When you see those interviews I think his speech already slowed down a lot around the rumble in the jungle period.
I think it started earlier, during the mid 70's. When I listen to him speak his speech is a lot like james toney nowadays, also recently i saw a interview with riddick bowe and he could barely talk.
I don't think parkinson starts from a certain point, it comes gradually and become worse after each fight. The Foreman and Frazier fights are heavy contributions to his condition...
Watching his interviews with Parkinson...he had already started to show signs by their final interviews, I'll take a look at them at some point and check what the dates where.
definitely, his speech patterns is a indication to me when it starts kickin in. Look here is a interview of him in 74 after the foreman fight: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC6buvheGsk&playnext=1&list=PL886A172388FE00E9&index=57[/ame] I think he said 10000 words in those 4 mins that Im watching, his health seems really good. Now here is a interview from 76: he seems a little bit slower but still normal [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G226LGvXTI8[/ame] this is 79 his speech is all ****ed up: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yal9td5ku4[/ame] between 74-79 he fought: -foreman -chuck rabit punch redneck wepner -lyle -bugner -frazier 3 -coopman -jimmy young -dunn -norton -evangalista -shavers -spinks 2 times that is a terrible list of fighters if you want to stay healthy, they could all bang and ali was absorbing pressure like a sponge during that years. If he just retired after foreman or frazier 3 he might still have been healthy.
Before the rematch with Spinks I remember Cosell interviewing him and he struggled to talk. He spoke very slow and slurred his words. Cosell even asked him if he was tired cause he seemed subdued. Very sad interview especially knowing that he would fight on after that. I would say after the Shavers fight he started really showing the symptoms.
Fighting didn't trigger his Parkinson's. It was already an underlying condition. Fighting accelerated the pace at which his Parkinson's developed.
i say u can tell in 1978 before his first spinks fight....but maybe even befoere that time....but his speach was didfrent in 1978
