Muhammad Ali, alongside stars and athletes from around the country, gathered at the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona to celebrate the 22nd Anniversary of Celebrity Fight Night on April 9. Reba McEntire returned for her eleventh year as emcee, while Carrie Underwood and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer, were amongst the 2016 Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night Awards honorees.
Following the award presentations, guests were treated to a host of performances under the direction of multiple David Foster, who returned for his 17th consecutive year as the evening’s Musical Director. Performances opened with The Tenors who sang “Nessun Dorma” and “Hallalujah,” followed by a crowd-pleasing rendition of “Sugar, Sugar” performed by Andy Kim. The Blind Side star Quinton Aaron showed off his musical chops with “Let’s Get It On,” and Reba McEntire took to the stage to sing “Going Out Like That.” Finally, Carrie Underwood closed out the evening with her hit songs “Good Girl,” “Cowboy Casanova,” “Undo It,” “Blown Away,” and a moving medley of “Jesus Take The Wheel” and “How Great Thou Art.”
The black tie event also featured a cocktail reception, silent auction, elegant dinner and live auction including one-of-a-kind luxury items. The live auction featured a weekend with the Kennedy family at their Hyannis Port home, an Italian vacation highlighted by dinner with Andrea Bocelli and VIP treatment at his annual Teatro del Silenzio concert, a Nashville Predators Hockey Game experience with Carrie Underwood in her private suite at Bridgestone Arena and more. The two highest selling live auction items of the night were two seats at Queen Elizabeth’s 90th Birthday Celebration complete with a stay on the grounds of Windsor Castle and dinner with Reba at her home in Nashville —going for $500,000 and $400,000 respectively.
Celebrity Fight Night XXII raised a total of $5 million benefiting the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, as well as several other worthy charities. Each year dozens of celebrity guests attend the event that has raised $123 million in 22 years.
