The first time we can put Muhammad Ali in Arizona is May 1976.
“World heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali and comedian Dick Gregory are … on a run to publicize the problem of hunger in the world. Gregory is travelling from coast to coast. Ali joined him in Springerville, Ariz., last week. Ali said the run with Gregory will be part of his training for an upcoming fight in Germany with Richard Dunn,” read a wire service roundup from May 10 in the Sacramento Bee.
Later that year, he would return to Show Low, quietly setting up training camp for his rematch with Ken Norton.
“When I found out Muhammad Ali was here, I learned everything I could,” Show Low resident Dee Wilson said. “I had a little crush. He had such a mouth on him. I loved it.”
Arizona
became a second home to Muhammad Ali in the years after his last prize fight and after his diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. Ali lent his name to a treatment and research center at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix and helped raise money at star-studded celebrity fight nights.
For decades, public speculation has locked in on the idea that boxing was the cause of Ali’s Parkinson’s disease, but in recent years doctors who treated him have said that wasn’t the case.
It turned out, boxing was much more of a cure than the cause of Ali’s symptoms.
Read the full story here: How a stop in Show Low shaped Muhammad Ali's Arizona legacy
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Watch: How a small city kickstarted Muhammad Ali's history in Arizona
