets,” Lipsyte said. “They were yelling and cursing because they had just been told Clay wasn’t there yet, and they wanted to leave. But these big security types just kind of herded them up the stairs.”"

Liston took one look at ’em and said “no pictures,” but eventually Clay bursts through a door going, “‘Come on, Beatles, let’s go make some money.”

Then they went through this whole act of a photo shoot, Ali knocking them over in various whimsical ways. The AP has the legendary photos.

Clay played along until the Beatles left.

"After the workout, Clay went back to the dressing room for a rubdown, and Lipsyte crowded in with him. Clay recognized him as being in the room earlier, and beckoned him over with a question. “Who were those little sissies?” he asked."

The 60s, baby.