A Bethany man is remembering his unique connection to Muhammad Ali.
Rick Kaletsky decided to first call collect to the boxer a long time ago.
“I called Cassius Clay when I was in junior high school. He accepted the charges,” Kaletsky said.
Since then, Kaletsky has collected hundreds of pieces of memorabilia and has turned his home’s basement into a makeshift museum.
More importantly he’s stored memories of the boxer.
Kaletsky sat in the arenas to watch eight of Ali’s fights, but he relished the personal moments he shared with the boxer.
He received a postcard from the champ and has had chances to meet Ali, including a day in Bloomfield in 1983.
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Kaletsky was even invited to Ali’s 70th birthday party in Louisville.
“A warm, authentic kind person. He never put himself above anyone,” says Kaletsky.
Kaletsky wrote a book called “Ali and Me: Through the Ropes," and Ali even provided a recommendation about the book: “The Greatest Book About Me in the World.”
Now the fan and others now mourn the death of the legend.
“There’s a vacancy. There’s a big loss,” says Kaletsky.
Kaletsky welcomes visitors to his museum and has had several hundred people visit his home.
