Boxing great Muhammad Ali's ex-wife packs a punch of her own

If Muhammad Ali never met his match inside the ring, he surely did outside it with his second wife, Khalilah Camacho Ali. 

The fast-talking Khalilah, who had four children with the world heavyweight champion during their marriage from 1967 to 1976, has been in SA helping to put together a movie about Gerrie Coetzee, the Boksburg Bomber who fought to succeed Ali as world champion.

The script for Against All Odds is complete and Dricus du Plessis, a Pretoria-born mixed martial arts fighter, has been targeted to play the role of Coetzee, who won the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight title on his third attempt in 1983.

Khalilah, 71, said she hoped to get Robert De Niro to direct the film,  which would be shot in SA and the US. 

Coetzee was at the forefront during SA’s golden era of heavyweights in the 1970s and early ’80s — others included Kallie Knoetze, Mike Schutte and Jimmy Abbott.

Ali dubbed himself “The Greatest” and lived up to his billing with his hand speed, flashy footwork and granite chin, although he had started out as the “Louisville Lip” because of his smooth tongue and quick wit. 

He knocked out Sonny Liston and George Foreman when they were considered indestructible as he made his way towards becoming the first man to win the world heavyweight crown three times. His final ascension to the throne in 1978, avenging a shock defeat to the inexperienced Leon Spinks, was more about ticking the history box than slaying a dragon.

Finally I got the nerve to speak and tell my side of the story. Before I could do that I had to heal

—  Khalilah Camacho Ali

Coetzee demolished Spinks in one round a year later in Monaco in one of two semifinal eliminators for Ali’s vacant WBA belt. 

But what really catapulted Ali to greatness was his role in the civil rights movement in the US and especially his principled stand in refusing the military draft during the Vietnam War, which resulted in him being stripped of his title at the peak of his powers. 

He transcended sport to become one of the most instantly recognisable people on the planet. 

And there in the shadows for the best part of his career was Khalilah, a capable woman with an impressive CV that includes a BA degree, a ninth-degree black belt in karate, actress, film and TV producer,  work as a humanitarian and a pilot’s licence. 

And during a visit to the headquarters of the Muslim charity Spiritual Chords in Norwood, Johannesburg, last weekend, she demonstrated a gift of the gab that would have given Ali a run for his money. 

Her soon-to-be-released memoir of her life with Ali, who died in mid-2016, suggests she played a far greater role than has been acknowledged by Ali’s biographers. 

It’s a universally accepted fact that Ali was a notorious womaniser.

“Finally I got the nerve to speak and tell my side of the story,” Khalilah told a small gathering of invited guests in Norwood. “Before I could do that I had to heal, there were a lot of things I had to go through to heal and to forgive.  So now my healing is over and I’m ready to share my story.”

Some of her claims are likely to be seen as revisionist, but Khalilah told the Sunday Times she wasn’t expecting sceptism about her version. “No, I don’t,” she said.  “It’s my life story, it’s my life. If they don’t believe it, that’s their problem. I don’t care whether they believe it or not ... 

“The reason I didn’t tell my story is because I was divorcing him at the time. They didn’t ask me any questions, it was all about Muhammad Ali.”

The Ali she described was a bit of a country bumpkin — he came from Kentucky and “the only thing that comes out of that state is bourbon and horses. They’re not educated very well.”

Khalilah recounted how she first met Ali at the Muslim school she attended in Chicago when she was 10. Ali, who had yet to convert to Islam and was known as Cassius Marcellus Clay, was a visitor. 

“He got on the podium, he said, ‘I’m going to be the heavyweight champion of the world before I’m 21 so get your autograph now because I’m gonna be famous.’”

When he got around to giving her a signed piece of paper, he found she was unimpressed — his was not a Muslim name and therefore carried no respect in her eyes. She told him as much and tore up the autographed paper.

That seemed to spark Ali’s fascination with her. 

Shortly before he challenged “The Big Bear” Liston three years later, in 1964, she saw Liston on TV promising to knock out “that Black Muslim [Ali]”  and took an instant dislike to him. Although Ali was still going by Clay, he had made his Nation of Islam allegiances known.

She wrote a poem for Ali to read to Liston and handed it to him at her local mosque a few days later. “Look, you say one-liners, but this is a real poem,” she told Ali. “I want you to tell this to Sonny Liston because I don’t like him.”

Not long afterwards, at home one evening, her father called her. “Somebody’s on TV saying your poem.” 

Ali was reciting the now-famous Total Eclipse of the Sonny poem. 

Khalilah also recounted how Clay was given his Muslim name. 

Elijah Muhammad, the head of the Nation of Islam and a major influence on both her and the boxer, initially suggested he be called Cassius X, like black activist Malcolm X. 

But Clay, she said, remembering Khalilah’s criticism of his name, refused. So Muhammad gave him his own name, and Ali after another respected community figure, her own father. In this way, Clay took her name and not the other way round. 

You know those Vietnamese over there? They’ve got brown skin, aren’t they? Have they ever called you a n*gg*r?

—  Khalilah Ali, speaking to Muhammad Ali

She said she also played a major role in his decision to refuse to join the army, an issue that was debated heavily within the Nation of Islam. 

Khalilah told him that Muslims “do not fight in white men’s wars ... we defend ourselves ... we sacrifice and we go to jail”. 

She gave a rendition of their conversation. “‘I don’t want to go to jail,’ he said. Then he said ‘I know what I’ll do… I’ll sign up and they’ll put me in the gym and I’ll be fighting like Joe Louis did’.”

Louis, world heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1948, served in the armed forces during World War 2, but never saw action. 

Elijah Muhammad told Ali he couldn’t do that and he should speak to Khalilah. 

She told the crowd in Johannesburg: “I’m sure you’ve heard this before, now you know where it came from — I said, ‘You know those Vietnamese over there? They’ve got brown skin, aren’t they? Have they ever called you a n*gg*r? Have they ever hung you up on a tree? Have they ever put you in slavery?’”

At the time Ali famously told the media: “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.” Another quote that has been attributed to him is: “No Viet Cong ever called me n*gg*r,” however, there’s a theory he never actually uttered those words. 

Khalila said Ali asked her what he should do, and this is what she told him: “Hell, no, I ain’t gonna go. Clean out my cell, take me to jail without bail, hell no.”

As time goes on it will become increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction about her late ex-husband, but Khalilah did at least end one debate — about how Ali perceived Coetzee.

Before Coetzee fought John Tate, an African-American who had beaten Kallie Knoetze in the other semifinal in 1979, a claim emerged from the South African’s camp that Ali was supporting the white fighter. 

Some US sports writers at the time dismissed it as “crap”. 

But Khalilah gave it the thumbs up. “Muhammad supported him, that’s true.”

Coetzee lost to Tate on points in front of 80,000 fans at Loftus Versfeld, and in 1980 was knocked out by the new champion, Mike Weaver. He finally triumphed when he knocked out Michael Dokes. 

Khalilah told the Sunday Times she knew Ali was going to lose his first fight against Joe Frazier in 1971. They had two more fights, which Ali won.  

“The only reason he lost to Frazier is I allowed him to lose because I wouldn’t help him in his training. I said ‘this guy’s gotta lose’. He wasn’t training right, he was big-headed… I wanted him to lose. You know why? Because he was cocky and he started getting lazy.”

To help motivate him for the “Rumble in the Jungle” against Foreman in 1974, she said she wore a T-shirt with ‘I love him because he’s the greatest’ on the front, and a picture of Foreman on the back. “He [Ali] said, ‘Take that shirt off.’ I said, ‘Until you train right I’m wearing the shirt.’”

Khalilah said she advised Ali against taking part in a boxer-vs-wrestler match with Antonio Inoki in 1976. It turned into a farce,  with Inoki lying on the canvas kicking Ali’s legs. 

“Muhammad Ali did that to prove to me that he could beat a karate person. I told him that’s not a karate person,” said Khalilah, who had taken lessons from martial arts film star Bruce Lee in exchange for footage of Ali.

 “He [Lee] liked the way he [Ali] manoeuvred. He used it in Enter the Dragon,” she said.

“I wouldn’t get in a ring with  Muhammad Ali. But you put a mat out there, me and Muhammad Ali, I would whup him. Easy!”

Khalilah said she and her ex-husband became friends after their divorce, but a British paper, a few years ago, quoted her as saying t Ali had been abusive to her. 

“Every husband is abusive during a marriage,” she said with a shrug. “It’s no big deal. That’s chapter 25 [in the book] … I wouldn’t say he was abusive.”

Another report said that, to get under his skin, she threatened to call him Cassius Clay. “I always do that when he’s in the wrong,” she said with a laugh. 

“There’s one thing that Ali did before he passed away. Every time I saw him he asked me to forgive him. ‘Will you please forgive me?’ I said ‘I forgave you a long time ago.’ That’s how worried he was about it.”

Her book is titled Forgiveness: The untold story: Ali.

She said their son Muhammad Ali jnr had once asked his father what his toughest fight was. “Your mama,” he replied. 

That’s easy to believe.

Total Eclipse of the Sonny 

Clay comes out to meet Liston and Liston starts to retreat,

If Liston goes back an inch farther he’ll end up in a ringside seat, 

Clay swings with a left, Clay swings with a right, 

Look at young Cassius carry the fight, 

Liston keeps backing,  but there’s not enough room, 

It’s a matter of time and Clay lowers the boom, 

Now Clay lands with a right, what a beautiful swing, 

And the punch raises the Bear clear out of the ring, 

Yes, the crowd dared not dream when they laid down their money, 

That they would see a total eclipse of the Sonny. 

Don't you pick on me!

Khalilah said she was born Muslim but her mother named her Belinda after a movie character. She lived with Elijah Muhammad for a few years of her early schooling and earned her first black belt at the age of eight, having been taught by a Japanese friend of her grandfather’s. “I was a little bitty girl, little tiny girl. They used to always pick on me, I used to knock people out.”

When he first offered her lessons, she asked him what karate was. 

He replied that “it was the art of fighting so you won’t get hurt”. 

“I said, ‘Can I knock ’em out faster?’ He said, ‘yeah’.”

Victory with broken hands

Gerrie Coetzee, who lost the WBA title to Greg Page in 1984, had some memorable matches against Kallie Knoetze and Mike Schutte. He won the South African  heavyweight title on a disqualification from Schutte in arguably the dirtiest fight in local  history.

The deviation from the Queensberry Rules overshadowed a  disgraceful display of refereeing after Coetzee had knocked Schutte down in the first round. Bob Mazzoni inexplicably counted three times. On his first attempt he reached seven before warning Coetzee for moving too far from the neutral corner, and instead of resuming the count he started from one again.

He stopped the second count on eight with another caution for Coetzee and started from one a third time and on this occasion Schutte got up at eight — or 23 seconds overall. That’s when the chaos started with kicking, butting and kneeing delivered between punches. Schutte was disqualified after kicking Coetzee twice in the sixth round.  

Coetzee won the rematch against Schutte on points. Respected referee Stan Christodoulou was brought in to ensure it was clean, but Coetzee broke both hands early on and kept punching through the pain. 

Fight aficionado Reg Haswell was in the dressing room afterwards. “When they tried to pull the gloves off, Gerrie cried in pain,” he said. “So we had to cut them off. When I saw those swollen, twisted hands I nearly cried myself.”​​