Muhammad Ali's Fourth Wife, Lonnie

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Karen Crouse, Her First, and Greatest, Love; Friends say Muhammad Ali's wife, Lonnie, is ** not only a partner in wit, but also a protector of his health and wealth.  New York Times, June 11, 2016.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/1 ... ife-lonnie-ali.html

Note:
(a) Muhammad Ali (1942 – 2016; born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr)
(i) Cassius
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassius
(a Roman family name)
(ii) Now a masculine given name, Marcellus was a "Roman family name which was originally a diminutive of Marcus."
(iii) The English surname Clay is "for someone who lived in an area of clay soil or as a metonymic occupational name for a worker in a clay pit."

(b) "his fourth wife * * * the former Yolanda Williams, known as Lonnie, who met him as a pigtailed first grader in Louisville, their hometown"
(i) Yolanda
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yolanda
("meaning Violet. The form of the name in Greek is Iolanthe")
(ii) Lonnie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonnie
("a given name usually used for males. It's meaning is 'ready for battle' derived from Old German")

(c) "It was 1963 * * * Ali, then 21, was introduced to the 6-year-old Lonnie. * * * On Nov 19, 1986, in front of a small gathering, Lonnie, 29, and Ali, 44, were married"

(d) Muhammad's first three wives: "He married Sonji Roi in 1964; Belinda Boyd, with whom he had four children, in 1967; and Veronica Porche, with whom he had two children, in 1977."
(i) The French surname Porche is "for someone who lived at a house distinguished by a covered passage or walkway, porche."
(ii) porch (n; Middle English porche, from Anglo-French, from Latin porticus portico, from porta gate)
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/porch
(iii) Compare:
The German car company Porsche (based in Stuttgart) was founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, whose surname is derived from Boris).

(e) "In 1982, she [Lonnie, age 25] was invited to lunch by Ali during one of his visits to Louisville.  Two years had passed since his 10th-round defeat to Larry Holmes in a bout that the actor Sylvester Stallone later described as 'like watching an autopsy on a man who's still alive.' "

Larry Holmes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Holmes
(1949- )

Quote:

"He made 20 successful title defenses, placing him third all time, behind only Joe Louis at 25 and Wladimir Klitschko at 22. Holmes is also one of only five boxers—along with Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Leon Spinks and Trevor Berbick—to defeat Muhammad Ali. He is also the only one to have ever stopped Ali.

"On Oct 2, 1980, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Holmes defended his title against Ali, who was coming out of retirement in an attempt to become the first four-time World Heavyweight Champion. Holmes dominated Ali from start to finish, winning every round on every scorecard. At the end of the tenth round, Ali's trainer, Angelo Dundee, stopped the fight. It would be Ali's only loss without 'going the distance' for a judges' decision.

(f) "The shock wasn't that they were getting married. 'Everyone could see they were two peas in a pod,' [Rhonda K] Richardson said. And, she said, there was the conversation with Ali in which he acknowledged Lonnie 'being the right one.' But holding the ceremony in Los Angeles?"

As Alike as Two Peas in a Pod. The Phrase Finder, undated
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanin ... -peas-in-a-pod.html
("meaning: Two identical items or people")