Muhammad Ali, who died Friday night at the age of 74, was remembered for a life that far surpassed a championship boxing career.
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Ali, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome in 1984, died at a Phoenix hospital.
Nicknamed “The Greatest”, the American beat Sonny Liston in 1964 to win his first world title and became the first boxer to capture a world heavyweight title on three separate occasions.
And several stars from football have since offered their condolences after hearing of Ali’s passing, including France hero Zinedine Zidane. “The Ali family would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and support and asks for privacy at this time”. “Boxing benefitted from Muhammad Ali’s talents but not almost as much as mankind benefitted from his humanity”. “President, you haven’t done too badly yourself, ‘” Nathanielsz said.
The bout got its name from Ali’s widely publicized boast that the 15-rounder would be a “killa and a thrilla and a chilla, when I get that gorilla in Manila”.
“And I was still in grade school when Ali made his extraordinary comeback after almost four years of exile and later shocked the world by winning his title back”, Obama wrote.
The scene, which was covered by the press, was shown in the US and caught on TV by Ali’s wife, who hurriedly flew to the Philippines to confront the boxer, according to Nathanielsz. “He’s one of the guys who paved the way for me to be where I’m at today”. But Ali stood his ground. McCartney said, via his website, that “Besides being the greatest boxer, he was a handsome, gentle man with a great sense of humour who would often pull a pack of cards out of his pocket, no matter how posh the occasion, and do a card trick for you”.
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Ali had been hospitalized multiple times in recent years. “It was this quality of Ali’s that I have always admired the most: his unique ability to summon extraordinary strength and courage in the face of adversity, to navigate the storm and never lose his way”. I mourned Muhammad Ali that day.
