A rare sports memorabilia autographed by the greatest boxer of all time, Muhammad Ali, will be auctioned on Thursday, June 13^th at Sala Bolaffi in Turin. It is one of the gold leather gloves produced by Everlast to promote the fight against Joe Frazier on March 8^th, 1971 in New York's Madison Square Garden. This memento of the "Fight of the Century", in which Ali was defeated for the first time, bears the legend’s autograph on the brand’s yellow label, and will be offered at a starting price of 5 thousand euros (lot 34). The glove is from the collection of Ezio Scimè, a former record company owner, artistic adviser and promoter of international singers such as Charles Aznavour, Gilbert Bécaud, Dalida, Léo Ferré and Nino Ferrer, to name but a few.
In addition to the glove, in the sports autographs section of the "Rare Books and Autographs" auction there is also a large black and white photograph of Ali, with a handwritten autograph in blue pen dated 1971 (lot 33, starting price 600 euros), an autographed photo of Primo Carnera fencing (lot 38, starting price 200 euros), and a photo, also with a handwritten autograph, of the champion Nino Benvenuti, one of the best Italian boxers of all time (lot 36, starting price 100 euros).
BROWSE CATALOGUE

Muhammad Ali’s glove – The story
 
Rome, 1970s. Italian journalist, writer and television host Gianni Minà asked his friend Ezio Scimè to accompany him to the United States to be his sound engineer at an interview with the great Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden, on the occasion of the "Fight of the Century" with Joe Frazier.
Ezio Scimè recounts: «We got a cheap flight to New York. Neither Gianni nor I spoke English very well ... We went to the Rai offices – which we thought would be impressive but were just a room with a big picture of New York - to ask if they had a simultaneous interpreter. The three of us went to Madison Square Garden, without any of us having press accreditation. There were more than 200 journalists there for the pre-fight press conference. We rushed to the front and ‒ to everyone's amazement ‒ put the microphone in front of the stage where Ali and his faithful manager King were sitting: it was the turning point. Smiling, Ali immediately granted us the interview. Before leaving, we shamelessly asked if we could to go and see the fight... They thought we were crazy because the Fight of the Century had been sold out for more than a year, but Ali winked and told his manager to give us tickets. We had ringside seats, between Woody Allen and Frank Sinatra. We were so close that when they punched each other we were covered in splashes of sweat. Only a few of us in the front rows were given a glove as a memento, and I would have had Ali autograph it, but the match ‒ as is well known ‒ended tragically, and so it was not possible. We then returned to Rome and Minà got all the success he deserved. He joined Rai and remained friends with Ali, so much so that years later he had him as a guest on Blitz, the show he presented with Gianni Minoli. I went along with my glove to get him to autograph it. And I succeeded: Ali autographed it with his shaking hand, and as a passionate boxing and sports fan my dream was fulfilled».