MUHAMMAD Ali walked painfully slowly towards the head table, eased into his chair as if he had just gone 15 tough rounds of a World Championship fight, put on his dark glasses and observed proceedings in complete silence. His hands were trembling, his body quivering.
A legion of photographers and journalists were ready to record his every move, turning their microphones and training their lenses on his face. They were not interested in anybody else.
But was this the same Ali, who at 22 bragged that he would become ''The Greatest''? Was it the same man who became heavyweight champion of the world three times, a feat matched by no one? The answer was a resounding yes. He isn't quite the same but the 52-year-old can still pull in a crowd like he has always done.
For Ali, who is stricken with what doctors call Parkinson's Syndrome it was almost like old times.
The condition is a nervous and brain disorder which leads to the brain not producing enough dopamine, a chemical essential to normal nerve activity.
But Ali still manages his famous one-liners, his playful gestures to the crowd and all the laughter and amusement that go with it.
Ali still has the charisma, the magnetic personality and the flamboyance which made him the most famous person in the world - even with his apparent disability.
