{"id":8469,"date":"2024-05-02T07:08:03","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T07:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/?p=8469"},"modified":"2024-05-02T07:08:03","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T07:08:03","slug":"sad-story-of-muhammad-ali-centre-left-derelict-and-covered-in-bird-poo-with-smashed-bar-and-pool-tables-in-birmingham-vu-thuy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/sad-story-of-muhammad-ali-centre-left-derelict-and-covered-in-bird-poo-with-smashed-bar-and-pool-tables-in-birmingham-vu-thuy\/","title":{"rendered":"S\u0430d \u0455tory of Muh\u0430mm\u0430d Al\u0456 Centre left derel\u0456\u0441t \u0430nd \u0441overed \u0456n b\u0456rd \u0440oo w\u0456th \u0455m\u0430\u0455hed b\u0430r \u0430nd \u0440ool t\u0430ble\u0455 \u0456n B\u0456rm\u0456ngh\u0430m"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sad<\/p>\n

THE Muhammad Ali centre that was opened by the legend himself now stands derelict and smashed up while covered in bird poo.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nicknamed \u201cThe Greatest\u201d, the former heavyweight world champion is one of the most significant sporting figures of all-time.<\/p>\n

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The Muhammad Ali Centre now stands derelict in HandsworthCredit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The former bar area has been left to rot with pool tables overturnedCredit: BPM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The boxing icon was mobbed by fans in Birmingham in August 1983Credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The former heavyweight champion opened the centre back in 1983Credit: BPM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But despite his worldwide fame, the American was determined to keep his promise to attend the opening of the centre in his name, and headed to the Handsworth district of Birmingham back in August 1983.<\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0Daily Mail,\u00a0Ali\u00a0received no money for his trip to open the centre.<\/p>\n

The man, who just a year later would be\u00a0diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s, was \u201cpicked up from Heathrow in a Birmingham businessman\u2019s Rolls Royce and serenaded by the TV-AM chef Rustie Lee, a television celebrity at that time, in her Handsworth restaurant.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Muhammad Ali Centre was built so that local youngsters would be able to use it for the likes of karate classes, music nights and its pool tables.<\/p>\n

As he officially unveiled it, Ali told the packed audience: \u201cI\u2019m not just boasting by saying I\u2019m the greatest. We\u2019re the greatest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, as these pictures show, the\u00a0Muhammad Ali\u00a0Centre is in a state of complete dereliction.<\/p>\n

The stage upon which the\u00a0boxing\u00a0icon once stood is covered in bird poo with the bar area completely smashed up.<\/p>\n

A number of pool tables have been turned upside down among the scorched remains of chairs with rubbish piling up outside.<\/p>\n

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A fire forced the centre to close in 2002 and it has been owned by local organisation, Kajans Women\u2019s Enterprise, for the past seven years.<\/p>\n

Gary Newbon was a reporter for ATV at the time of Ali\u2019s visit and covered the grand opening.<\/p>\n

He told the Mail: \u201cHe was so keen on community and those he called his \u2018brothers\u2019 in Handsworth clearly meant so much.<\/p>\n

\u201cOpening that place was a big thing for him. It\u2019s a scandal how it\u2019s gone to rack and ruin.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Old chairs have been set on fire while the walls have graffiti on themCredit: BPM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Ali playfully shadow boxes with John Conteh while visiting the Bull Ring Shopping CentreCredit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Muhammad<\/p>\n

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Muhammad Ali was moved by the huge support he received as thousands lined the streetsCredit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The former world champion poses with a copper during his visitCredit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Ali<\/p>\n

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Ali received no money for his visit to Birmingham to open the centreCredit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The centre has ‘gone to rack and ruin’Credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE Muhammad Ali centre that was opened by the legend himself now stands derelict and smashed up while covered in bird poo. Nicknamed \u201cThe Greatest\u201d, the former… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8469"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8469"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8472,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8469\/revisions\/8472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}