Muhammad Ali clearly made a lasting impression on Mr T.
Before he became a famous letter, Mr T worked as a bodyguard, protecting stars such as Michael Jackson, Steve McQueen and perhaps, most notably, Muhammad Ali.
Asked by TMZ Sports what it was like to protect the former boxing heavyweight champion of the world, he recounted a great anecdote about how Ali used to use his celebrity status to stop street fights from breaking out in rough neighbourhoods.
“I learned a lot of stuff from Muhammad Ali. The going back in to the hood, and stuff like that. We would go around in tough areas. He used to see guys arguing, gambling on the corner about to cut each other. He would say ‘Heeeey!’ The guys would stop fighting, they’d say ‘It’s the champ!’ And he would say ‘Break that up!’ And Ali would stop stuff.”
Mr T explained that these encounters made a serious impact on him. He would go on to use the same tactic he learned from Ali once he gained his own stardom through starring roles in the A-Team and Rocky III.
“So I would go into the ghetto and I would see guys fighting. I’d say ‘Hey man, don’t be fighting.’ [Puts on voice] ‘Hey, that’s Mr. T!’ And then I’d talk to them a little bit. So a lot of the stuff I do I learned from Muhammad Ali.”
I, for one, pity the fool that tried to start trouble in front of B.A. Baracus.
