Adidas & Muhammad Ali to Go the Distance

Muhammad Ali Enterprises, the global sports, fashion and media company, has agreed a multi-year partnership with Double D, the exclusive licensee for Adidas combat sports. Double D will launch a range of technical apparel and boxing performance products to be co-branded, “Muhammad Ali by Adidas”.

The collection will be launched at the global sports trade show, ISPO, to be held in Munich in January 2014. The partnership marks the first time Muhammad Ali will collaborate with Adidas on a range of boxing equipment, having previously worked together on a limited edition fashion collection.

The range will include high-performance apparel, footwear and boxing equipment.The footwear will be a redesign of Ali’s iconic red and white boots from 1974.

The deal was brokered by IMG and sales will initially focus on the US, European and Australasian markets.

Matthew Primack, Vice President of IMG Licensing, said: “For over 80 years Adidas has been a leader in the world of sports apparel and equipment using the best manufacturing partners with the most innovative production technologies to assist talented athletes in achieving their maximum potential within their chosen sport.  The Muhammad Ali™ by Adidas products extend this competence because Double D will develop products that are technically designed to aid performance whist creatively reviving memories of the sport’s greatest ambassador at his peak, ensuring his legacy will continue to thrive in boxing gyms and sporting facilities around the world.”

Christophe Dessalles, Double-D’s Managing Director, added: “Muhammad Ali has been an inspiration for over 50 years. Whilst Adidas boxing is maybe considered relatively new to the history of the sport of kings, we have managed to take a significant share of the market, taking centre stage in the boxing arena at both the Beijing and London Olympics, as well as other global events, bringing innovation and key technologies into the Boxing ring. 

“We are now ready and excited to capture the spirit of Muhammad Ali in this range. As a young boxer whose self-belief changed the views of many, Ali’s legendry status has motivated past, and will inspire future, generations – and this is the legacy of Muhammad Ali™ by Adidas.  Coming back to the grass roots of the ‘Impossible is Nothing’ heritage campaign of times past, this is a range that will once again prove to be a formidable partnership from a boxing legend, with the most authentic sporting performance, and the most inspiring sports brand in the world. A range to inspire, a range that will remind us that in whatever we do…’Impossible is Nothing’.”