Jimmy Ellis, the onetime sparring partner for Muhammad Ali who captured the heavyweight boxing championship after it had been stripped from Ali for his refusing induction into the armed forces, died on Tuesday in Louisville, Ky. He was 74.
He had been treated for Alzheimer’s disease, his brother, Jerry, told The Associated Press in confirming the death.
Ellis and Ali began their boxing careers in Louisville as amateurs, and they split two bouts as teenagers. But Ellis gained little attention early in his professional career, when he was a middleweight, while Ali, known as Cassius Clay at the time, became the charismatic undefeated heavyweight champion.
He had been treated for Alzheimer’s disease, his brother, Jerry, told The Associated Press in confirming the death.
Ellis and Ali began their boxing careers in Louisville as amateurs, and they split two bouts as teenagers. But Ellis gained little attention early in his professional career, when he was a middleweight, while Ali, known as Cassius Clay at the time, became the charismatic undefeated heavyweight champion.