Muhammad Ali’s legendary boxing career is still something that is widely discussed to this day. But on Monday during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show on Monday, Lampley recalled a story about Ali’s nature outside of the ring, particularly when it came to an interaction with his daughter at a Boxing Writers Association dinner.
Lampley, who is of course best known for his time as the lead blow-by-blow announcer on HBO World Championship Boxing from 1988-2018, discussed various topics about the sport of boxing throughout his appearance on the show.
But it was actually Helwani who prompted Lampley to discuss a moment in 1988 where Lampley had to quickly run errands prior to a Boxing Writers Association dinner. Right away, Ali let Lampley know that he would be happy to babysit his daughter Brooke while he ran his errands.
“True or false, on one special evening, I believe you were either hosting or at a Boxing Writer of America dinner. Is it not true that Muhammad Ali essentially babysat your daughter?” asked Helwani.
“I would take out essentially,” replied Lampley. “He babysat my daughter. I was master of ceremonies for the United States Boxing Writers Association dinner, taking place at Trump’s hotel on 34th Street below Grand Central Station. Muhammad was going to spend the whole day autographing copies of the book in the lobby. Then that night, he was scheduled to be the last speaker at the Boxing Writers Association dinner.
“I was the MC. We were in the green room together in the middle of the day, and I had some errands to run in Manhattan. I was divorced from her mother and not seeing my eldest daughter, Brooke, all that much, I had brought her to the event, and she was in the green room with me.
“I realized that I had to go out in daytime traffic in the middle of Manhattan to run a whole bunch of errands, and it would take me longer to do it if I took Brooke with me. I looked around the green room and I said, ‘I have to go out and run some errands. Can anybody watch my daughter for me?’ Ali instantly said, ‘I’ll do it.’
“As I left that room, I looked back over my shoulder, and he already had a deck of cards out. I had heard about the card tricks. I’ve never seen it. I thought, ‘Okay, he’s got a plan. This is going to work out okay.’ I was gone for about an hour and a half. I came back, He was still with her, still doing all of that stuff.”
Lampley further outlined how this memory stuck with his daughter, who actually went on to use Ali’s famous “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” quote at her college graduation from the American School of London.
“Ten years later, she graduates as the valedictorian from the American School of London,” said Lampley. “Her mother had moved to London. She graduated as valedictorian. There was 66 graduates at the American School of London. I went to the graduation ceremony. Every student had been asked to supply for the graduation program a couple of lines of poetry or line or something which defined them. You go through the program and get to the next last page, the valedictorian, Brooke Lampley. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
“She’s now a globally meaningful art dealer with a spectacular resume. If you were to describe watching her, my wife has done it, ‘If you were to describe her business style, she floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.’ It was a match.”
This memory also stuck with Lampley, who detailed how he believes he will think back to that very moment on his final day on earth whenever that day should come.
“Every once in a while, you’re going to have an experience that you know you will still and feel emotionally and touch at the end of your days. The last day I’m here alive, at some moment, I will think about Brooke and Muhammad,” added Lampley.
To have perhaps the most iconic athlete in the history of professional sports, who is often regarded as larger than life, have this kind of meaningful moment with your child is obviously a once-in-a-lifetime situation for anyone. Especially considering the moment happened very early on in Lampley’s on-air broadcasting career.