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Permalink Reply by George Karr on September 3, 2014 at 11:09am

scan 9: boxers Alonzo Johnson and Dave Adkins I think.

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Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on September 3, 2014 at 10:14pm

Wow! Thanks George.

I would never have got those. I have since managed to find one Alonzo autograph on Google but no examples for Dave.

Through the wonders of Google and a bit of luck I also found out that Muhammad Ali was fighting Jurgen Blin in Zurich at the end of 1971 - ironically on Boxing Day! Going by the dated autographs before and after this page and the reference to "floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee" on the opposite page (Scan 8) I am sure Alonzo and Dave were in Zurich for some reason connected with the Ali fight. I would guess they were on the same bill. It appears that Alonzo also fought Ali earlier in his career and was a sparring partner of his. Shame that the man himself didn't sign the book.

I would guess that the other signatures within Scans 8 and 9 also have a boxing connection.

One thing I have really enjoyed about this book is the amount of detective work it has enabled me to do - largely because many of the signatures/inscriptions are dated. I found out for instance that the Clay Regazzoni autograph was given just after he had almost been burned alive in the 1973 South African Grand Prix (Mike Haillwood won the George Medal for helping to pull him out).

Thanks again George!        

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Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on September 4, 2014 at 3:48am

Thanks to George, this is now getting interesting. 

I was Googling again and discovered that the top signature in Scan 8 is that of Drew Bundini Brown. Brown was Ali's assistant trainer and cornerman from 1963 -1981. He is the man who apparently came up with the phrase "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" which is included under his signature. I suspect that the quote has been written out by the other signatory - who may have also done the illustrations. I can only find one example of DBB's signature on Google - it is on a dollar bill so hard to decipher but looks similar to this one.   

The unidentified signature at the top of Scan 9 could possibly be that of Ruth Salen, a casting director/assistant. This is a real long shot as the TV series and movies she is credited on are from a far later period but she did work on the 2010/1 movie "The Fighter" and an episode of the TV series "The Jury" called "The Boxer" (2004).  Maybe I am getting a little carried away!   

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