Nevertheless, the defeat made him famous and coveted in terms of sport. 180,000 D-Marks were also a decent consolation. Maybe even more than that, because that way he was spared a fight against the brutally strong Frazier. “That might have killed me,” says Blin. “How did Ali manage to beat him? I don’t know. That still amazes me today.”
Blin is recognized on the street to this day
He would not have pinched despite the expected “blow”. “Boxing is a tough sport, you shouldn’t be squeamish about it.” The stately stock exchange would have been an additional and, for him, certainly convincing reason. And of course the prospect of being one of the greats in international boxing. But he also managed it that way. To this day he is still sometimes recognized on the street. “That’s the boxer who fought Ali,” he usually hears older semesters whispering.
“If you get out, you won’t get a fee”
What the viewers also felt on the television has burned itself deeply into Blins’ memories: the crackling tension, the unbelievable atmosphere.
When Ali entered the hall in hero style, after a few meters through the trellis, enthusiastic spectators seemed to float through the ropes, “I got really funny,” says Blin and raves in the best North German way, like the American “prancing.” got into the ring “. His aura literally spread over the box square. “But you have to go through that as a professional. You have to earn money and if you pinch you don’t get a fee. So you have to go through with it.”
Grandson Joscha in Grandpa’s footsteps?
Another Blin now wants to pull through, maybe follow in his footsteps: Joscha, his 24-year-old grandson, who has just won his first professional fight. “I think he has good qualities. He’s quick and can hit. He’ll make his way.” Grandpa holds back with tips. “Joscha has a trainer.”
He worked with him for two years and possibly encouraged the passable footballer to decide against team sport. But then the paths parted without a quarrel, as Blin recalls with a laugh: Joscha, dripping wet with sweat, revealed to him while jumping rope that the family togetherness had to be over. “Grandpa”, Joscha said, “you’d better stop it. Otherwise you’ll fall over and it’s my fault.”
Blin: “Wanted to get out of the dirt”
The emancipation of his grandson reminds Jürgen Blin of his own process of detachment, which he went through as a teenager after a painful childhood. “It’s been a long way for me,” he says. At that time he only wanted to get away from his home, so the seafaring as a refuge came in handy for a while.