Ali will not undergo surgery

Press, 16 July 1987, Page 40

Ali will not undergo surgery

NZPA-AP New York Muhammad Ali says he has decided to follow the advice of his personal physicians and not undergo an experimental form of brain surgery to treat his Parkinson’s Syndrome. In Mexico City on Tuesday night Dr Ignacio Madrazo, a neurosurgeon, said that there was a great chance he would perform the operation on Ali. A spokeswoman at Humana Hospital in Mexico City said that the 45-year-old Ali, the only three-time heavyweight champion, would be tested this week and surgery would depend on the test results. However, a longtime Ali friend and business associate, Larry Kolb, of New York, said he had spoken with Ali by telephone from Mexico City yesterday morning and Ali said he had decided against any operation. “I’m happy I’m shaking up the world again,” Ali told him, “but no doctor’s going to touch me.” All told Kolb he had talked to Dr Madrazo after the doctor had approached him. “He said he would listen and see what the guy had to say but his position throughout was that he wanted to get a lot of other opinions,” Kolb said. “He wanted to know what the long-term success rates were and wanted all his other doctors to verify what this surgeon was saying. ‘He was in close contact with his doctor in Los Angeles, who advised him not to do this. It was too speculative at this point. While he listened to this surgeon (Madrazo), it was totally inaccurate to say there was a great likelihood he would have the operation.”