In his day, he was the most ferocious, feared, and revered boxer of his generation. He won the heavyweight boxing championship three times, and he was about as charming, charismatic, and controversial as the game. Muhammad Ali, one of boxing’s greatest all-time stars, left a legacy of strength in the face of authority that few can ever match.
However, the end of his life was marred by health problems and Parkinson’s disease. He died at the age of 74 in 2016, at a hospital in the Phoenix area.
Muhammad Ali – The early years
Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on Jan. 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. His family was artistic and intelligent and included musicians, craftsmen, and teachers. His mother Odessa worked as a maid and cook and his father was a muralist who felt he never got a real shot at his craft because of the era’s discriminatory practices. Clay Sr. was a drinker and often violent, but he did instill the writings of Black separatist Marcus Garvey, from which Ali stole the celebratory refrain “I am the greatest.”
When Ali was 12 years old, his brand-new red Schwinn bicycle was stolen. It cost $60, which is almost $700 when adjusted for inflation in today’s economy, and also, it was a present from his father. When he went and reported the robbery to a police officer named Joe Martin, he was in tears. He told Martin that he would beat the hell out of the thief, and perhaps sensing something special in the boy, he told young Ali he should probably learn how to throw a punch first.
In his autobiography ”The Greatest: My Own Story,” he described how “the sights and sounds and the smell of the boxing gym excited me so much that I almost forgot about the bike” and that he “‘stood there, smelling the sweat and rubbing alcohol, and a feeling of awe came over me. One slim boy shadowboxing in the ring was throwing punches almost too fast for my eyes to follow.'”
He took to it quickly, and before he knew it he was on a young boxing show called “Tomorrow’s Champions.” He quickly became its star. While he was a hard worker in the ring, other aspects of life suffered. In school, he graduated 376 out of 391. While he could barely read, he was already an amateur boxing champion. Despite his reading limitations, he was incredibly loquacious and tirelessly memorized his speeches and quotes.
By 1960, he was ready to move up to the professional level at the young age of 18.
The Olympics and Islam
Martin was the one who told Ali he should go to Rome for the Olympics and “gamble” his life, and it was in Rome that he was introduced on the world stage. He was applauded, he was charismatic and journalists fawned over the handsome young Black man who was both well-spoken and magnetic. Unfortunately, he did not get the same treatment when he came home as an Olympic Gold Medalist. They called him “the Olympic [n-word]” and despite his world fame he was still not allowed in certain restaurants in his hometown.
He signed a six-year contract with some local rich white men and they sponsored him while he trained with a top trainer in Miami. It was there that he discovered the Nation of Islam, known to the rest of America as Black Muslims.
He would eventually convert to orthodox Islam, but he credited the Nation of Islam with giving Black people a sense of strength and identity when they needed it the most. One of his famous early quotes on the matter: “Color doesn’t make a man a devil,” he said. “It’s the heart and soul and mind that count. What’s on the outside is only decoration.”
Muhammad Ali – Becoming the best that ever was
Ali was something new to the world of boxing. His earliest success, against very carefully chosen opponents, would annoy older sportswriters because he made predictions in rhymes, like “This is no jive, Cooper will go in five.” However, younger sportswriters, more attuned to the energy of the era, loved how accessible and friendly he was with them.
It only took 15 fights for him to grace the cover of Time Magazine. On Feb. 25, 1964, he shocked the world by defeating its champion Sonny Liston, who was a 7-to-1 betting favorite. During the fight, he called Liston a “big ugly bear” and used what’s perhaps his greatest quote: “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, rumble, young man, rumble.”
During the fight, he quickly gained the upper hand, dodging Liston’s dangerous left hook and popping quick jabs to his face, even cutting it open. He was in danger at only one point of the fight, when his eyes started to sting due to liniment, a pain reliever, but he suspected poison. Regardless, Liston tore his arm muscles swinging at Clay and was compelled to give up. When he won, Ali (who was still going by Clay at the time) screamed at reporters: “Eat your words! I shook up the world! I’m king of the world!”
He became so famous that The Beatles went to his gym for a photo with him while he was hanging out with the famous Nation of Islam minister Malcolm X. He defeated Liston again in a rematch, this time the fight only lasting one round. It was around this time he changed his name for good and confirmed that he was learning from the Nation of Islam. He said he did it because he wanted to stay “with his own kind.”
By 1966, he was drafted into the military and asked what he thought about going to Vietnam. “I ain’t got nothing against them Vietcong,” he said, which made news around the world. He would refuse to be drafted and lost three and a half years of boxing when he was at his best. He spent the time learning, going on the college circuit, and explaining his intellectual and moral positions. He was eventually granted conscientious objector status by the Supreme Court.
The later years of Muhammed Ali and Parkinson’s
While most thought him past his prime, he won 14 of his next 15 fights, eventually culminating with another headline fight with George Foreman in Zaire in 1974, where each fighter was promised $5 million. He won the fight. By 1978, he was slurring his words, and his reflexes were much slowed down. His last fight was in 1981 against journeyman Trevor Berbick, which he lost.
Ali was soon diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He lost mobility and his ability to speak diminished but he continued to be a beloved figure in sports. He appeared on Wheaties boxes and rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange. Perhaps his most famous activity later in life was lighting the Olympic torch in Atlanta in 1996. In 2005, President George W. Bush gave him the Medal of Freedom, remarking that he was the best boxer of all time.
His final years were more quiet. He liked to watch old movies and didn’t really do TV interviews because he didn’t like the way he looked on camera, according to his wife (via The New York Times).
“He never lost his childlike innocence, his sunny, positive nature. Jokes and pranks and magic tricks. He wanted to entertain people, to make them happy.”
After battling Parkinson’s for more than 30 years, the legend passed away in the hospital from septic shock after he was admitted for a respiratory issue on May 3, 2016.
