Hana Ali: Muhammad Ali still 'loves being Muhammad Ali'

WASHINGTON - "The Greatest" was honored Thursday night at the annual Fight Night DC, Fight for The Children here, and while Muhammad Ali was unable to make it, his daughter Hana Ali represented the family at the event.

There was plenty of Muhammad Ali memorabilia to be auctioned off for charity, and Hana looked around the crowded room at the Washington Hilton that resembled an Ali Museum, and said, "Oh my God, Daddy would love this. I was taking pictures so I could show him later. I tried to Facebook him but nobody was answering. I said, 'Look where I am!'

"He would love this. He's his biggest fan. He's humble, but at the same time he knows the impact he has in the world, and enjoys being Muhammad Ali, even now."

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Hana Ali, who has co-written a book with her father called The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on a Life's Journey, says that health-wise, Ali is doing well these days.

"He's good. He has Parkinson's and Parkinson's is progressive, but he handles it well," she said. "He's not in any pain, he handles it very gracefully and skillfully.

"He has a routine. He gets up every morning, has physical therapy, watches old movies - old westerns are always playing for him - and he just drives around, goes to different events now and then, and goes to movie theaters. So he has a wonderful full life, a lot of love, and grandkids. He's doing good."

Hana, who lives in Los Angeles, said she tries to visit her father in Scottsdale - or at his other homes in Michigan and Louisville - about every month and a half or so. And she gets a lot of Facebook time with her father, she said.

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"He can't speak much but he still can talk. It's always best in the morning," she said. "But when we're in the car driving, he likes to press his nose to the window and wait for someone to recognize him. He loves being Muhammad Ali, he loves the effect that he has on people, making them smile."

Hana Ali believes one of the things that keeps her father going strong is his tremendous spiritualism.

"That has a lot to do with it. A lot of people who have Parkinson's don't do half as well as he does," she said. "I think it's his spirit. He's always had an amazing will and drive, you know, and he knows there's a time for all things in life.

"He always says he's lived the life of a hundred men. He doesn't ask questions, he doesn't wonder why, he just lives his life every day to the fullest. And that's important."

And, says Hana, he still has "The Greatest" appetite.

"Oh yes, my step-mother is always feeding him hamburgers, and usually breakfast is easiest in the morning," she said. "He gets good meals. Especially cake and ice cream, that's his favorite. He usually has dessert before the dinner, ever since I was a little girl."