ifhe was unquestionably “The Greatest” throughout his eventful career, the end of his sporting life was not glorious. While he had decided to hang up the gloves for the first time in June 1979, Mohamed Ali announced, somewhat to everyone’s surprise, the following year that he wanted to return to the rings.
Despite his breathtaking record with 56 wins for 59 games, the native of Louisville must return to battle. However, his physical condition worries his family. Already suffering from Parkinson’s disease, which was officially recognized in 1984, Mohamed Ali no longer has the ardor that characterized him. His return to the stage will be a failure, with two consecutive defeats.
A first disappointment against his former training partner
He had again become world heavyweight champion following his revenge on Leon Spinks in 1978. After this short break, Mohamed Ali decided to come out of his early retirement. At 38, he is still an icon of world boxing. His former training partner Larry Holmes is the new champion in his category and his next opponent. If Ali’s entourage is concerned about his condition, the boxer has lost none of his talent in a press conference, where he does not hesitate to provoke his former sparring partner. “I got to the point where it’s life or death. I’m like a suicide bomber, nothing can stop me. Holmes thinks only of his wife, his kids, his nice house and his swimming pool. Me, I think only of victory. »
For his part, Holmes is shown to be more respectful towards Ali. If he is preparing for the fight of his life, he does not forget to pay tribute to him at the same time. “I was 21 when I became his sparring. Can you imagine, for a kid, what it meant to work with “The Greatest”? He is the man who gave me a job, who taught me everything about boxing. He made me 20 centimeters taller,” Holmes later explained to The Ring. The confrontation organized in Las Vegas on October 2, 1980 is the beginning of the end for Mohamed Ali, unrecognizable in the ring. Thin and not very impactful by his blows, the Olympic champion of Rome 1960 is only a shadow of himself. Even if he still wanted to fight, the verdict falls in the tenth round: he is officially defeated for the fourth time in his career.
A final chaotic fight in the organization
For Mohamed Ali, the failure against Holmes costs him sportingly but also in the media. His poor performance in Las Vegas does not encourage the organizers to organize a new fight, at least in the United States. Regardless, Ali’s name still sells and the Bahamas is positioning itself to host the event. Jamaican Trevor Berbick was chosen to challenge him. This fight in Nassau on December 11, 1981, known as the “Bahamas drama”, was a flop with the public: less than 7,000 tickets sold (compared to 24,000 in Las Vegas for the match against Holmes) and above all a broadcast at very limited television. Other than ONTV in Ohio, no national broadcaster has bid to show the fight.
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It is moreover in an organization unworthy of Ali’s rank that the fight takes place. The opposition between the “Greatest” and Berbick begins two hours late, because the key to the main entrance has been misplaced and the traditional bell needed to end each round has disappeared. Once everything is back to normal, the Bahamian confrontation begins. If Ali is doing better than in Nevada, he is still manhandled by his opponent. Offensive from the start, the American boxer accumulates blows without consequence and, from the sixth round, he slowly but surely declines. Berbick is finally named winner by the judges, after ten rounds.
“Like watching a king go into exile in the back of a garbage truck”
This last fight of Mohamed Ali therefore ends in pain, but also in indifference. “At least I didn’t fall. There will be no pictures of me on the ground, going through the ropes, with a bloody face or broken teeth, ”he analyzes, trying to qualify his poor performance. Hugh McIlvanney, famous English sports journalist who attended this meeting, did not hide his sadness to see such a legend end like this. “Seeing Ali lose to such a lowly boxer in such a dirty setting was like watching a king go into exile in the back of a garbage truck. This failure is one too many, Mohamed Ali will never again put on the gloves for a professional fight.
Anyway, was this comeback at 38 a good idea? Journalist Robert Lipsyte believes Ali’s urge to fight was too strong, despite warnings from his doctor Ferdie Pacheco. The pressure of his entourage, with the financial windfall as a stake, ended up taking over. “The only person who really tried to convince him to quit was Pacheco. But how do you tell someone to stop the only thing they really know how to do? And, anyway, there were too many people pressuring him to make money and he had a responsibility to his clan and his family. »
With Parkinson’s disease taking a permanent hold in his life, the decline is inexorable. He appeared in particular in 1996 at the opening ceremony of the Atlanta Olympics to light the Olympic cauldron, thus showing the general public the fragility of his condition. He was received several times at the White House, notably by George Bush Sr., and took part in the investiture of Barack Obama. He finally died on June 3, 2016, following pneumonia. If Ali’s epilogue was not brilliant, he is finally relegated to the background as his career and his life have been exceptional. The legend of the formerly named Cassius Clay is still tenacious in the United States. His mythical world champion belt in 1974 won against Foreman in Kinshasa was recently sold for 6.18 million dollars at auction. Proof that King Ali continues to cross the ages.
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