A MAN called Alan Hubbard died a few days before Muhammad Ali climbed through the ropes at Wembley last Saturday.
I knew Hubbard and Hubbard certainly knew the other Ali. The better-known Muhammad Ali and Hubbard had walked at dawn by the Congo River in Zaire all those thousands of years ago. Yeah, Big Al knew Muhammad. Hubbard did a lot of jobs in the newspaper game for a long, long time and he kept some stunning company.
Back in 1998, in New York at the Goodwill Games, Hubbard was stuck with me when a small coup took place involving. I certainly kept good company that year in New York; in boxing, the company you choose is critical.