Muhammad Ali Brags, Talks Of Fighting Martians In 1966 "Lost" Interview

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 18, 2012 6:20PM

In 1966 Muhammad Ali was training on the South side of Chicago when he granted an interview to a dogged 17-year-old New Trier High School student named Michael Aisner. (Talk about your gets.) Ali lived in Chicago for years following his conversion to Islam; he had a home at 4944 S. Woodlawn Ave. that allowed him to be close to Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad.

Aisner's request for an interview was initially rejected, but he persisted and was eventually granted an interview with The Greatest of All Time. Ali proceeded to do the second thing he did best: talk. He riffed about traveling to Mars and fighting the boxing champion of the Red Planet, traveling through time and explaining how his braggadocio helped him achieve his early success. "There were so many fellows ranked over me I couldn’t just whoop them all," Ali told Aisner. "I had to out-shadow them by talking."

Aisner ran the interview on New Trier's campus radio station, WNTH, where only a handful of students had the opportunity to hear it.

Until now.

Aisner posted audio of the interview to the website Blank on Blank, while Blank on Blank produced a video featuring clips of the interview and Aisner's reflections. (Both are below.)

Aisner went on to become a PR specialist. Now living in Boulder, Colo., his biggest claim to fame was founding and running the Coors International Bicycling Classic. From 1980 to 1988 the race grew to become the biggest cycling race in the United States and helped launch the career of cycling legend Greg LeMond. LeMond won the race in 1981 and 1985 and went on to become the first American to win the Tour de France.