{"id":79712,"date":"2025-08-20T08:28:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T08:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/79712\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T08:28:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T08:28:08","slug":"when-muhammad-ali-stepped-into-the-ring-at-paisley-ice-rink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/79712\/","title":{"rendered":"When Muhammad Ali stepped into the ring at Paisley Ice Rink"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s 60 years since Muhammad Ali stepped into the ring at Paisley Ice Rink for an exhibition bout against his friend and sparring partner, Jimmy Ellis.<\/p>\n

The visit came just months after Ali \u2013 then only 23 years old \u2013 stunned the world by knocking out Sonny Liston to become the global heavyweight champion.<\/p>\n

Fresh from that seismic victory, the man who styled himself \u201cThe Greatest\u201d embarked on an ambitious exhibition tour, which brought him, briefly, to Renfrewshire.<\/p>\n

For one local teenager, the memory has never faded. Retired boxing promoter Tommy Gilmour was only 13 when Ali came to Scotland.<\/p>\n

His father, also Tommy, was the champion\u2019s Scottish agent, giving the young boy rare access to Ali\u2019s dressing room.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanGetty ImagesAmerican WBC world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali is greeted by a traditional Scottish pipe band on his arrival at Glasgow Airport, 18th August 1965. Ali is in the city for a series of exhibition matches. (Photo by Daily Express\/Pictorial Parade\/Archive Photos\/Getty Images) Getty Images\u2018There was nobody I\u2019d rather meet than Ali\u2019<\/p>\n

He told STV News: \u201cHe was quite introverted. He had to be pushed into taking a picture with me \u2013 he just wanted to sit on his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut because of our friendship with Angelo Dundee and Chris Dundee, they told him, \u2018This is Tommy\u2019s son, you need to get your picture taken with him.\u2019 It was nice to have a famous father.\u201d<\/p>\n

The photograph, showing a boy dwarfed by Ali in a white robe, has remained Tommy\u2019s most treasured possession.<\/p>\n

\"MuhammadSTV NewsMuhammad Ali with Tommy Gilmour in his dressing room STV News<\/p>\n

Even more precious is a signed card \u2013 a memento from the days when Ali was still in the middle of his transformation from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had these cards with him when he was changing his name,\u201d Gilmour said. \u201cThat\u2019s why at the bottom it\u2019s printed Cassius Clay. But he kindly wrote, \u2018To Tommy, from Muhammad Ali.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nobody I would rather meet than Muhammad Ali.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheTommy Gilmour recalled meeting the fighter\u2018It was special to see him in the flesh\u2019<\/p>\n

Retired coach Robert Armstrong remembers it clearly.<\/p>\n

As a 17-year-old boxer in the crowd, watching Ali in his prime was \u201cspecial\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was phenomenal. He was a one-off \u2013 brilliant to watch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole town was buzzing and wanted to see him.\u201d<\/p>\n

But for many in Paisley that night in 1965, the event didn\u2019t live up to expectations. Local newspapers reported that Ali looked tired after weeks of touring and put on a disappointing\u00a0performance. Some fans, expecting fireworks, booed the champion.<\/p>\n

\"MuhammadMuhammad Ali in the ring <\/p>\n

Ali reportedly snapped back at the hecklers: \u201cAll booing must stop when the king\u2019s in the ring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later that evening, he cancelled his hotel booking and caught the next flight out of Scotland.<\/p>\n

Robert couldn\u2019t recall any heckling himself, but added: \u201cIf people booed, they don\u2019t know anything about boxing.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople thought they\u2019d see Ali at his best, but an exhibition isn\u2019t a real fight \u2013 it\u2019s more of a spar.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe danced around, he showed some moves, but he wasn\u2019t there to knock his opponent out.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill, it was special to see him in the flesh.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RetiredSTV NewsRetired coach Robert Armstrong was a young boxer when he watched the \u2018special\u2019 exhibition STV News<\/p>\n

Today, 60 years on, the echoes of that visit live on in gyms across Renfrewshire.<\/p>\n

At the Colosseum Gym in Renfrew, Robert Armstrong\u2019s son Neil now trains the next generation of Scottish fighters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get boys from all kinds of backgrounds,\u201d says Neil. \u201cSome stick with it, some don\u2019t. But we\u2019ve got a couple who will be in the Commonwealth Games Scotland team, and we\u2019re hoping for medals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The real inspiration, however, may lie with the youngest faces in the gym \u2013 boys barely into their teens, already lacing up gloves with determination.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoy it. It\u2019s a great sport, a great community. I want to keep doing it and become an amateur,\u201d says one, pausing between rounds.<\/p>\n

Another adds: \u201cI used to be bullied at school and now I just want to protect myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Decades after that fateful night at Paisley Ice Rink, the crowd may have booed, but Ali\u2019s presence planted seeds that still grow strong.<\/p>\n

And perhaps, somewhere in a small Scottish gym today, another young fighter is learning to float like a butterfly, sting like a bee \u2013 and dreaming of becoming The Greatest.<\/p>\n

STV News is now on WhatsApp<\/p>\n

Get all the latest news from around the country<\/p>\n

Follow STV News <\/a>Follow STV News on WhatsApp<\/p>\n

Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country<\/p>\n

\"WhatsApp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s 60 years since Muhammad Ali stepped into the ring at Paisley Ice Rink for an exhibition bout…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-79712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}