Ali aims to KO youth obesity with low-calorie snacks

This is the first time Muhammad Ali has created a brand based on his identity. Picture / Reuters.

Muhammad Ali, the boxing legend who was once equipped with the quickest fists and the fastest quips, has found a new role for his rumble, shuffle and jabs.

The 65-year-old, who is suffering from Parkinson's disease, has teamed up with the confectionary giant Mars to market a new line of snacks designed to help combat obesity among young people.

The three-time former heavyweight champion has formed a new company - Goat Foods, an acronym of "greatest of all time" - to introduce the range of reduced calorie snacks and drinks.

His fruit-filled rolls and baked chips will bear the names such as rumble, shuffle and jabs, though there are no plans as yet to introduce a rope-a-dope snack bar.

"It is time to pass on the values, beliefs and principles that made me a champ to the next generation of champions," Ali said in a statement.

"I believe that better nutrition and respect for the mind and body will give everybody today the opportunity to rise above and be the best they can be."

Precisely how involved in the project the now greying and unsteady former boxer will be is unclear, though analysts have estimated it could earn him US$1.5 million ($2.5 million) a year.

But his spokeswoman and fourth wife, Lonnie Ali, told the New York Times: "What Muhammad is working on is his legacy. How are people going to remember him? Muhammad says we should all be in a race to do good."

She said that the former champion, who retired from boxing in 1981, was genuinely concerned about obesity, which affects one in three American youngsters.

She said the fact that Ali's 15-year-old son, known as Sadi, was over-weight was a cause of constant concern for him.

"Let me tell you how it troubles him," she continued. "Everyday he asks me 'Does Sadi weigh more than me?"

This deal is the first time Ali has created a brand based on his identity though he is currently involved with both Adidas and Apple computers and his image has appeared in their marketing promotions.

Ali's former opponent George Foreman - the man he beat to regain his world title in an extraordinary 1974 bout in Zaire known as the Rumble in the Jungle - has long been involved selling his image: he is estimated to have earned more than US$137 million promoting a range of BBQ grills and other kitchen products that carry his name.

The idea of involving Ali in the range of snacks appears to have come from businessman Peter Arnell.

He approached Ali two years ago when he learned that Mars Inc was trying to develop tasty but low-fat food for young people.

Ali had been involved in the project's development and had approved every aspect of its creation and marketing, Mr Arnell said.

Ali apparently expressed concern over a marketing slogan that planned to say the fight against obesity would be his "greatest" fight. Ali's wife said the former boxer considered his struggle with Parkinson's - caused by his over-extended career in the ring - his greatest fight. As a result the words were changed.

- INDEPENDENT