TRIUMPHS AND TRIBULATIONS

Since Ali retired from the ring, much of the attention focused on him has centered on his physical condition. He suffers from Parkinson's disease, a neurological disorder that causes tremors, loss of balance, memory lapses, and confusion.

Doctors have asserted that Ali's symptoms were brought on by the repeated blows to the head he endured in the latter part of his boxing career. This has prompted medical organizations and other civic groups to lobby for the use of head gear in the ring or for the elimination of boxing altogether.

The young Ali was practically untouchable: Liston could land only two punches in their 1965 rematch. But in his late fights against the hard-hitting Frazier, Spinks, and Holmes, Ali took several hundred punches in every match. In the punishing 1980 loss to Holmes, Ali took 125 punches in the ninth and tenth rounds alone.

Ali's neurological disorder is essentially a motor-skills problem; he has retained his wit and his thought processes are clear. Despite his condition, he has remained an important figure on the world stage. In November 1990 Ali traveled to Iraq to meet with Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in a bid to forestall war in the Persian Gulf. In late 1996 Ali acted as a spokesperson for Operation USA in war-torn Rwanda.

Earlier in 1996 Ali lit the flame to open the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. He has been honored for creating the Muhammad Ali Community and Economic Development Corporation, an organization that teaches job skills to low-income public housing residents in Chicago, Illinois.

In 1994 Sports Illustrated ranked Ali first on its "40 for the Ages List." In 1987 The Ring named him the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. Ali was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990 and into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983. The Muhammad Ali Museum opened in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1995.