The Fan Man Fight
Miller's first and most famous stunt happened on November 6, 1993 during the heavyweight title fight between Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield. Miller descended into the second minute of the seventh round of the fight, after circling Caesar’s Palace for 10 minutes. The lines of his paraglider became tangled in the overhead lights. He landed on the top rope of the ring with his parachute still tangled in the lights. He tried to hang on with one foot and one hand on that top rope for a few seconds until he either fell or was dragged down into the crowd by spectators, his parachute ripping away from the lights above.
Fans and the fighters' security detail swarmed around him immediately and began attacking him. He was knocked unconscious during the attack. One security officer reportedly struck Miller twenty times. He was rushed to a nearby hospital as spectators cut his paraglider into pieces for souvenirs. After his release from the hospital, Miller was taken to the Clark County Detention Center, where he was charged with dangerous flying and released on $200 bail.
In an exclusive interview with British journalists after the bout, Miller categorized his ring crash as accidental and not intentional, claiming it was caused by mechanical problems. ESPN's footage taken from the aerial blimp of Miller's descent can be seen by clicking here and clearly shows Miller's descent towards the ring area was carefully planned.
"It was a heavyweight fight," Miller would joke later, "and I was the only guy who got knocked out."
The media immediately dubbed Miller "Fan Man," for the paramotor (lightweight engine and propeller) attached to his harness.
Fox Sports Net ranked this incident as its #1 "Most Outrageous Sports Moment," and in 1996 The Simpsons referenced the incident in its "The Homer They Fall" episode.
Read more about this topic: James Miller (parachutist)
Famous quotes containing the words fan, man and/or fight:
“Anyone with any real blood in his or her ... veins cannot help being a fan ....Being a true American and being a fan are synonymous.”
—Lulu Glaser (1874–1958)
“I wolde no lenger in the bed abide
If that I felte his arm over my side,
Til he hadde maad his raunson unto me;
Thanne wolde I suffre him do his nicetee.
And therfore every man this tale I telle:
Winne whoso may, for al is for to selle;
With empty hand men may no hawkes lure.”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)
“The parents who wish to lead a quiet life I would say: Tell your children that they are very naughty—much naughtier than most children; point to the young people of some acquaintances as models of perfection, and impress your own children with a deep sense of their own inferiority. You carry so many more guns than they do that they cannot fight you. This is called moral influence and it will enable you to bounce them as much as you please.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)