When should have Muhammad Ali retired to avoid Parkinson's disease?

[punchr]

I remember reading somewhere that Ali's private doctor was interviewed and that he thought Ali should have retired five years earlier than he did. Which means 1976

You might be on to something. In 1976 Ali fought Jimmy Young. Check this out (interview after the Jimmy Young fight) http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=713389

VasyLomachenko

[juggernaut666]

The obvious answer is 1975 ,i cant believe some ppl voted after 75 ?

[buddyguns]

I don't know so much about when he should have stopped. What I do know though, is that the popular theme of outdoor fights in hostile environments couldn't have been healthy. Ali fell out after the fight in Manila and Foreman went crazy in Puerto Rico.

Outside of that, the Ali vs. Frazier trilogy provided two fights that would have taken pieces of any man. And I'm sure Ali would have never changed a thing about those fights. Fights I and III were legacy defining wars.

[buddyguns]

Don't get me wrong I'm glad the thriller in Manila happened for a fans perspective but that fight was very damaging to Ali's health and he continued to take beatings after that fight. Unfortunately for Ali's health too is the fact that he had one of the greatest chins in boxing. Ali could take punches all night and too many times he did to.

Watching Angelo Dundee pull Ali out of the Holmes fight was one of the saddest moments, Ali should never have been there that night.
Dundee didn't want to train him either, he said in an interview later that he only trained Ali because in the fight he'd be the only person around Ali that would pull him out, and that's exactly what he did.

Damn, the Holmes fight is symbolic of all the things wrong with the sport. You got Don King and Kris Kristofferson (not sure who came up with that one?) lying through their teeth on the broadcast and trying to sell it as a competitive fight while Ali is getting beaten from corner to corner. A seriously damn depressing and shameful moment in boxing history.

[toyboy33]

I don't think that Parkinson's can be brought on by boxing. Because of the disease it is difficult to say how much he actually is brain damaged, if at all. But I would've liked to see him retire at the very least before the Holmes' fight, maybe before the first Spinks' bout.

I agree with this comment.

[The plunger man]

I think he achieved his zenith after the foreman fight and even though he won the 3rd against frazier the decline was there....I know the spinks fight was a third world title win but it was to do with the fact spinks was not a very good world champion....zaire was his crowning moment for me and he never surpassed that....but he loved boxing it was his life and the ring was home.....he achieved things in life that none of us could ever dream to.....and his passing signals one shining thing that he is the best sportsman that's ever lived and even though he's passed away his aura and legend will continue .....amazing man and in the UK we idolised him

[Eff Pandas]

Is there even conclusive proof boxing caused his parkinsons? I mean I know it puts you at increased risk & its a solid enough bet it didn't help that he boxed, but who says he wouldn't have gotten it if he'd never had boxed. I mean Michael J Fox was 0-0 as a pro boxer last I checked & he got it super young too.

[KLockard23]

Ideally, after beating Foreman in Zaire. Probably the biggest sports moment ever at the time and still one of the biggest ever today. He had finally reclaimed the world title exactly ten years after he first won it, did so by beating a guy that was thought to be unbeatable (members of Ali's camp were even teary-eyed thinking he was gonna get seriously hurt), had already avenged his losses to Frazier and Norton, etc. Or maybe he should have rematched Foreman like Foreman wanted and then rode off into the sunset after beating him again.

I get that the Thrilla In Manilla is a classic fight, but it's also been attributed to Ali's Parkinson's more than any other fight.

[RussB23]

He should have hung them up after the thrilla in manila.