The Greatest: Muhammad Ali

In professional boxing, there are three kinds of ways a fight can end. A knockout occurs when a fighter falls to the canvas from a punch and is unable to stand up before the referee completes a count of 10. A technical knockout occurs when a ring official (such as a doctor or the referee) determines that a fighter cannot continue without excessive risk, perhaps due to blood or swelling interfering with a fighter’s vision or an inability to defend themselves. A fighter’s corner may also signal their desire to stop the fight, but this is typically not an official act until the referee or doctor certifies it. If neither kind of knockout occurs after the scheduled number of rounds (as few as four and, in Ali’s day, as many as 15, but now 12), then it becomes a matter of scorecards. Three judges at ringside award points after each round based on who they think had the better performance, docking points for suffering a knockdown or committing a foul. Usually, as long as at least two judges agree on a winner, that person wins by decision, but draws can also occur if judges allocate rounds evenly or the disparities in scoring add up to a tie. Ali completed his professional record with 56 victories, 37 of them by knockout or technical knockout, and five defeats, one of them by technical knockout.

The Nation of Islam is a Black nationalist organization that argues that Black people in America will never be treated equally under a white establishment, and so they need to build up their own independent social structures in all possible respects. Founded in 1930 by Wallace Fard Muhammad, it came to prominence in the 1950s under the leadership of Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Poole) and his chief spokesman, Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little). In 1964, it gained its most famous adherent when the newly crowned boxing champion Cassius Clay announced himself a member of the nation, shortly afterward taking on the new name Muhammad Ali. The Nation has been a controversial organization, largely for its view that white people are literal devils, as well as accusations of antisemitism, particularly directed against its current head, Louis Farrakhan (born Louis Walcott). The Nation has a distinct theology that has drawn critique from many traditional Muslims. Ali left the Nation after Elijah Muhammad’s death in 1975.

Named for James Parkinson, the English physician who published the first writings on the subject, Parkinson’s disease is a condition affecting the brain that causes the death of cells, which in turns impact the brain’s ability to direct the body. Its most visible symptoms are shaking, especially in the hands, while much of the rest of the body is stiffened. Over time, speech and movement tend to become more limited. Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative condition. It is not entirely clear, even to this day, whether Muhammad Ali’s development of Parkinson’s was due to his boxing career.