Ali's flesh may be weak but his spirit is still punchy

Ali's flesh may be weak but his spirit is still punchy

JAKARTA (JP): Boxing legend Muhammad Ali yesterday showed that
the Parkinson's disease he developed in 1984 may have weakened
his body but not his spirit.

Again and again he raised his fists as if ready for a fight,
and jokingly challenged several journalists to trade punches with
him. He repeated a magic trick with a red handkerchief he had
performed upon his arrival at Sukarno-Hatta international airport
on Sunday.

He then demonstrated a levitation. His feet appeared to be
about two millimeters off the floor. He did not answer questions
about how he did it or where he learned it.

When asked whether he was still the greatest, he lifted up his
right hand to heaven and said Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest).

According to Yulia of Harvest International Inc., which is
organizing Ali's visit, Ali's tentative itinerary for his six-day
trip includes a visit to the Harapan Kita hospital in West
Jakarta today through which he will symbolically donate 100,000
meals to poor Indonesian children.

At 6.45 p.m., Ali will host a banquet for all the participants
in the Islamic Conference Organization, government officials and
business people, at the Grand Hyatt hotel, at which he stays
during his Indonesian visit.

Tomorrow he is scheduled to meet President Soeharto.

On Thursday, at 7.30 a.m. he will meet with Coordinating
Minister for Social Welfare Azwar Anas. At 7 p.m., Ali might
attend a local professional boxing tournament where he might meet
with chairman of the Indonesia Professional Boxing Association
Hendropriyono.

He is scheduled to leave on Friday. (arf)