Sir Michael Parkinson’s late father asked “why didn’t you thump him?” following his notorious row with Muhammad Ali in 1974.
Sir Michael Parkinson
The pair had a falling out on Sir Michael’s ‘Parkinson’ talk show when taking issue with the hosts line of questioning Ali said: “You can’t beat me physically or mentally. You really are a joke”.
And the 86-year-old broadcaster says the far from sage advice offered by his no nonsense Yorkshire coalminer dad Jack was that he should have hit the then world heavyweight champion.
Speaking to the Daily Express newspaper, he said: “I had that remarkable, notorious row with Ali in 1974. That was him at his nastiest. It was insulting it just went too far.
“I asked my father what I should have done and he said, ‘Why didn’t you thump him?’ 'For Christ’s sake,' I replied, 'he’s the world heavyweight champion!' There would be a riot in the studio!”"
And Michael even joked that it should be the title of his “life story”.
He added: “That should be the title of my life story: 'Why didn’t you thump him?'
And he says that far from even contemplating his dad's suggestion, his first thought at the time was to look for the nearest exit.
He added: “How would you feel if a 17-stone world champion told you that you were a pillock?
“My options were severely limited. His hands were bigger than my chest.
“What was I going to do? Strike him on the chin? Are you mad? I was just thinking, 'Where’s the nearest door?'"
Sir Michael recently said he isn't sure what he would ask his celebrity chat show guests nowadays, because people know so much about stars due to social media.
Despite interviewing numerous stars on his chat show, which aired over three runs from 1971 to 2007, he believes it would be "more difficult" to front such a programme these days because there is so much information around about celebrities.
He said: "My job would be very different [now].
"There's social media, so I don't know what you would do, what the questions would be.
"People know anything there is to know about everybody else, and what they didn't want to know as well."