The story of Gordon “Chicken Man” Williams, now brought to life in Fight Night: Film yet available on the platform referred to as Peacock is one called the Million Dollar Heist and it tells one of the Atlanta most famous legends. There is more to the extraordinary life of Chicken Man that few can avoid having heard something about because his life was one with mysteries: how he was involved in a brutal heist during the Muhammad Ali – Jerry Quarry, 1970, fight camp. But who was Chicken Man and what actually happened to him deep down?
The Atlanta Heist during the After-Party
Muhammad Ali came back to the boxing ring after a three-year retirement on October 26th 1970, which can be considered significant not only in the world of sports, but in the struggle for civil rights as well. The fight against Jerry Quarry attracted many spectators to Atlanta with some of the stars in the social realm attending the bout. After the fight there was an over the top after fight celebration to which celebrities, hustlers, and big-time card players were invited. Since when has a party become aNevermore good time when 200 guests were held at gunpoint by sawn-off shotgun wielding robbers and then stripped of their clothing and valuables including $3m cash and jewellery.
It was a heist like no other, scandalizing the elite of Atlanta and becoming a sensation across the United States. But as details emerged, one man stood out as the prime suspect: Gordon “Chicken Man” Williams remains an important figure in the film because he was not only the man of the hour but was also one of the most colourful personalities around.
Who Was Chicken Man?
According to the source, Williams was well-acquainted with the underworld of Atlanta. Before the 1970 heist Chicken Man was already established as a hustler with links to the city’s unlawful business fraternity. Williams had all the cunning of a street-wise man, and most of the time worked undercover, sometimes even becoming invisible with the beats of the city. However, when the heist was executed at his house then fingers were pointed to him as the ringleader.
Police said that Williams plotted the robbery to clear his.friend’s huge debt. The source of the party of the assets was said to be set up by some anonymous information, and Chicken Man was then the key on the target of the investigation.
The Heist’s Fallout and Chicken Man’s “Death”
After the robbery, the day that no one could imagine it, many legends circulated around Chicken Man. Within less than 48hrs after the heist, Williams was said to have been shot dead by mobsters in what appeared to be a contract killings. From the detectives’ account, underworld was dissatisfied with manner in which the theft happened and many thought that Williams had laid the foundation for his failure.
The story of Chicken Man’s death remained popular for many years and most people throughout were convinced that he was killed out of revenge for the failed robbery. But the real fact was even more stunning.
The Resurrection of Chicken Man
One day in the early 2000s, Jeff Keating, the person behind the Fight Night podcast, found J.D. Hudson, the first Black detective in Atlanta and the man who investigated the robbery. In the course of the conversation, Hudson let a bombshell out on Gordon Williams who is popularly known as Chicken Man – that he was alive. Indeed he was alive and kicking under the new identity of Rev. Gordon Williams at Salem Baptist Church.
Many people were surprised by this revelation especially those who earlier assumed that Chicken Man was killed after the heist. Hudson is now retired and he himself told Jack that he has his own doubts as to whether Williams was involved in the robbery, that Chicken Man was “too smart” to jeopardize everything he had going for himself on a one shot deal.
‘I knew [Williams] wasn’t dumb enough to pull a stunt like that,’ Hudson said. “This was a man who had a large-scale business and was successful in making million dollars from a pay phone at a street corner and there is no way he could have jeopardized all this to pay somebody off. ”
On the next encounter in 2004, Chicken Man himself states that he did not participate in the heist explaining the reason why he is alive. Having no other choice Williams said, “I knew I was a dead man when I saw my picture in the paper because they made it look like I had something to do with it.” “But I myself was not included. ”
Where is Chicken Man Now?
Despite this, Williams successfully remained anonymous for several years before the event of his death on 1 December 2014. J. D. Hudson, the man who learned about the truth about the murder and Williams’ innocence passed on In June 2009.
The legend of Chicken Man lives on through stories like Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, however, little is known about what exactly transpired on that fateful night of 1970. What we do know is that Gordon “Chicken Man” Williams was more than just a hustler – he was a survivor, a man whose life was imoprtant symbol of the civilized Messianic Atlanta and at the same time murderous criminal “kingdom”.
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