Cassius Clay, 1961

Roy McHugh


Roy McHugh is a friend of my dad's, which is a little odd since my dad isn't the least bit a sports fan, and Roy was a sports writer in Pittsburgh for decades. He was sports editor and columnist-at-large at the Pittsburgh Press from 1963 until his retirement in 1983. Prior to the Press gig he wrote for boxing magazines and Sport magazine. He told me the story of how he was the first guy to interview Clay after the 1960 Olympic gold medal. He went down to Louisville and arranged the meeting with Clay's trainer Angelo Dundee. When Roy arrived at the hotel room Dundee said the fighter was shy and had fled.  As Roy stood there dumbfounded, Clay rolled out from under the bed and began shadow boxing him. This was an early example of the flair and swagger than made Clay one of the all time greats in sports and in life.

This is the story Roy wrote in 1961.