did ali get parkinsons.........

[QueensburyRules]

I think it was because of Foreman. Foreman, the hardest hitting HW ever who could throw his powerfull bombs non stop for more than 5 rounds, put everything he got on Ali's body. It was just not correct for him to end up like this.

- -We see the proof of this fighting Wepner in Palookaville for peanuts instead of taking the $5 mil from the black Indonesian oilman to rematch Foreman. Ferdie and Herbert nixed that.

Net result Chuckles whacked on the back of his noggin all night that Ali had no defense from.

Same Wepner George as a novice whacked out early doors a couple years before.

THATS when Ali should've retired!!! He had more$ than when he did finally retire.

[Sugarj]

but frazier hit the body like no one else

Parkinson's syndrome is far more likely to be caused by head trauma than body blows. It's linked to brain stem/spine and dopamine production.

That said, I've studied Ali for decades. Fights, interviews, documentaries etc. The first symptoms seemed to arise after the third Frazier fight. In rounds 5 and 6 Ali took some sickening left hooks.

It is strange to watch, but it seemed that from the third Frazier fight onward, decline seemed to set in almost fight by fight. He was still great, but you'd catch that muscle rigidity, blank stare and horseness of the voice more and more often as the years in the late 70s moved on. The head punches would almost certainly have accelerated the symptoms too. Especially the Shavers fight in 1977!

[Ben Bolt]

You can't say, it's from a specific fight.

It's from every fight. From every sparring session. From every blow to the head.
Boxing damages the brain.

Whether we're supporters of the sport, or boxers ourselves, we have to admit: the human brain ain't made for being hit.

[Sugarj]

You can't say, it's from a specific fight.

It's from every fight. From every sparring session. From every blow to the head.
Boxing damages the brain.

Whether we're supporters of the sport, or boxers ourselves, we have to admit: the human brain ain't made for being hit.

I'm completely with you on your third paragraph. But brain damage in boxing can very much be bout specific.

Ali's symptoms became more noticeable bout by bout, but it was after a certain point.

I certainly hold the su****ion that if Ali retired immediately after the Foreman fight and never took a single head blow after that night, he may well have had excellent motor/neurolgy into old age.....he may have still been alive today!

I have heard that there are others in Ali's family who developed a similar condition without suffering head trauma though. So we can never be too sure....

[Beercules]

My father had Parkinson's. He used to box as an amateur and his time in the Army.




He did have a bad injury during his time at Fort Benning, he hit his head on a log, he thinks that is what really caused it.

[Ben Bolt]

About Pacheco ... Actually, I've been wondering, if you have been practising to become a doctor, why do you then choose to get engaged in boxing?
Any sane doctor should condemn the sport.

[QueensburyRules]

About Pacheco ... Actually, I've been wondering, if you have been practising to become a doctor, why do you then choose to get engaged in boxing?
Any sane doctor should condemn the sport.

- -Any cognizant Doc would condemn smoking and alcoholism, yet plenty do both.

We all die of something in the end, so maybe cause ain't as important as we think.

Ali did it his way, but I happen to think had he retired post Foreman, he would've had healthier elder years, but that's 20-20 hindsight, not insight in the day.

[Rusty Tromboni]

- -Any cognizant Doc would condemn smoking and alcoholism, yet plenty do both.

We all die of something in the end, so maybe cause ain't as important as we think.

Ali did it his way, but I happen to think had he retired post Foreman, he would've had healthier elder years, but that's 20-20 hindsight, not insight in the day.

Yeah, he really should have hung it up then.


Lots of guys I've known over the years are starting to show signs. Wrestling and Football are really bad for you.

I've seen a lot of tough kids never really get their MMA careers off the ground because the head trauma they suffered over the years on the mat and on the field has made them really chinny.

Not just when I was wrestling, but even as a coach we all used to joke about guys who were a little punch drunk. But now that we know better as a society, (and see it happening to people we know) it's changed my out look.

It's just jujitsu for my kids.

And they're OK with that. Especially since they don't want to get fat when they're "old".

[Anthony342]

I remember watching a Howard Cosell interview Ali did after the Foreman fight and Ali's speech did seem a tad slower, but it seemed much worse after the third Frazier fight. I agree with either the Foreman fight or Frazier 3 being the stopping point of his career. The problem is it's usually impossible to convince fighters to stop fighting. The only thing anyone can really do is for commissions not to sanction them in any state or anywhere in the world for that matter, for their own health. Reminds me of that Legendary Nights episode on Chavez-Taylor towards the end where they revealed Taylor was still fighting at that point and had slurred speech. Dr. Margaret Goodman even said she didn't know how he kept getting sanctioned to fight. So there needs to be stricter rules on that for the safety of these fighters.

We're seeing this in MMA now too where Chuck Liddell was told by Dana White he wouldn't be approved for anymore UFC fights, so he initially retired and then returned at 48 to fight a rubber match with Tito Ortiz in 2018, which was just sad. Fans are now hoping that was truly his last fight as usually when fighters reach their 50s, they finally do tend to stop, like Larry Holmes, Roberto Duran and Roy Jones finally did. James Toney fought until he was 49. When Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock had their 3rd fight, Royce was 49 and Ken was a few days past 52.

[DreamFighter]

parkinsonians you mean. Its a collective safe term used when you cant put your finger on if its Parkinsons itself

You call it that when you see the symptoms but arent sure it might be something else mimicking Parkinsons....you only advance to calling it PD when you know its Parkinsons (you do that by slowly eliminating the possibility of similar dieases, which you might never do even in autopsy).

I'd really not want reading too much into it, its very depressing stuff the deeper you get, just read the surface. You get it up to a decade before you notice it physically, so you literally will never get a warning sign to stop boxing.

And likely yes his boxing did it. Dont do a sport where your head gets hit on continuously. Man dont live good without a brain. Though that doesnt explain me.