On December 11, 1981, Muhammad Ali tried one last time to build on his best times – already suffering from the first symptoms of Parkinson’s at just under 40. It went badly wrong
“Rumble in the Jungle”, “Thrilla in Manila”: Muhammad Ali’s most legendary fights are still familiar to almost everyone many decades later. The “Drama in Bahama”, which ended his great career, is less so – for good reason.
On December 11, 1981, Ali presented a sad sight in his last fight against Trevor Berbick in Nassau: At almost 40 years old and showing the first signs of Parkinson’s disease, his attempt to return to his prime ended in a fiasco.
Ali couldn’t keep up with Berbick
The humiliating defeat against Larry Holmes on October 2, 1980 already foreshadowed that the attempt was doomed to failure.
Wistful memories of the great Ali of old were also evoked against Berbick, as he was no real opponent for the Jamaican. Ali never really had a chance in the ten-round fight, and Berbick was unanimously declared the points winner at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Center in Nassau.
Berbick, who was murdered in 2006 – later a world champion himself and dethroned by the young Mike Tyson – became the fifth person to defeat Ali in a professional fight after Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Leon Spinks and Holmes.
Parkinson’s illness only known later
Ali had emphasized that he was fit for the fight. But the first few rounds showed that the “Greatest” had passed his peak. He lacked speed and agility and occasionally tried to prance like he once did in his heyday, embarrassing his opponent with jabs from half distance. But it was no longer enough.
Millions of fans around the world watched Ali’s last performance in sadness.
Doctors had advised Ali, who died in 2016, not to fight again. His long career and numerous hits to the head had left their mark. His hands were already beginning to tremble, his pronunciation was slurred and his mumbling was a clear sign of Parkinson’s disease.
But it was only a good two years after his last fight that Muhammad Ali was officially diagnosed with the disease.
