Jabir Herbert Muhammad

Jabir Herbert Muhammad (April 16, 1929 – August 25, 2008) was an American businessman and co-founder of Top Rank, Inc. He was the longtime manager of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.Muhammad was born in Detroit, Michigan, as the third son of the Nation of Islam leader, Elijah Muhammad. He served as a chief adviser to his father until his departure in 1975. He also worked as the chief business manager for the Nation of Islam, and he along with Malcolm X founded their weekly newspaper. Jabir Muhammad was a staunch supporter of his brother, Imam Warith Deen Muhammad, whom he followed into mainstream Islam. He, along with Muhammad Ali and others, built Masjid Al-Fatir, a stand-alone, purpose-built Masjid on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. This was one of the first mosques built from the ground by Muslim Americans, especially African American Muslims.Muhammad was the director and founder of the Muhammad Islamic Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation which published the book Prayer and Al-Islam by Imam Warith Deen Mohammed in 1984.Muhammad managed Muhammad Alis professional boxing career from 1966 when he took over Alis management after the expiry of Alis management agreement with the Louisville Sponsoring Group, until Alis 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 Fames 1974 Manager of the Year award. He continued to manage Alis career for another ten years after his retirement from boxing. Muhammad then went on to a successful career in business.Jabir Herbert Muhammad died on August 25, 2008, at the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago, at the age of 79, after undergoing heart surgery. He was survived by his wife, Amenah Antonia Muhammad, and fourteen children.

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