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I was only a teenager when Mohammad Ali was in his prime. He was more than a boxer fighting in the ring he was also a great entertainer. After winning a fight, he would write short humorous poems relating to his victory.
He was known for always saying, "I am the greatest" I seen him once on the tonight show with Johnny Carson one night. He gave an explanation for his famous line "I am the greatest" he said he went to a wrestling match where he seen a wrestler with long yellow hair who would use those words "I am the greatest" It was then he got the idea to use this expression.
Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on January 17, 1942) is a retired American boxer and former three-time World Heavyweight Champion. To date, he remains the only man to have won the linear heavyweight championship three times (the linear title is recognized by tracing an - almost - unbroken lineage of titleholders going back over 100 years, with nearly every champion defeating the previous titleholder in the ring). Ali was also the winner of an Olympic Light-heavyweight gold medal. In 1999, Ali was crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and the BBC
Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., was born in Louisville Kentucky. He was named after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., who was named for the 19th century abolitionist and politician Cassius Clay. Ali changed his name after joining the Nation of Islam in 1964, subsequently converted to Sunni Islam in 1975 and then Sufism.
Ali was known for his fighting style, which he described as "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee". Throughout his career, Ali made a name for himself with great hand speed, as well as swift feet and taunting tactics. While Ali was renowned for his fast, sharp out-fighting style, he also had a great chin, and displayed great courage and an ability to take a punch throughout his career
Ali began showing symptoms of
Parkinson's disease going back several years, and the signs of his illness became slowly more evident over time. At first, most physicians had difficulty detecting even mild symptoms of the disease. Records from the UCLA medical Center and Mayo Clinic showed some slurring of speech going back as early as 1978, but Ali was evaluated in July 1980 and no signs of organic brain disease were discovered. Three weeks before his fight with Larry Holmes, his personal physician from Chicago assessed that Muhammad appeared myxedematous [hyperthyroid characterized by dry skin and loss of mental and physical vigor].
In June 1981, Muhammad was diagnosed as having pneumococcal pneumonia and was treated with antibiotics. In August 1981, he was hospitalized again at UCLA where people first began to notice slurred speech. Ali was examined by a neurologist who found minor imbalance when he walked quickly but the rest of the examination was normal.
A year later, he was hospitalized again because he felt fatigued and had slurred speech. He complained, in his words that he was walking like an old man and his right leg felt sluggish. Friends said he was drooling saliva from time to time. By this time, his handwriting was deteriorating.
The hospital staff observed that his responses were slowing and that he had slurring of speech with low volume. However he showed no decline in intelligence and his walking and balance were said to be normal.
In October 1983, Muhammad was again admitted to UCLA. His speech and walking continued to worsen and he'd developed a tremor in his hand as well. He reported in his own words that he was moving about as if he was a mummy. He had an EEG, which showed some disorganization of rhythm but was still not highly abnormal. He underwent comprehensive neuropsychological testing, which revealed deficits in the tracking trains of learning anything but the simplest new material, thereby suggesting early organicity, which means due to brain damage.
He was put on Sinemet, which is the most potent drug used for treating, "Parkinsonism".However, his overall problems remained and in September 1984 Ali checked into Columbia-Presbyterian. After eight days of tests, Ali was released, and a brief public statement was issued by his supervising physician, Stanley Fahn, explaining that Ali was exhibiting "some mild symptoms of Parkinson's syndrome", but that the condition was not degenerative and that Ali was responding well to medication. Questions regarding Ali's health continued to spread, especially regarding whether or not his ill health was directly caused by boxing. Ultimately as his condition continued to worsen, it became revealed that his disease had been caused from too many blows to the head.
For a complete biography of Mohammad Ali click onto
» left by sue thom from nj (53 days 23 hours ago.)
hi david,
very interesting. what a terrible side affect of something he loved so much. not me, i think boxing is barbaric, like throwing people into the lion's den, and watching. my partner and i have this discussion, he likes it, and sees it for the "sport" i see 2 people going into a ring with the sole intent of hurting the other. this was interesting about the life ali had outside the gym, and the trials and tribulations he had to go through health wise. thanks for sharing this,
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