'He was the funniest man I heard'

Frank Skinner is shooting a BBC documentary about his hero Muhammad Ali.

The comic has been spotted at the late boxing champion's Deer Lake training camp in Pennsylvania.

'The BBC asked me to do a documentary and I just wanted to do Ali justice,’ Skinner told local paper the Republican Herald. 'He was a big part of my life, even though I was over there in England and he was everywhere else.

‘When we’d listen to fights on the radio, you couldn’t sit next to my dad because he’d throw every punch. So you had to give him a bit of distance.

'[Ali] was always beautiful to watch' he added. 'When I saw him talk on shows, I thought this is just the funniest man I’d ever heard. He was just so hilarious. He looked great, and he looked cool.'

The film is expected to air on BBC One in June on the anniversary of Ali's death.

Skinner revealed how the boxer inspired his comedy career on his iPlayer series, Frank Skinner On Demand With… that aired in the wake of Ali's passing at 74.

Skinner met the boxing legend three times before he died, including attending a dinner with him and British fighter Henry Cooper, who famously knocked Ali down in his unsuccessful challenge for the world heavyweight title in 1966.

- by Jay Richardson

Published: 4 Apr 2017