Jabir Herbert Muhammad Group, until Ali's retirement in 1981. Muhammad negotiated the first multimillion-dollar earnings for any athlete, starting with the $2.5M Ali earned for the Frazier vs Ali “Fight of the Century” in March, 1971 and including the $5.5M purse Ali achieved for the Foreman vs Ali “Rumble in the Jungle” in Zaire in 1974. Muhammad was considered one of the most powerful figures in boxing in the 1960s and 1970s, achieving the International Boxing Hall of Fame's 1974 "Manager of the Year" award. He continued to manage Ali's career for another ten years after his retirement from boxing. Muhammad then went
Muhammad Ali had too much to drink. Ali biographer Thomas Hauser, who was present, recalled that for the next 10 minutes Larry Holmes positioned himself between Ali and Frazier, preventing Frazier from reaching Ali. George Foreman then took over and acted as Ali's shield for the next 10 minutes. Throughout this incident, Ali remained oblivious to what was going on. In his 1996 autobiography "Smokin' Joe: The Autobiography of a Heavyweight Champion of the World", in which he always refers to Ali as Cassius Clay, Frazier wrote: Commenting on Ali lighting the Olympic flame in 1996, Frazier stated that it would have