Dale Walters already had 20 fights under his belt when he had his round with Muhammad Ali.
The date was May 1, 1972, and just before Ali came out of his dressing room at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver to pound out a 12-round decision over Canadian heavyweight George Chuvalo, a 10-year-old Walters had his chance to meet the champ.
Walters was sparring on the undercard that night and he was taken to Ali’s dressing room. Ali had just had his hands wrapped by trainer Angelo Dundee when he spotted Walters through the crowd, picked him up, and sat him on his knee.
Walters, in Prince George Saturday to serve as the referee for the Real Fights boxing card, recounted for the audience at the College of New Caledonia gym the conversation he had with Ali.
“He said, ‘What’s your name boy?’ and I said ‘It’s Dale.'
“Then he says, ‘Are you going to be the next champion of the world?’ I was kind of scared and said, 'Yeah, I’m going to try.' And then he says to me, ‘Well you might be the next champion of the world but you’ll never be as pretty as me.’ And everybody laughed.”
The meeting between Walters and Ali happened as a result of a connection with his father Len, a former boxer.
“My father’s trainer, Dave Brown, was refereeing the fight,” said Walters. “Dave Brown has since passed away, but his wife Phyllis has the shorts and robe Ali wore that night, and she might even have the gloves as well.”
After the fight, wrapped in his robe, Ali presented a trophy to Walters, who had come back into the ring dressed in his street clothes.
“My whole life I’ve been telling that story,” said Walters.
“It’s been talked about for years, and it’s just nice for me to be connected to Muhammad Ali when he was in Vancouver. Everybody knows, and it’s something I take a great deal of pride in. He was a wonderful man.”
As a tribute to Ali, who died Friday night, Walters signaled to the bell ringer at ringside at CNC to hammer the bell 10 times to salute the man they call The Greatest.
Walters went on to win hundreds of trophies while climbing the ranks to the national team, leading to his bantamweight bronze medal at the 1984 Olympics, but he says the only trophy he kept was the one Ali gave to him. He has since donated that trophy, and an autographed photo of Ali handing him the prize, to the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame.
Walters, who started his 15-year amateur career at age 6, turned pro after the 1984 Olympics and retired from boxing after a loss to Canadian champion Tony Pep in 1986, finishing with a 7-1 professional record.
