Mohammad Ali is a symbol of greatness in sports, equality, civil rights and so much more. But also, an example of man’s vulnerability to itself.
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In his later years, Ali suffered from Parkinson’s, a neurological movement disorder due to dopamine depletion in the substantia nigra (ironically Latin for “black substance”). Sadly this iconic athlete of immense substance who would “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” due to his swift speed, fluidity and the famous “Ali shuffle” who was celebrated as the face of athletic excellence, was stripped off those very things as Parkinson’s is characteristic of bradykinesia (slow movement), rigidity, masked facies, and a “shuffling” gait.

Butterflies float effortlessly, but they too are fragile against the forces of nature. This famous image of Ali vs Liston, frozen in time with Ali in a stooped posture and rigid arm may have been a foreshadowing of sorts for this boxing legend.

Interestingly a cross section of the substantia nigra, has the appearance of butterfly wings