June 6, 2016-The world paused in grief last Friday when the announcement was made that the greatest sportsman to set foot inside the boxing ring, the former three-time heavyweight champion of the world, Muhammad Ali, had died at the age of 74.
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The first time Ali stepped foot in the gym was 1964 – before he became one of the most famous athletes in the world and the gym moved from the Bronx to its current location, its third, in Brooklyn.
The “21 Jump Street” actress spoke of how Ali’s battle with Parkinson’s disease gave her own father, late actor Matt Robinson, “hope” when he was also diagnosed with the condition.
Ali is even called the Lousville Lip, which refers to his way with words that very few other sports figures come close to beating.
“The message that we’ll be sending out is not our message, this was really designed and intended by the Champ himself to be his last statement to the people of planet Earth”, Islamic studies scholar Timothy Gianotti told reporters in Louisville.
“We whispered in his ear “you can go now, we will be okay”.
According to Mr Gunnell, Ali’s official cause of death was septic shock “due to unspecified natural causes”.
Hassaan Rizvi, 15, says Muhammad Ali has been a huge inspiration to him as a Muslim. However, “I have comfort in knowing that he’s not suffering anymore”.
On hand were boxing greats Gerry Cooney and Saoul Mamby, both of whom were inspired by Ali.
The boxing promoter Don King, whose career was jump-started by the Rumble in the Jungle bout between Ali and Foreman in what was then Zaire in 1974, told The Associated Press, “It’s a sad day for life, man”. Former Brazil ace Pele, 75, said: “He used to say he was my brother – we had many opportunities to be together”. “I was devastated. Little did I know I would make the best friend I ever had in my life”.
Other defining moments of Ali’s career included two knockouts of Sonny Liston and his rivalry with Joe Frazier. He was a terror in the ring and a first-rate humanitarian outside of it. For nearly 30 years, the world saw only a shadow of the man who could “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee”.
Imam Syed Soharwardy speaks during a memorial service for boxing legend and Muslim, Muhammad Ali, at a mosque in Calgary, on Sunday. Some recognised Ali as a man willing to defy authority, and pay a price, as he did when he refused to be drafted as the Vietnam War was escalating. The US Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 1971.
In 2005, while George W. Bush was president, Ali was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.
He will be buried at Cave Hill cemetery in a private family ceremony, and an interfaith memorial service, broadcast online, will follow at the town’s sports arena.
Elliott said his grandmother was once a nanny to Ali’s family.
Ali’s lesson “from that hard period is that although he was criticized and marginalized for his beliefs, there were many people who were not Muslim that came to his defense, ” said Walid, who is black and Muslim.
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Gunnell did not confirm whether US President Barack Obama would attend, and the White House has given no indication of his plans.
