Saturday, March 1, 2014

Sonny Liston - Cassius Clay - Barney Felix

Liston - Clay - Felix

As tends to happen from time to time, an event that occurred long ago suddenly resurfaces.  This past week, on its 50th anniversary, the famous boxing match between World Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston and challenger Cassius Clay was all over the media.  Why?  Well, it certainly wasn’t because of a celebration.  Under the Freedom of Information Act, reports suddenly surfaced speculating that the fight was actually rigged…by the mob. 

The articles I read online were chock full of supposed mafia involvement; it appears that many journalists dream of becoming screenwriters! But I had a personal interest in this story.  You see my uncle - Barney Felix - was the referee for that February 25, 1964 match!  Yes, in all those classic photos of Liston and Clay (Clay, as many of you know, is Muhammad Ali), the ‘third man in the ring’ - as the referee is known - was Uncle Barney.  

Barney was the senior referee in New York State at that time and was tapped to officiate the bout in Miami Beach.  Once back in NJ, he told us all about his first-hand experience – including how Clay wanted to quit in the 5th round claiming he was blinded by a substance on Liston’s gloves.  Barney thought Clay was just plain scared.  But Clay escaped that round by dancing around the ring and when Liston didn’t answer the bell for the sixth round, Barney raised Clay’s hand up and Clay was declared the new World’s Heavyweight Champion.

Fast forward to the rematch on May 25, 1965… The referee for a world championship match was not chosen until just before the fight to avoid giving any 'unscrupulous' characters a chance to bribe the ref.  As the date of the fight approached, Barney didn’t know if he would be assigned the fight but he needed to be at the fight location in Lewiston, Maine, in case he was chosen.  I asked my uncle if he would take me to that match. “I’d like to bring you, but I don’t think it would be safe” he said, “There is a rumor that the mob has put a ‘hit’ out on Ali.”  I didn’t go. 

Barney didn’t get elected to referee. And Barney’s information wasn’t quite correct; the rumors about a possible ‘assassination’ of Ali did not emanate from the Mafia, but from The Nation of Islam, which Ali had joined immediately after becoming heavyweight champion. From Wikipedia: Malcolm X had been assassinated several months before the bout, almost certainly by the Nation of Islam, and rumors circulated that Ali might be killed by Malcolm's supporters in retaliation (Ali had publicly snubbed Malcolm after Malcolm's break with Elijah Muhammad).”  
**

On December 7, 1970, my fellow college-newspaper buddy, Charlie Oliver, and I took our Dads to Madison Square Garden to see Clay fight Oscar Bonavena.  It was Clay’s first fight in four years after being stripped of the title and his boxing license suspended because he was a conscientious objector refusing to serve in the US Army during the Vietnam War.  At the Garden, our seats were in the nosebleed zone, way up top.  With binoculars we were able to see all the action!  Ali was rusty and not at his best but put on a great show.  And I got to see “The Greatest”, live and in person.  

Uncle Barney later opened his own gym and boxing academy in the ‘basement’ of the Garden State Plaza shopping center in Paramus, NJ.  Funny, at that time, in the 1970’s, they couldn’t give the space away in that center.  Now, it’s one of the most successful shopping malls on the east coast.
Just another story from the Felix Family archives…

Congratulations…

NAREIM (National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers) on the launch of their very cool iPad APP.  Read the NAREIM Journal, Dialogues and Viewpoints; check out their events which include council meetings on Human Resources, Architecture and Engineering, Accounting and IT, Legal and Compliance and Capital Raising/Investor Relations.  

On The Road...

Mar. 4 - 10:  Client Meetings, Behavioral Presentation Coaching Workshops, London

Mar. 19 - 20:  PREA (Pension Real Estate Association) Spring Conference, Boston, MA

Apr. 7 - 9:  Client Meetings, Branding Workshops, Chicago, IL

Apr. 29 - 30:  PERE (Private Equity Real Estate) Global Investor, Los Angeles, CA

May 2 - 6:  Visit with family, Asheville, NC

May 15:  Annual meeting of The Hoyt Fellows, North Palm Beach, FL

June 17 - 20:  Behavioral Presentation Coaching session, Annual Financial and Tax Conference, National Association of Real Estate Companies, Charleston, SC




Disclaimer 


All content in this blog is created for informational purposes only. Content, which includes all text, photos, video and graphics is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company or individual.  Steve Felix makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or other information as a result of following any featured link to or from this site.  The intention of this blog is to do no harm in regards to injury, defamation or libel. What is written or shown is not to be taken as fact or absolute.  Steve Felix will hold himself harmless for any errors or omissions in this blog’s information; including but not limited to external link information, translation or interpretation of content or incorrect grammar or punctuation. 



Sunday, February 23, 2014

And the Oscar goes to...


And the Oscar goes to...

I’m on a mission this year.  For the first time, I’m attempting to see all the movies nominated for ‘Best Picture’ before the Academy Awards take place.  Other than Captain Phillips, which is on this week’s agenda, I have seen them all.  

Many of the films involve some type of journey - on an actual road, in the stratosphere, or through life:  an old man starts walking from Montana to Nebraska; a woman travels to find her son taken at an early age; an incredible journey through space; a woman’s relocation to attempt to rebuild a shattered life; a free man abducted, transported and sold into slavery in the deep south; travel to Mexico to bring medicine to the US to fight AIDS; and over indulgent travel as part of big-time fraud. 

As I was thinking about how movies transport us, I contemplated my own travels – not the recurring theme of business travel but where I called home, and the journey I’ve been on.  

I lived in White Meadow Lake, NJ, at the start of my commercial real estate career; Parsippany, NJ, where my sons Brian and Kevin were born; Millburn and Short Hills, NJ where the boys went from kindergarten through high school graduation; time spent in Sea Bright, Springfield, and North Plainfield, NJ; and then the big move to California, where I spent 14 years, on and off, living in Napa but traveling extensively.  

My time on the west coast was interrupted by a 15-month stay on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and one-year in Laval, a suburb of Montreal.  After returning and then leaving Napa for the final time, I lived in Long Beach, NY, until ‘Sandy’ arrived and am now back in Manhattan living near Columbus Circle and Central Park.

The drama in my life pales in comparison to that of the characters in this year’s top films. While there have been bumps along the way, the road I am now traveling is a beautiful highway with a wonderful vista, far as the eye can see. 

Movies end, but life goes on.  I have been fortunate enough - like many of the movie characters - to reinvent myself and find happiness. This provides the fuel to continue my journey.  Thank you for being part of it.  

Steve


Congratulations…

PEI Media on its acquisition of Real Estate Capital publications

Privcap on the launch of their real estate channel, PrivcapRE

Ko Wang and Su Chen accepting positions at the Carey Business School, Johns Hopkins University

On The Road...

Mar. 4 - 10:  London

Mar. 19 - 20:  PREA Spring Conference, Boston, MA

Apr. 7 - 9:  Chicago, IL

Apr. 29 - 30:  PERE Global Investor, Los Angeles, CA

May 2 - 6:  Asheville, NC

May 15:  Annual meeting of The Hoyt Fellows, North Palm Beach, FL





Disclaimer 
All content in this blog is created for informational purposes only. Content, which includes all text, photos, video and graphics is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company or individual.  Steve Felix makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or other information as a result of following any featured link to or from this site.  The intention of this blog is to do no harm in regards to injury, defamation or libel. What is written or shown is not to be taken as fact or absolute.  Steve Felix will hold himself harmless for any errors or omissions in this blog’s information; including but not limited to external link information, translation or interpretation of content or incorrect grammar or punctuation. 


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