‘I Was a Crack Addict’: Muhammad Ali’s Son Details Life After Being Abandoned by Father at Age 5

Boxing legend, Muhammad Ali, is rightfully considered the face of the sport of boxing. However, Ali has been rather reserved when it comes to his personal life. While his daughter, Laila Ali, is fairly well known, not much is known about his other children. Meanwhile, his only biological son, Muhammad Ali Jr. opened up about life in poverty after being abandoned by his father at the age of five.

‘The Greatest‘ has eight biological children and one adopted son. Ali Jr. is the youngest son of Ali’s second wife, Belinda Boyd, AKA Khalilah Ali. It was recently reported that Ali Jr. has teamed up with filmmaker Chad Verdi for a documentary called ‘My Father Muhammad Ali‘, which is slated for a January 2023 release.

Muhammad Ali Jr. talks about life after his father left

Muhammad Ali divorced Khalilah Ali in 1976. Notably, Ali Jr. was 5 years old at that time. Even though Ali was worth USD 50 million at the time of his death, his son spent most of his life in poverty. Moreover, this poverty further pushed him to develop severe drug addiction. Talking about his life, Ali Jr. said, “I was a crack addict two and a half years ago. [I wanted to get better] because I want to better my life.”

It should be mentioned that Ali Jr. was shunned by the rest of Ali’s family. Lonnie Ali, who controls Ali’s estate, only gave Ali Jr. USD 1000 monthly.

The movie’s director, Verdi, also revealed that Ali Jr. turned his life around. He said, “What’s different is his life has changed. He’s happier. Obviously, he’s not on drugs, he’s trying to better himself. He’s surrounded by a lot of people, including the entire Verdi team that love him.”

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Ali Jr. also mentioned that he was never scared of Lonnie Ali. But he kept quiet in anticipation of the right time.

Chad Verdi believes Ali Jr. should never have been poor

Verdi mentioned that, through the film, he wishes to find out if Ali ignoring his son was due to his advancing Parkinsons or just plain wilful neglect. However, he believes that Ali Jr. should never have grown up in poverty.

Verdi said, “This is the son of one of the biggest names in the world. He shouldn’t f*cking have to be working ever. He should have never been living in poverty.”

Ali Jr, on the other hand, attached his struggles to ‘holding up the family name’.

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Who is right in this scenario? Do share your thoughts in the comments below.