Longtime Muhammad Ali manager dead

[Ale]

Jabir Herbert Muhammad, who managed Muhammad Ali for most of his professional boxing career, died Monday at age 79.

He died following heart surgery in Chicago, his son told the Associated Press.

Ali's manager was the son of Elijah Muhammad. Born Elijah Poole, he became a Muslim and later the leader of the Nation of Islam for several decades.

According to one version of the tumultuous days in the mid-1960s surrounding the heavyweight champion, it was Elijah Muhammad who renamed the fighter born Cassius Clay.

Herbert Muhammad officially became Ali's manager in 1966 when the fighter's contract with a consortium of Louisville, Ky., businessmen expired, but had established control well before that date.

He went on to promote several million-dollar purses for Ali's bouts and stayed on as a spiritual adviser well after the former heavyweight champion's last bout in 1981.

The business relationship became increasingly strained by the 1990s as Ali and his fourth wife, Lonnie, began to assert more direct control over his affairs.

Ali and Herbert Muhammad were on opposite sides in a number of lawsuits, including over the biopic released in 2001 starring Will Smith.

Herbert Muhammad is survived by his wife, 14 children and several grandchildren.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2008/08/26/...it.html?ref=rss

___________________________________________________________

Rest In Peace.

Edited August 26, 2008 by Ale