Muhammad Ali Visits San Francisco: Early Morning Walks and Pranks

SAN FRANCISCO — Muhammad Ali alarmed a hotel clerk, who worriedly called police when the former boxing champion left his suite without explanation and disappeared into the night at 4:30 a.m.

But a hotel employee found Ali safe--taking his routine morning stroll.

“I wasn’t worried about him,” said Avudi Mahdi, Ali’s road manager, who was awakened by a call from the desk clerk. “I didn’t even get out of bed when the hotel staff called me. I told them Ali can take care of himself.”

Mahdi and the former heavyweight boxing champion had checked into the Clift Hotel about two hours before Ali went off by himself Sunday.

The desk clerk had been worried Ali, 46, might not be able to take care of himself because he is suffering from Parkinson’s syndrome, which displays some of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

After the fuss was resolved, Ali played a prank on a visiting San Francisco Chronicle reporter.

“Watch my feet,” Ali told the reporter, stretching his arms outward and closing his eyes. Ali’s shoes appeared to rise and hover a few inches from the floor.

“That’s the power of the mind,” Ali said. “Isn’t it amazing to think that I was once an intelligent man?”

Ali then proclaimed he would levitate a flower vase on a table. Ali closed his eyes and held out his hand until he and a companion broke into a laugh.

“April fools,” Ali said.