ITV Documentaries

When Ali Came to Britain (2012x2)

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This one hour documentary on ITV1 marks the 70th birthday of the world's most famous living sportsman - Muhammad Ali - by looking at his five-decade relationship with Britain. It hears from the people who met Ali during his many visits to the country he came to love and which came to love him...from the 17 year old boxer who found himself sparring against the World Champion live on TV to the superfan who became a close friend of the superstar after campaigning for Ali when he was banned from boxing in the 1960’s. The programme also hears from Angelo Dundee, Ali’s trainer, who was in his corner for all of his UK fights, from British boxers Brian London and Richard Dunn who faced Ali in the ring, and from the children of his first British opponent - and later close friend - Henry Cooper. The documentary calls upon rare footage of Ali’s visits to Britain as well as previously unseen home movie footage of the former Heavyweight Champion in this country. Muhammad Ali first visited Britain in 1963 to take on British heavyweight champion Henry Cooper. We hear how 'Henry’s Hammer' felled Ali in the fourth round and find out about the great controversies of this fight – from the 'fixed' weigh-in to Ali's split glove and the final word on whether Angelo Dundee used banned smelling salts to help his man recover from that famous knock down. Ali was to fight two more bouts in Britain – a second fight against Henry Cooper and a mismatch against Brian London who speaks of his regret at not having a go at the World Champion, “I thought 'don’t get hurt, Brian' so I didn’t try - which was wrong, totally wrong. I wish I could live my life again” Meanwhile, Yorkshireman Richard Dunn tells us what it was like to face Ali at his peak – and of the hero’s welcome he received back in Bradford after he had been soundly beaten. We hear of the support Britain provided when Ali faced jail in the US for refusing conscription and of the lifelong friendsh