April 27, 2016

Muhammad Ali’s Celebrity Fight Night XXII Brings Out the Stars

Carrie Underwood speaks onstage during Muhammad Ali's Celebrity Fight Night XXII. Lonnie Ali stands behind her.

On April 9, host Muhammad Ali, stars and athletes from around the country gathered at the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa to celebrate the 22^nd Anniversary of Celebrity Fight Night.

Grammy Award-winning superstar of country music Reba McEntire returned for her 11^th year as emcee. Shawn King kicked off the night with the national anthem. Seven-time Grammy Award winner Carrie Underwood, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer, businessman and philanthropist Dr. Francis Yeoh, businessman and musician Yank Barry and the philanthropic Argyros family were honored with the 2016 Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night Awards.

Following the award presentations, guests were treated to a host of performances under the direction of Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer David Foster, who returned for his 17^th consecutive year as the evening’s musical director.

Performances opened with The Tenors, who sang “Nessun Dorma” and “Hallelujah,” 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.” Brooks & Dunn performed “Boot Scootin’ Boogle,” and “Red Dirt Road” and were joined by McEntire for “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone” and “Only In America.”

Additional performers included Carly Paoli, honoree Yank Barry, and Sinbad, who drew big laughs with his comedy set. Carrie Underwood closed out the evening with her 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 and live auctions and dinner. The highest selling live auction items of the evening were two seats at Queen Elizabeth’s 90^th Birthday Celebration complete with a stay on the grounds of Windsor Castle and dinner with Reba McIntire at her home in Nashville. These items went for $500,000 and $400,000 respectively.

Celebrity Fight Night XXII raised a total of $5.3 million benefiting the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix as well as several other charities. Each year dozens of celebrity guests attend the event that has raised $123 million in 22 years.

PHOTOS BY GETTY IMAGES/COURTESY CELEBRITY FIGHT NIGHT