Fourth and final wife of the boxing champion, she has dedicated her life to defending her interests.
Dark pants, white shirt, black bow tie. It is in this typical American outfit of the 1960s that Cassius Clay walks. This afternoon in May 1963, the one who is not yet Mohamed Ali visited his parents, Cassius Senior and Odessa. Through his early bouts, the 21-year-old champion was able to afford them a home in this peaceful area of Louisville, Kentucky.
Also read: Biaggio Ali Walsh, the grandson of Mohamed Ali, settles on the fashion planet
The commotion is second to none, the neighborhood kids congregate around the local star. On the sidewalk opposite, 6-year-old Lonnie Williams observes the scene. She does not know anything about pugilistic art and does not understand the importance of the event, but her two brothers insist that she crosses the street: “My parents’ house faced the Clays house. I was shy, I walked over to greet him and was lucky that a photographer captured this moment. An image for posterity. This photo, published in the magazine “Look”, testifies to the meeting.
Also read:The final farewell to Mohamed Ali
Long before love, Lonnie will be the boxer’s protege. Their lives are diametrically opposed. The following year, crowned world heavyweight champion, Cassius Clay announced his conversion to Islam. In 1967, becoming Mohamed Ali, he was stripped of his title: having refused to join the American army, he narrowly avoided prison but was banned from his sport for three years. No way for him to go to war in Vietnam. Lonnie, she will follow a brilliant schooling in a Catholic establishment. She sees the champion regularly when, between two fights, he comes to recharge his batteries. With her, he plays the big brothers. “He spent as much time with his parents as with mine. He educated me on lots of topics. I was captivated. He was so interesting, so funny… ”Ali fascinates her and influences her choice of studies and dating. “He urged me never to mix with professional athletes!” He also orients her religious beliefs, and she converts to Islam. But the click, Lonnie says to have felt it at 17 years old, in 1974. She knows then that, one day, she will marry him. At the height of his glory, Mohamed Ali, 32, reclaimed his world heavyweight title in Kinshasa, during what has been called “the fight of the century”. He is also married and the father of six children. “I have met all of his wives, I have known each of his children since birth. His first wife, Sonji Roi, was sympathetic. I liked it a lot, ”says Lonnie.
In 1963, Cassius Clay (his original surname), 21, visiting Louisville, met the neighborhood kids, including 6-year-old Lonnie Williams, whom he married 23 years later. © Steve Schapiro / Corbis via Getty Images
After Sonji, there was Khalila for ten years, the mother of her first four children; then, until 1986, Veronica Porché, who gave birth to Hana and Laila. Two others were born out of extramarital affairs. The boxer’s existence is a continual whirlwind, a sweet madness in which Lonnie gradually intrudes. Ali integrated him into his first circle in 1982 and financed his studies at the University of California. But time has passed. At 39, he then went through a severe existential crisis. He left the rings defeated, worn out, showing the beginnings of the disease which will devour him the rest of his life. Her marriage is coming to an end, her financial future is as bleak as her morale. A graduate in management and business administration, Lonnie Williams decides to restore the faltering empire. She creates a company with a simple but concrete goal: to profit from the notoriety of the “Greatest”. The name of the company is all found: GOAT, acronym of “Greatest of All Time”, “the best of all time”. “It was unthinkable for me that Mohamed would end up in old penniless glory. Too generous, he gave his money without even being asked … It is not good to keep healthy finances! She euphemizes. It is a question of watching over the intellectual property of the champion, who cannot give his image to just any product. Lonnie checks that those he validates are not at odds with his beliefs. Impossible, for example, to associate it with the promotion of tobacco or alcohol …
“
It was unthinkable for me to see Mohamed Ali end up penniless like an old fallen glory
“
On November 19, 1986, Lonnie celebrates her “epiphany”: she has completed the puzzle and marries the one she “always loved” at their home in Louisville. In the process, the couple adopted a 5 month old baby. Asaad will be Mohamed Ali’s ninth child. It is at this time that Parkinson’s symptoms become visible. A first diagnosis was made in 1984, but Ali chose to ignore it. Lonnie forces his hand to get a second opinion. “Bringing up this subject with Mohamed was like speaking to a wall! At first, he refused to be the figurehead of the disease. His doctor, Abe Lieberman, had to go about it several times to convince him. He knew that if Mohamed made his fight public, donors would come in. Ali, who is selfless and a philanthropist, will eventually agree. From then on, he will use all his strength to help medical research.
We criticize Lonnie, who is criticized for exhibiting a sick icon. She ignores the attacks. According to her, her man knew how to remain dignified. Even diminished, even diminished, he acts. He is on all fronts. In 1990, he met Saddam Hussein in Baghdad and allowed the release of 32 hostages in Iraq. He represents the United Nations; his schedule is worthy of a head of state. But he knows his stable, well-managed home. The task falls to Lonnie. The family chose to reside in a hamlet in southwest Michigan away from the hustle and bustle, the crowds, the fans. The couple thought about Asaad’s education. “Growing up in this calm environment has been beneficial. Our neighbors didn’t treat us like celebrities, which we appreciated. “
He first played the big brother before being her husband. Here in 1997, she is 40 years old, he 55 years old. © Sports Illustrated via Getty Images
On a daily basis, meals, TV programs, occupations, Ali has no particular requirements. If he gives those around him a hard time, it is only when it comes to swallowing his treatment: “He hated the cocktail of pills and, joker, did not hesitate to hide to avoid this moment. A permanent challenge. The man who stung like a bee and flew like a butterfly now spends most of his days with his family, at rest. The 1990s were his last good years. “He was a man from the southern United States, fairly traditional, Muslim, but he let me run his business without imposing anything on me,” says Lonnie.
The disease worsens. Once so eloquent, Ali is gradually losing the use of speech. The tremors are incessant. He has to fight Parkinson’s like he once fought against George Foreman. Lonnie, who accompanies him on every trip, sees him turn into a myth. Thanks to GOAT, the couple earns significant income. In 2005, the Mohamed Ali Center, which now houses the champion’s immense cultural heritage, can open its doors in Louisville. The following year, 80% of GOAT’s rights were sold for $ 80 million to New York-based CKX, also the owner of Elvis Presley’s intellectual property.
This is about the time that Lonnie and Mohamed leave the cold north to settle in Arizona. The overwhelming heat, necessary for Ali’s well-being, isn’t the only factor behind this move: in Phoenix, they reunite with their dear friend, Doctor Lieberman. Every Sunday, the two men converse. Mohamed is very surrounded. His nine children, his younger brother, Rahman, his wife, all watch over him. Not to mention the occasional visitors who break the monotony of the days, such as Mike Tyson and actor Will Smith, who played him in a biopic.
He didn’t want to be the Parkinson’s poster boy at any cost.
The next decade is twilight. Lonnie recruits his sister Marilyn to help her take care of Mohamed. His appearances in public are scarce. Five years before his death, he planned the organization of his funeral. He wants something big. An auditorium, or why not a stadium, so that his fans can pay tribute to him? Lonnie isn’t convinced: “I warned him no one was doing that. But he insisted, explained to me: “My fans will be there!” “The first days of June 2016, Ali was hospitalized for breathing difficulties. At 74, and after thirty-two years of fighting the disease, the end is near. Lonnie never leaves him. She reunites her children and some of her grandchildren for a final farewell.
After the death of the former champion, the time for tributes to Louisville will last a week. Lonnie doesn’t flinch: “He wouldn’t have wanted to see me a tearful widow.” Mohamed was moving forward, I must continue on his behalf. And without drama. Quarrels between heirs – nine children, three ex-wives – were avoided, Ali’s will did not harm anyone. Since the death of the greatest boxer of the 20th century, Lonnie has watched over the legacy. Their son, Asaad, has just had a child. A future puncher, who knows? He can count on his grandmother to tell him the legend.
Any reproduction prohibited