Muhammad Ali was a sex addict whose conquests in the bedroom rival those of his victories in the boxing ring, according to his second wife.
Khalilah Ali, who was born Belinda Boyd, says that after she and the former heavyweight champion married in 1967, she would arrange hotel rooms so her husband can have trysts with his many mistresses.
Khalilah was the boxing legend’s second wife. The couple gave birth to four children.
According to excerpts from a new book by author Jonathan Eig, Ali may have been admired by the public for his exploits in the ring, but he had a ‘dark’ and ‘evil’ side to him, Khalilah said.
The excerpts were first reported by The Sun newspaper.
Former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali is pictured with his wife Belinda and their four children. He holds 3-year-old twin daughters Reeshemah (left) and Jamillah while 1-year-old Muhamman sits on his Mother’s knee. Their daughter Laila, 5, licks on a lollipop at Deer Lake, Pennsylvania
Khalilah Ali (left), who was born Belinda Boyd, says that after she and the former heavyweight champion married in 1967, she would arrange hotel rooms so her husband can have trysts with his many mistresses. The couple is seen at London Heathrow Airport in this undated photo
Eig writes in his new biography of the boxing great, Ali: A Life, that the heavyweight champion had countless affairs and one-night stands.
The world champ so brazen with his affairs that he even paraded one of his mistresses around during a reception with the president of the Philippines.
Ali was in the Asian country preparing for the ‘Thrilla in Manila,’ the historic third and final heavyweight bout against Joe Frazier in 1975.
When Ali complimented President Ferdinand Marcos for having a beautiful wife, Marcos replied: ‘And so have you.’
Ali was married four times throughout his life. He is seen above with his first wife, Sonji Roi, during their brief relationship
The problem was that Ali was being accompanied by Veronica Porche, a 19-year-old actress and model from California.
His wife at the time, Khalila, was at home in the United States.
When she read the remarks in a Newsweek article just before she boarded a flight to Manila, she was furious.
When she arrived in the Philippines, she gave her husband a piece of her mind.
She then stormed out of the hotel in Manila and flew back to the US.
Their marriage would end and Ali would marry Porche, who became his third wife.
In June of last year, Ali died after an agonizing, 30-year struggle with Parkinson’s disease.
In his book, Eig also tackles the subject of the boxer’s long decline into poor health.
Ali reportedly had countless affairs with a slew of women. He is seen above with his third wife, Veronica Porche, in New York in 1977
Ali and Porche began an affair while the boxer was still married to his second wife
Khalila Ali was incensed that her husband introduced Porche as his wife just before the historic Thrilla in Manila heavyweight bout in 1975. The couple is seen above with their daughter, Hana, in this undated file photo
Ali’s sexual appetite was so voracious that his second wife said he was an addict
Ali is seen with Porche before his last fight against Larry Holmes in this 1980 file photo
He writes that Ali never harbored any doubts that his brain would be adversely affected by the countless number of vicious blows to the face he received in the boxing ring.
On the contrary, Ali welcomed punches to the head because he believed they made him a more effective boxer.
‘He kept saying it wasn’t going to happen to him, that he wasn’t gonna get brain damage,’ Eig told PEOPLE magazine.
‘In fact, he encouraged his sparring partners to hit him in the head. He believed he could build up resistance to shots to the head, kind of like calluses.’
The revelations were reported by author Jonathan Eig in his new book, Ali: A Life
Eig writes in his book that Ali’s doctor, Ferdie Pacheco, began to notice symptoms of cognitive decline in Ali as early as 1971, when he was just 29 years old.
The author reviewed film of all of Ali’s fights and came to the conclusion that the former champ ‘was probably hit about 200,000 times’ during the course of his 61-bout career.
Eig estimates that half of those blows were to the head.
Ali retired from boxing in 1981.
‘He absorbed way more blows than the average fighter because, as he got older and slower, part of his strategy was to allow his opponents to him,’ Eig said.
‘He thought he could wear down his opponents by letting them punch him in the head, then wait until the late rounds when they’re tired and beat them.’
Eig also said that he examined video footage of Ali’s speeches and interviews with the aid of speech experts.
The author said they agreed Ali began to show signs he was losing the ability to speak clearly in the early 1970s.
‘He absorbed way more blows than the average fighter because, as he got older and slower, part of his strategy was to allow his opponents to him,’ says Eig.
‘He thought he could wear down his opponents by letting them punch him in the head, then wait until the late rounds when they’re tired and beat them.’
In his book, Eig also tackles the subject of the boxer’s long decline into poor health. He writes that Ali never harbored any doubts that his brain would be adversely affected by the countless number of vicious blows to the face he received in the boxing ring
Pacheco grew so concerned about Ali’s health that he strongly recommended he retire in 1977.
When Ali refused, Pacheco resigned as his doctor.
Ali was diagnosed with what was known at the time as Parkinson’s Syndrom, ‘a cluster of symptoms that resemble Parkinson’s Disease.’
Experts believe the illness was caused by the countless blows to the head.