"We've all been in shock," said Adrienne Foreman Jones when asked Monday about the death of Muhammad Ali.
"Oh yes, honey. Very sad."
But it wasn't long before the first wife of George Foreman, and mother of the former heavyweight champion's first child, Michi Foreman, wanted to laugh about Ali.
"I'll never forget the first time I met Ali. George and I were dating and we were in Houston because Ali was fighting at the Astrodome," said Adrienne, a native Minnesotan. "The hotel lobby was just full of people and George said I'll be right back. I saw Ali coming with a bunch of people around him."
George went over and spoke to Ali, and then Adrienne noticed the two boxers looking in her direction.
"Pretty soon here comes George with Ali and he said Ali, this is my wife, Adrienne," she said stressing that they weren't actually married yet. "Ali looked at me and said What do you want with him when you can have the real champ? and his eyes got real big [a signature expression]," said Adrienne. "C.J., a sound didn't come out of my mouth. I couldn't speak."
That's rare. Adrienne is still a heavyweight in the talking division, so I cannot imagine how her mouth ran when she was that sweet young thing on Foreman's arm. "When we got back over to George's mother's house, he told his family Adrienne got so scared she could say, Hi, nice meeting you, to Ali."
Although now married to other people, Adrienne and George remain on good terms.
