Bruce Schreiner

MUHAMMAD ALI SOAKED in familiar cheers and chants along with a rendition of “Happy Birthday” on Saturday night as friends and admirers celebrated the boxing champ’s coming 70th birthday at a party in his Kentucky hometown.

As party-goers mingled in a lobby of the Muhammad Ali Center before the party, Ali walked slowly to a second-floor balcony overlooking them. The crowd immediately began to clap, then broke into chants of “Ali! Ali!” followed by singing as Ali watched for about two minutes.

The three-time world heavyweight champion, who is battling Parkinson’s disease, leaned against a rail and raised his right hand to wave to the crowd. Ali walked on his own but was at times assisted by his wife, Lonnie, and his sister-in-law. After the brief appearance, Ali went to his party.

Former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis said his boyhood idol is “still the greatest.”

“I feel so proud and honored that we’re able to show our feelings and show our support for him,” Lewis said. Lewis said Ali’s strength and influence extended far beyond the boxing ring in his humanitarian efforts.

“What he’s done outside the ring — just the bravery, the poise, the feeling, the sacrifice,” Lewis said “… He’s truly a great man.”

The guest list numbered 350 for the private party, which doubled as a $1,000-per-person fundraiser for the Ali Center, the six-year-old cultural and education complex designed to be a legacy to his social activism. The six-story center also retraces Ali’s career, including his epic bouts against Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Sonny Liston.

Guests paid tribute to Ali beforehand. ”The reason I loved him is because of his confidence,” University of Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari said. “He would talk and then back it up. He had great courage and who had more fun than him?”

The guest list also included Ali’s trainer Angelo Dundee and three American hikers who were imprisoned in Iran. Ali, perhaps the most prominent US Muslim, lobbied for their release. Rocker John Mellencamp headlined the entertainment.

Old friends

Dundee, who traveled from Clearwater, Fla., to attend the celebration, said he hears from Ali about once a month.

“We’re like family,” Dundee told The Courier-Journal of Louisville. “We’ve always been family and we’re always going to be family. He’ll say, ‘Angie, I want to come and train. That’s what I miss the most. Being in the gym. Working up a sweat.’”

“I’ll say, ‘Me, too, kid. Me, too. We can’t do that. But what I can do is make sure you know that I love you.’ ”

Ali turns 70 tomorrow, and the party in his hometown is the first of five planned in the next few months. Not long after Ali’s dramatic appearance on the balcony, the crowd began filing into a banquet hall for the party, which was closed to the public and reporters.

The self-proclaimed “Greatest of All Time” remains one of the world’s most recognizable figures, even though he’s been largely absent from the public eye recently as he fights Parkinson’s disease.

Lonnie Ali said Friday that her husband has mixed feelings about the landmark birthday. ”He’s glad he’s here to turn 70, but he wants to be reassured he doesn’t look 70,” she said.

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on Jan. 17, 1942, Ali took up boxing at age 12, when his bike was stolen and he wanted to find and whip the culprit. The boy was introduced to Joe Martin, a police officer who coached boxing at a local gym.

Ali’s brother, 68-year-old Rahaman Ali, recalled on Saturday night that the champ was cheerful and happy as a youngster.

“As a little boy he (said) he would be the world’s greatest fighter and be a great man,” he said.

Ali flourished in the ring, becoming a top amateur and Olympic gold medalist. He made his professional debut in Louisville and arranged for a local children’s hospital to receive proceeds from the fight.

Lewis said Ali ranks as the greatest of heavyweights, and he said he was inspired by Ali’s fights.

“I used to get mad if I didn’t see the Ali shuffle,” Lewis said. “So I was always watching him, expecting some type of antic.”

Legacy

Ali won the heavyweight title in 1964, defeating the heavily favored Sonny Liston. Soon after, Ali — who was raised in a Baptist family — announced his conversion to Islam and changed his name. While in his prime, Ali was stripped of his heavyweight crown in 1967 for refusing to be drafted for military service during the Vietnam War. He cited his religious beliefs as the reason for his refusal.

His decision alienated Ali from many across the U.S. and resulted in a draft-evasion conviction. Ali found himself embroiled in a long legal fight that ended in 1971, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor.

Ali lost his first bid to regain the heavyweight crown when Frazier knocked him down and took a decision in the “Fight of the Century” at Madison Square Garden in 1971.

Ali regained the heavyweight title in 1974, defeating Foreman in the “Rumble in the Jungle.” A year later, he outlasted Frazier in the epic “Thrilla in Manila” bout.

Last year, a frail Ali rose from his seat and clapped for his deceased rival at Frazier’s funeral.

Ali’s last title came in 1978 when he defeated Leon Spinks.

Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and devoted himself to social causes. He traveled the world on humanitarian missions, mingling with the masses and rubbing elbows with world leaders. Ali received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2005.

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