Gordon "Chicken Man" Williams Hosted a Criminally Good Party After a Muhammad Ali Fight — What Happened to Him?

An incredible night in boxing history is the focus of a Peacock series that tells story of one night in Atlanta that changed the city forever. On Oct. 26, 1970, Muhammad Ali staged his comeback in a match against Jerry Quarry, which Ali would win on a technical knockout. The city was overjoyed and erupted into celebration, but something more significant happened that evening.

Civil Rights activist Julian Bond told Time magazine that this win was an "important moment for Atlanta." He said the city "came into its own as the Black political capital of America." Something else happened that night, which is where Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist comes in. At the center of it all is a man named Gordon "Chicken Man" Williams. Where is he now?

According to his obituary, Gordon "Chicken Man" Williams passed away Dec. 1, 2014. At the time of his death, he was known as Pastor Williams and he led worship services at the Salem Bible Church in Atlanta. Despite the fact that Chicken Man is a rather unusual nickname, we called the church to confirm this was the same man. "Yes, it's the guy from the documentary," said the very kind man who answered the phone.

Before Williams was a man of God, he was a man of questionable friendships and a robust criminal record of his own. The night of the Ali fight, Williams hosted a swanky afterparty at his home where he invited some rich but unsavory individuals. After it was robbed, many people assumed that Williams was involved. He maintained he had nothing to do with it. In fact, some thought he died soon after. Perhaps Williams started that rumor in order to stay alive.

Williams was asked — but let's be honest, he was probably told — to host this soiree by Frank Moten. In New York, people called Moten the Black Godfather, and he wanted somewhere to celebrate after Ali's win. For the theme, Williams landed on Las Vegas, which is what 200 guests were met with when they arrived post-fight. What they ended up getting, was robbed.

At some point in the night, three masked men carrying sawed-off shotguns entered the home and herded all of the guests down into the basement. Folks were forced downstairs as they arrived, where they stripped and laid down on the cold floor, per Creative Loafing. For several hours, the robbers empties the pockets and purses of the frightened partygoers into pillowcases. That was just the beginning as police soon found it nearly impossible to get anyone to talk.

One of the first Black detectives on Atlanta's desegregated police force was assigned to the case, and right away, he ran into trouble. Most of the guests were Black and involved in some sort of criminal activity at one point or another. This meant they were extremely tight-lipped. Chicken Man was their only suspect for a while, until Hudson came to believe he was innocent. Basically, Hudson didn't think he was dumb enough to pull such an idiotic stunt. Was he right?

For more on this story stream Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist on Peacock.