Ali loves watching Ali

Ali’s eyes live on through a 30-year struggle against the effects of Parkinson’s disease, which has stricken about one million in the United States and six million worldwide.
His daughter, Maryum (May May) Ali, said the man who famously dubbed himself “The Greatest” gets a big kick from watching old footage of himself.

“That’s his favourite pastime. He loves to watch himself. He loves it,” May May said in an interview on the eve of the annual Parkinson’s Unity Walk to advance awareness and education that drew thousands to Central Park on Saturday.

“It brings him joy, because he’s not that person any more but he can live through his old self. He loves to watch his fights. I love to watch him watching.”
Ali was ranked among the 20 most influential Americans ever last year by Time Magazine for his humanitarianism and the inspiration he provided to people around the globe.
While he has battled Parkinson’s, a progressive disorder in which dopamine levels in the brain decline affecting messages to nerves controlling movement and co-ordination, May May champions efforts to help educate and promote research into the disease.

“He has 24-hour care and he needs assistance,” May May, at 45 the oldest of his nine children, said noting that his condition had worsened over the last three years. “His speech isn’t that great. But my father chills out. He watches the Super Bowl, and he gets massages. When I go visit him it’s like a little sabbatical with him. I’m like chilling out with him.”
A former rapper and comedian, an author and social activist, May May bears a strong resemblance to her father with her bright eyes, round face, pronounced cheekbones and spirit to match.

She sounds just like the great man himself when she lapses into some of his familiar patter, before reminiscing about his difficult times after first showing symptoms.
“I tell you what was hard for him. It was hard to go out and hear people talking about him,” she said. “Because he was proud and he didn’t want people feeling sorry for him, because I think he felt better than what they thought he looked like.”

Maintaining family life was important, she said, which led her sister, Rasheda Ali, to write a book called “I’ll Hold Your Hand So You Won’t Fall”. “It’s actually a children’s book for parents to know how to teach their kids about Parkinson’s. My father’s grandchildren thought my dad was sad or depressed, or didn’t like them or didn’t want to play, but it was just his face,” May May said.

“It’s called the Parkinson’s mask, where the muscles in the face droop in a stoic look where you don’t look like you have any emotion. His grandkids had watched old footage of him talking, acting crazy, rhyming, bragging . . . now they see him and they think ‘he’s mad at us’. She (Rasheda) told them, ‘look at his eyes, see how much fun he’s having’.

We saw slurring of the speech and slowness while he was (still) boxing. So there’s a really good chance that he had it much earlier than when he was diagnosed in 1984. —SuperBoxing.