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"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see.”
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see.”
It's not so much the photo as it is the backstory.
The smaller bridge in this photo is the Tunney Hunsaker Bridge.
Tunney Hunsaker who, at the time was Fayette County Police Chief and Cassius Clay’s first opponent in a professional boxing bout.
On October 29, 1960, Tunney Hunsaker met Cassius Clay's (later Muhammad Ali) in the ring in Louisville, KY.
Tunney, age 30, wasn’t sure what to think of this young 22 year old fighter who drove up in a pink Cadillac. Tunney, an experienced fighter was confident of victory, but that was not to be. Clay won the six rounds in an unanimous decision. Although Tunney was devastated by the defeat, he later became proud of his ability to stay in the fight for six rounds with the three time world heavyweight champion.
After the fight Hunsaker said, "Clay was as fast as lightning ... I tried every trick I knew to throw at him off balance but he was just too good". In a thumbnail profile of the fight the following January, young Cassius was reported as having remarked that Hunsaker's style was far different from what Clay had been exposed to as an amateur and Olympian; the young fighter admitted to nervousness going in, and that Hunsaker's aforementioned pro style, had given him trouble. This respect appears genuine, as it was lasting—in his autobiography, Ali said Hunsaker dealt him one of the hardest body blows he ever took in his career. Ali and Hunsaker became good friends and stayed in touch over the years.
In 1964, Clay coined the phrase "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see.” In a fight against Sonny Liston who had been the heavyweight champion since 1962.
The skinny, Hunsaker was the police chief of Fayetteville, W.Va., when he fought Cassius Clay, who won the six-rounds with an unanimous decision. Hunsaker’s eyes were swollen shut by the end of the fight, and afterward he said, “Clay was as fast as lightning. I tried every trick I knew to throw at him off balance, but he was just too good.”
The Fayette Station Bridge carrying County Route 82 over the New River at the bottom of New River Gorge has been named for Hunsaker.
In the fight game, Hunsaker was a small heavyweight, perhaps better suited for light-heavy classification (175 lbs. limit). He fought as a boxer-puncher, by his own telling. Hunsaker once appeared on the undercard at Madison Square Garden. Hunsaker ended up with a record of 17 wins with 15 defeats with 8 wins by way of KO. His career ended after a boxing-related head injury suffered on April 6, 1962, in Beckley, West Virginia. Rushed to a Beckley hospital, Hunsaker was in a coma for five days during which he underwent two brain operations. Hunsaker suffered the physical effects of his last match for the rest of his life. He was 74 when he died after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
Watch clips of this fight:
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see.”
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see.”
It's not so much the photo as it is the backstory.
The smaller bridge in this photo is the Tunney Hunsaker Bridge.
Tunney Hunsaker who, at the time was Fayette County Police Chief and Cassius Clay’s first opponent in a professional boxing bout.
On October 29, 1960, Tunney Hunsaker met Cassius Clay's (later Muhammad Ali) in the ring in Louisville, KY.
Tunney, age 30, wasn’t sure what to think of this young 22 year old fighter who drove up in a pink Cadillac. Tunney, an experienced fighter was confident of victory, but that was not to be. Clay won the six rounds in an unanimous decision. Although Tunney was devastated by the defeat, he later became proud of his ability to stay in the fight for six rounds with the three time world heavyweight champion.
After the fight Hunsaker said, "Clay was as fast as lightning ... I tried every trick I knew to throw at him off balance but he was just too good". In a thumbnail profile of the fight the following January, young Cassius was reported as having remarked that Hunsaker's style was far different from what Clay had been exposed to as an amateur and Olympian; the young fighter admitted to nervousness going in, and that Hunsaker's aforementioned pro style, had given him trouble. This respect appears genuine, as it was lasting—in his autobiography, Ali said Hunsaker dealt him one of the hardest body blows he ever took in his career. Ali and Hunsaker became good friends and stayed in touch over the years.
In 1964, Clay coined the phrase "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see.” In a fight against Sonny Liston who had been the heavyweight champion since 1962.
The skinny, Hunsaker was the police chief of Fayetteville, W.Va., when he fought Cassius Clay, who won the six-rounds with an unanimous decision. Hunsaker’s eyes were swollen shut by the end of the fight, and afterward he said, “Clay was as fast as lightning. I tried every trick I knew to throw at him off balance, but he was just too good.”
The Fayette Station Bridge carrying County Route 82 over the New River at the bottom of New River Gorge has been named for Hunsaker.
In the fight game, Hunsaker was a small heavyweight, perhaps better suited for light-heavy classification (175 lbs. limit). He fought as a boxer-puncher, by his own telling. Hunsaker once appeared on the undercard at Madison Square Garden. Hunsaker ended up with a record of 17 wins with 15 defeats with 8 wins by way of KO. His career ended after a boxing-related head injury suffered on April 6, 1962, in Beckley, West Virginia. Rushed to a Beckley hospital, Hunsaker was in a coma for five days during which he underwent two brain operations. Hunsaker suffered the physical effects of his last match for the rest of his life. He was 74 when he died after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
Watch clips of this fight: