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 the fan, fan, man and/or fight:
“...I delivered the poor who cried, and the orphan who had no helper. The blessing of the wretched came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I championed the cause of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the unrighteous, and made them drop their prey from their teeth.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Job 29:12-17.
Job, recounting his faithfulness.
“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)
“Providing for one’s family as a good husband and father is a water-tight excuse for making money hand over fist. Greed may be a sin, exploitation of other people might, on the face of it, look rather nasty, but who can blame a man for “doing the best” for his children?”
—Eva Figes (b. 1932)
“Whatever our creed or belief, we all know that there is no way back, that we must fight our way through.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)