by Jonathan Eig
$1,200 “hang-around money”: Kindred, Sound and Fury, 269.
“He was an old man at forty-one”: Ibid., 270.
He drooled at times: Hauser, with Ali, Muhammad Ali, 489.
“I’ve taken about 175,000 hard punches”: “Muhammad Ali Says He Is Tired of Rumors That He Is Brain Damaged,” Jet, April 30, 1984.
why his body seemed to be: Hauser, with Ali, Muhammad Ali, 489.
Ali displayed a range of symptoms: Dr. Stanley Fahn, interview by author, June 1, 2015.
“He was a little slow”: Hauser, with Ali, Muhammad Ali, 491.
Floyd Patterson paid a visit: Larry Kolb, interview by author, December 9, 2016.
“At least he didn’t call me a nigger draft-dodger”: Ibid.
“He’s not thinking very fast”: “Pendleton Is Right,” Victoria Advocate, November 26, 1984.
seventh-floor hospital room: Larry Kolb, interview by author, December 9, 2016.
“I saw so many people”: “Hospitalized Ali: ‘I’m Not Hurting,’ ” Los Angeles Times, September 21, 1984.
“very possibly”: “Ali’s Improvement Is Called Impressive,” New York Times, September 21, 1984.
survey of more than two hundred boxers: “Boxing and the Brain,” British Medical Journal, January 14, 1989.
as far back as 1975: Dr. Stanley Fahn, interview by author, June 1, 2015.
“My assumption”: Hauser, with Ali, Muhammad Ali, 492.
as clever and intelligent as ever: Dr. Stanley Fahn, interview by author, June 1, 2015.
“I’m lazy and I forget”: “Playful Ali Goes the Distance with Reporters,” New York Times, November 20, 1984.
“I’m more celebrated”: Ibid.
“advisers, friends, fans”: Laila Ali, with David Ritz, Reach! (New York: Hyperion, 2002), 20.
“I never heard my parents fight”: Ibid., 12.
“I was drawn instead”: Ibid., 19–20.
“We had to share him, anyway”: Jamillah Ali, interview by author, July 25, 2015.
“That meant more to me”: “His Gentle Soul,” ESPN Magazine, June 27, 2016.
feeling like a prisoner: Veronica Ali, interview by author, May 26, 2016.
“I became numb”: Ibid.
“He’d bring a woman right in front of you”: Veronica Ali, interview by author, December 20, 2016.
selling her plasma: Khalilah Camacho-Ali, interview by author, January 12, 2015.
dined at the Williams’s table: “Muhammad Ali Was Her First, and Greatest, Love,” New York Times, June 9, 2016.
“He was despondent”: Hauser, with Ali, Muhammad Ali, 469.
“He’d sometimes bring us along”: Ali, with Ritz, Reach! 20.
“You cannot do that”: Veronica Ali, interview by author, May 26, 2016.
Ali married Lonnie: “Muhammad Ali Takes Ring Again — Weds 4th Time,” Louisville Courier-Journal, November 20, 1968.
54. “HE’S HUMAN, LIKE US”
“Larry, get up and go to that line”: Larry Kolb, interview by author, October 14, 2015.
Robert Sensi, a CIA agent: Larry Kolb, Overworld (New York: Riverhead Books, 2004), 205
they suggested Ali go to Lebanon: Ibid., 212.
met with shadowy figures: Ibid., 207–229.
“Dear Gene”: Muhammad Ali to Gene Kilroy, February 20, 1985, personal collection of Gene Kilroy.
wasn’t sure where or when: Kindred, Sound and Fury, 272.
“a bad guy”: Gene Kilroy, interview by author, April 3, 2017.
wondered if the world knew: Ibid.
“Quiet, Drew”: Ibid., 278.
“Superman don’t need no plane!”: Larry Kolb, interview by author, December 31, 2016.
“If I had one dollar”: Ibid.
wedged his big body through the window: Video from 1987, courtesy of Larry Kolb.
“Black Superman”: Ibid.
He heard the song everywhere: Larry Kolb, interview by author, December 31, 2016.
Ali congratulated Afghans: Larry Kolb, interview by author, December 22, 2016.
“Many people in America”: Video from 1987, courtesy of Larry Kolb.
thin man with a long beard stands out: Ibid.
told him the man was most likely bin Laden: Larry Kolb, interview by author, December 22, 2016.
Don King and Donald Trump: Peter Tauber, “Ali: Still Magic,” New York Times, July 17, 1988.
“I’ve got Parkinson’s syndrome”: Ibid.
“pleasant back-and-forth conversation”: Kindred, Sound and Fury, 288.
“I didn’t call ’em”: Ibid., 290.
Hirschfeld had been entertaining friends: “Were Senators Duped by an Ali Impersonator,” St. Petersburg Times, December 14, 1988.
“That little Jewish lawyer’s”: Kindred, Sound and Fury, 290.
Ali . . . knew exactly what Hirschfeld was doing: Larry Kolb, interview by author, January 10, 2016.
“It was a spiritual journey for both of us”: Lonnie Ali, text message to author, January 3, 2017.
“When Muhammad started to get sick”: Thomas Hauser, interview by author, January 5, 2017.
five thousand dollars for four hours: Brian Bedol, interview by author, April 7, 2014.
two-thousand-dollar tab: Ibid.
“In my career, everything”: Muhammad Ali interview with David Frost, n.d., www.youtube.com.
“He was a father”: “Father of Muhammad Ali Dies,” UPI Archives, http://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/02/09/Father-of-Muhammad-Ali-dies/4127634539600/.
“Book makes me look like a fool”: Robert Lipsyte, “Ali Is Still a Comfort to Many Aging Fans,” New York Times, June 7, 1991.
“Shouldn’t have done it”: Ibid.
Lonnie was saddened at times: Thomas Hauser, The Lost Legacy of Muhammad Ali (Toronto: Sport Classic Books, 2005), 182.
stepped on his former opponent’s foot: Ibid.
55. A TORCH
10:15 one Saturday morning: Frank Sadlo, interview by author, November 5, 2016.
“Let’s go”: Frank Sadlo, interview by author, June 5, 2014.
“I wanted to do something nice”: Ibid.
gently rubbed her nose: Brenda Bender, interview by author, October 19, 2016.
Sadlo wrote letters: Copies of letters, multiple dates, from the personal collection of Frank Sadlo.
“all his oars in the water”: Frank Sadlo, interview by author, June 5, 2014.
“Sadlo received a strange phone call”: Ibid.
fighting back tears: Frank Sadlo, interview by author, October 6, 2016.
“Ali’s lighting of the Olympic flame”: “Ali’s Return Not Met with Pity, but with Affection,” USA Today, October 11–13, 1996.
“He’s half real”: Seth Abraham, interview by author, June 15, 2015.
56. THE LONG, BLACK CADILLAC
“More and more he is like a soul walking”: Frank Deford, “You Don’t Know Muhammad Ali until You Know His Best Friend,” Sports Illustrated, July 13, 1998.
“a prophet, a messenger of God”: Ezra, Muhammad Ali, 183.
“As I watch him eat”: Peter Richmond, “Muhammad Ali in Excelsis,” GQ, April 1998.
“For decades”: Ibid.
“I said a lot of things”: “No Floating, No Stinging: Ali Extends Hand to Frazier,” New York Times, March 15, 2001.
“God will be the judge”: Ibid.
“I am a Muslim”: “Calm Needed during Time of Anger,” New York Times, September 19, 2001.
“Tell me what happened again?”: George Franklin, interview by author, January 20, 2015.
firefighters wanted to tell Ali: Ibid.
“Islam is not a killing religion”: Muhammad Ali interview with David Frost, HBO broadcast, June 25, 2002, www.youtube.com.
Hollywood-produced ad campaign”: “Government Hounded Ali,” Syracuse (NY) Post Standard, January 16, 2002.
The Final Call . . . urged Ali: “Ali, Just Say No,” Final Call, January 8, 2002, http://www.finalcall.com/columns/akbar/a
li01-08-2002.htm.
“I dodge those questions”: Muhammad Ali interview with David Frost, HBO, June 25, 2002.
$750 per autograph: Mike Frost, interview by author, December 23, 2014.
“He was a man that never complained”: Asaad Ali, interview on the Today Show, NBC, June 10, 2016, http://www.today.com/news/muhammad-ali-s-son-opens-about-his-dad-today-he-t97571.
“Speaking as someone”: “Muhammad Ali Defends Islam after Trump’s Proposal to Bar Foreign Muslims,” New York Times, December 10, 2015.
“The relationship changes”: “Caring for the Greatest,” AARP Bulletin, June 2014.
refrigerator magnet: Khalilah Camacho-Ali, interview by author, December 24, 2014.
“He wasn’t no hero”: Larry Holmes, interview by author, October 1, 2015.
Bender had taken a writer on a tour: Vic Bender, interview by author, October 1, 2015.
“Wasn’t it a beautiful night?”: Rahaman Ali, interview by author, October 1, 2015.
mouth was next to Ali’s right ear and other details from hospital: Tom Junod, “The Greatest, At Rest,” ESPN The Magazine, June 12, 2017.
“ ‘I am America,’ he once declared”: “President Obama’s Statement on Muhammad Ali,” New York Times, June 4, 2016.
“Ali boma ye”: “In Death, Ali Still Larger than Life,” Louisville Courier-Journal, June 11, 2016.
“Muhammad fell in love with the masses”: Lonnie Ali eulogy, author’s recording, June 10, 2016.
“He floated like a butterfly”: Imam Zaid Shakir eulogy, author’s recording, June 10, 2016.
“God is watching me”: “Muhammad Ali Talks about His Death,” www.youtube.com.
“I had to prove you could be”: Remnick, King of the World, xiii.
POSTSCRIPT
a political activitist: Bernardine Dorhn, interview by author, November 9, 2016.
APPENDIX
Career Record
KEY
RTD: Retired Between Rounds UD: Unanimous Decision MD: Majority Decision TKO: Technical Knockout KO: Knockout
Source: Boxrec.com
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Even as a baby, Cassius Jr. was not camera shy. Courtesy of Victor and Brenda Bender
2. Rudy Clay (left) helps his brother Cassius prepare for the 1960 Olympics. Associated Press
3. Ready to rumble at age twelve and 95 pounds. Associated Press
4. Cassius Clay Sr. and Odessa complained that the Nation of Islam brainwashed their son, but they remained involved in his life. Associated Press
5. In 1961, the young boxer’s entourage included his ever-present brother, his mother, and a small but growing following of women. © Art Shay
6. After a poor start, Clay nailed Alex Miteff with a right to win his ninth professional fight in 1961. © Art Shay
7. Soon after turning pro, Clay left trainer Joe Martin to work with Angelo Dundee. Associated Press, Dan Grossi
8. In June 1962, Clay met Malcolm X, who would become a close friend and spiritual mentor until their relationship’s abrupt end. Associated Press
9. Heavily favored, Sonny Liston was unprepared for the speed, power, and unrelenting jab of the challenger Cassius Clay. Associated Press
10. “I shook up the world”: Clay becomes heavyweight champ at age twenty-two. Associated Press
11. After winning the heavyweight title, Ali announced his loyalty to the Nation of Islam and Elijah Muhammad. Elijah honored the boxer with a new name, Muhammad Ali. Rudy Clay (left) also joined the Nation and became Rahaman Ali. © Lowell K. Riley
12. Sonji Roi, Ali’s first wife, was a dancer, a barmaid, and a model. They eventually clashed over her refusal to follow the Nation of Islam’s dress code. Associated Press
13. In the rematch, Ali knocked out Liston in the first round, although rumors swirled that Liston took a dive. Associated Press, John Rooney
14. Don King, Ali, Herbert Muhammad, and jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. Courtesy of Safiyya Mohammed-Rahmah
15. Ali loved a crowd, and often found one on 79th Street in Chicago, near the offices of Muhammad Speaks and the popular Tiger Lounge. © Lowell K. Riley
16. Ali cheers at a Nation of Islam rally, dressed in the uniform of the Fruit of Islam, a male-only paramilitary wing within the organization. © Lowell K. Riley
17. Howard Cosell (in hat) interviews Ali in 1967 as the fighter refused induction to the Army, saying he was a conscientious objector. Ali was convicted of draft evasion and banned from boxing. Associated Press
18. “I married a man with no job”: Belinda Ali, a faithful member of the Nation of Islam, was seventeen years old and working two jobs when she became Ali’s second wife. Associated Press
19. The Fight of the Century: Ali got up but lost a fifteen-round decision to Joe Frazier in one of the greatest and most brutal heavyweight bouts of all time. Associated Press
20. Drew “Bundini” Brown, Ali’s friend and chief motivator, tapes the fighter’s hands at their new training camp in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania. © Kwame Brathwaite
21. Ali loved entertaining crowds at his cabin in Deer Lake. © Peter Angelo Simon
22. Stokely Carmichael looks on as Ali works the speed bag. © Peter Angelo Simon
23. Gene Kilroy (front left) adjusts the TV as Ali and a few friends gather in the champ’s hotel suite to watch one of his fights. © Michael Gaffney Photo
24. To regain his championship, Ali would have to go to Zaire and defeat the seemingly invincible George Foreman. Associated Press
25. Promoter Don King brought heavyweight boxing to Africa, bragging that the ancestors of slaves were returning to conquer the continent. Associated Press, Horst Faas
26. In Zaire, Ali met and fell in love with Veronica Porche, one of the young women hired to promote the fight (seated second from the right, next to Foreman). Associated Press, Horst Faas
27. “I know what I’m doing,” Ali shouted as he let one of the greatest punchers in heavyweight history bang away in a technique he would later dub “rope-a-dope.” Associated Press, REX, Shutterstock
28. After the Foreman fight, Ali relied increasingly on the rope-a-dope style, which endangered him against powerful punchers like Earnie Shavers, shown here in 1977. © Michael Gaffney Photo
29. “Quit, son, before you get hurt,” says Cassius Clay Sr. to his son in the locker room after the Shavers fight. © Michael Gaffney Photo
30. In 1978, Ali trained lightly and suffered a shocking loss to Leon Spinks. “I lost fair and square,” he said after the fight. © Michael Gaffney Photo
31. After divorcing Belinda, Ali married Veronica Porche. With their daughter Hana, the couple is seen here on a bus headed to Washington, D.C., for a meeting with President Jimmy Carter. © Michael Gaffney Photo
32. Ferdie Pacheco (left) quit the Ali camp, saying it was unhealthy for the fighter to continue, but most others stuck with Ali. © Michael Gaffney Photo
33. Ali came out of retirement in 1981 and lost a hopelessly brutal fight to Larry Holmes, his former sparring partner. Associated Press
34. Ali stands before a Che Guevara mural on a 1998 visit to Havana. © David Turnley
35. Hands shaking, feet shuffling, Ali lit the Olympic torch in 1996 in Atlanta, shocking the crowd and helping to remake his image as a man fighting illness. Associated Press, Doug Mills
36. In 2005, President George W. Bush presented Ali with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, calling him “a fierce fighter and a man of peace.” Associated Press, Evan Vucci
37. Clay holds up five fingers to show how many rounds he predicted Henry Cooper would last in their fight in June 1963. His brash pronouncements offended many, but the crowds still flocked to get a sight of him. PA Images
38. Clay entered the ring in a red and white satin robe, made specially for the occasion at the cost of twenty pounds – here was the king! Getty Images
39. His prediction wasn’t looking too good when Cooper knocked him down in the fourth round as ’enry’s ’am
mer found its target, but he ended the contest in the next round – just as predicted. PA Images
40. In 1966, and now known as Muhammad Ali, the world champion prepared himself for a rematch against Cooper, taking time out to visit a play group in Ladbroke Grove in London. Getty Images
41. Cooper required sixteen stitches to stem the bleeding after he was beaten in six rounds at Highbury Stadium on 21 May 1966. PA Images
42. Ali returned to England a few weeks later to take on Brian London when he was arguably at the peak of his career. Getty Images
43. London, who had fought Floyd Patterson for the world title in 1959, was no match for Ali, landing just seven punches before he was knocked out. Getty Images
44. In 1964, Ali visited Egypt to help develop his understanding of his new faith. Getty Images
45. During his goodwill visit to Pakistan in 1987, Ali is presented with a photograph of himself. He believed that such journeys helped draw him closer to Allah. Getty Images
46. In less than four months in the middle of 1972, Ali fought four bouts in four different countries, the last of them Ireland. He brought his mother Odessa with him for the journey. Getty Images
47. Alvin “Blue” Lewis out for the count in the eleventh round at Croke Park in Dublin. Getty Images
48. Richard Dunn may have hit the canvas on five occasions in his 1976 fight, but it was clear that Ali was no longer the boxer he had once been. PA Images
49. Ali arrived in Australia early in 1979 and went to visit Fitzroy, a deprived area of Melbourne, to see for himself the situation facing Aboriginal people there. Getty Images
50. Forty years after winning Olympic gold and twenty-five years since they last fought, Ali meets Joe Bugner at the Sydney Games in 2000. Getty Images
51. Ali and Veronica Porche visit a mosque in South Shields in the north-east of England in July 1977 to have their marriage blessed. Mirrorpix
52. David Beckham greets Ali at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards in 1999, at which the boxer was named Sports Personality of the Century. Getty Images
53. Ali visits Ricky Hatton’s gym in Hyde, Manchester, in 2009. PA Images
54. Global icons: Nelson Mandela and Ali greet each other in June 2003 in Dublin. Getty Images
