BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – CONTRADICTORY statements have recently surfaced about the health of Muhammad Ali, the man who many considered the “greatest boxer of all-time” and who once “floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee”.
Fears for the health Muhammad Ali of are growing with the great boxer can no longer being able to speak.
According to the UK Daily Record, Roy Firestone, an acquaintance of Ali since the 1970s, “It has been ¬difficult. The saddest irony of all is that the guy, who talked more often, now can’t talk at all.
“I can’t say he is doing great.”
Ali’s brother, Rahman, said the three-time world heavyweight champion was “very sick” and close to death as he loses his long battle with ¬Parkinson’s disease.
Rahman, 69, said Ali no longer recognised him, stating, “It could be months, it could be days. I don’t know if he’ll last the summer. He’s in God’s hands.
“It’s best he goes now. The longer he goes on, so does his suffering and misery. He’s going to Heaven, there’s no doubt. If his funeral was tomorrow, then all the statesmen of the world would turn up.
“He touched everyone, from the rich to the poor.”
Ali’s daughter however contradicted her uncle’s statements, saying that she talked to her father on the phone on Sunday morning (Feb. 3).
“He’s fine. In fact, he was talking well this morning. These rumours pop up every once in a while but there’s nothing to them.”
Ali’s spokesman Bob Gunnell said, “He looks great. He’s having a Super Bowl party.”
Reports state that it is was visibly clear that Ali lost weight since his last appearance at the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony.
Firestone, a journalist, spoke out on US TV to clear up the conflicting reports on Monday morning (Feb. 4).
And on Twitter, boxing trainer Shane McGuigan – son of former champ Barry – shared his own fears.
He wrote: “I’ve just been informed that ‘The Greatest’ Muhammad Ali is in a bad way. Before you sleep tonight, say a little prayer for him.”
Ali, who turned 71 last month, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1984, three years after his final fight.
In December 2011, he was taken to hospital after falling unconscious.
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., Ali was deemed an unstoppable force.
As an amateur, Ali had 100 wins and fives losses, during which time he won six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, one Amateur Athletic national title and a gold medal in the heavyweight category at the Summer Olympics in Rome in 1960.
He made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, gaining a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker and followed this up with 18 more wins with 15 by way of knockout and became the number one contender to fight the heavyweight champion Sonny Liston.
They met in Miami Beach, Florida on February 25, 1964 and Ali defeated Liston after he refused to answer the bell in the seventh round, making him the youngest boxer, at that time, to take the title from a reigning heavyweight at age 22. Mike Tyson broke that record in 1986 at age 20.
Having changed his name after being converted to Islam, the two greats met in Lewiston, Maine on May 25, 1965 for a return fight and Ali knocked him out in 1:52 minutes of the second round with what was dubbed the “phantom punch”.
Eight fights after knocking out Liston for the second time, Ali was stripped of his titles on April 28, 1967 for refusing to be inducted into the US Armed Forces. His boxing licence was suspended and he was later sentenced to five years imprisonment for evasion.
Ali appealed and during that period was granted a licence to box by the City of Atlanta Athletic Commission on August 12, 1970. His first fight upon returning to the ring was a return match with Jerry Quarry on October 26 of that year. He stopped Quarry in round three by technical knockout.
As a result of that fight, the New York State Boxing Commission reinstated his licence to fight there and, in December 1970, he knocked out Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden and became the number one contender to fight against Joe Frazier for the WBA and WBC World Heavyweight titles.
Ali was at that time the Ring World Heavyweight Champion. They fought at the Madison Square Garden on May 8, 1971 and, for the first time as a professional, Ali lost. It was dubbed the “Fight of the Century”.
Ali then fought against Jimmy Ellis for the vacant NABF Heavyweight title in Houston, Texas on July 26, 1971 and won by technical knockout in round 12. Nine fights after, he lost the title to Ken Norton in a 12-round split decision in San Diego, California on March 31, 1773. He however regained it in their return fight some six months after in Inglewood, California.
On January 28, 1974 he defeated Frazier on a unanimous decision and retained his NABF Heavyweight title but vacated it later in that year.
Standing 6’3”, Ali who had a highly unorthodox style for a heavyweight boxer, was pitted against George Foreman, the WBA and WBC World Heavyweight Champion, who had knocked out both Frazier and Norton in the second round. He was the underdog in the October 30, 1974 bout nicknamed “The Rumble in the Jungle”.
The fight was held in Kinshasa, Zaire and Ali, despite pundits not giving him a glimmer of hope, Ali was victorious. He knocked out Foreman in the eighth round with the introduction of a style that he called “Rope-A-Dope”.
After successfully defending his titles in three more fights, Ali decided to give Frazier another shot at the titles in Quezon City, Philippines on October 1, 1975. The bout was titled “The Thrilla in Manilia” and, according to the records, it lasted 14 gruelling rounds in temperatures approaching 100°F (38 °C).
The fight was stopped when Frazier was unable to answer the bell for the 15th and final round (his eyes were swollen shut) and his trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow him to continue, while an ailing Ali said afterwards that the last Frazier fight “was the closest thing to dying that I know”, citing him as “the greatest fighter of all times next to me”.
Ali entered the ring 10 more times and lost three of them to Leon Spinks in a 15-round split decision, Larry Homes in a 10-round technical knockout and Trevor Berbick in a 10-round unanimous decision before hanging up his gloves.
