It's been four decades since Khalilah Camacho-Ali was married to the late boxing great Muhammad Ali.
"We were married at a young age," Camacho-Ali said. "I was 17, he only was 24."
Now at age 66, Ali's feisty second wife and mother of four of his children says it's time for her to story to be told.
Camacho-Ali is completing her memoir.
"This is a good therapy for me," she said.
Camacho-Ali spoke to NY1 while visiting the Bronx to explore a potential collaboration with local community leader Sheikh Musa Drammeh.
She hasn't talked about her memoir publicly until now and says it will focus on the life she and a young Muhammad Ali had.
They got married in 1967, the same year Ali was stripped of his heavyweight title for refusing to be drafted into the Army for religious reasons.
"He wasn't a grand figure when I married him," she said. "He was just a boxer who was going through trials and tribulations."
Camacho-Ali describes her ex-husband as a great father and her eyes light up when she recalls his charming personality.
"Muhammad Ali was funny and he kept you in stitches," she said.
But their ten-year marriage had its downs as well as ups. Camacho-Ali cites her former husband's infidelity, which led to a divorce in 1977.
"It was the worst thing that could ever happen to me," she said. "I got married to stay with the same person, to grow with that person. I saw the bigger picture. Ali did not see the bigger picture."
Despite the split, Camacho-Ali says the two maintained a friendship and through her religion of Islam she was able to forgive.
That's the overarching theme of her memoir.
"I know there's issues that families have to deal with and to share my troubles might ease somebody else's troubles," she said.
She's hoping to empower others to let go of past hurt and move on to more productive futures.
Camacho-Ali hopes her book will be released later this year.