House built for Muhammad Ali in N.J. up for auction

The former South Jersey home of a famous fighter will go up for auction Sept. 8.

The Cherry Hill home on Winding Drive was customized for Muhammad Ali back in the 1970s. Robert Salvato of AC Auctions says Ali bought the home in 1971 and sold it three years later.

“It has the mystic charm of the ‘Champ.’ We are hoping that an athletic figure from the Philadelphia area or surrounding area wants to live in the house the ‘Champ’ built,” Salvato said. “What’s nice is that he had the house built. From its inception, the house was truly his.”

The property tax bill is $31,000 for the 10,000-square-foot Tuscan-style mansion. It has five bedrooms and four and a half baths. It’s listed at $2 million, but Salvato says you never know what price it will bring at auction.

“It’s going to be somewhere in the million-dollar range; $1.3 million, $1.5 million … it will fall around there somewhere, we hope,” he said. “But you never know.”

Interested buyers need a cashier’s check for $50,000 just to bid and the ability to put down a 10 percent deposit if they win the auction.