Ali’s refusal to serve in the Vietnam War saw him prosecuted for draft evasion, and led to him being effectively banned for boxing for three years of his prime.
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The fight, hyped for months in the media and scheduled for 4 a.m. local time for maximum television exposure in the United States, attracted some of the world’s most prominent journalists and celebrities to a country known by most westerners only for its periodic bouts of instability.
Words are never enough, and never will be, to completely describe the aura of Muhammad Ali.
Ali, pictured in 1962, died on June 3rd after a years-long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
It doesn’t explain, for example, his massive adoration around the world, even among non-Muslims.
His conversion to Islam won him the support of many across the region.
Known as “The Greatest” – a nickname characteristically coined by the boxer himself – he 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.
Before he was even heavyweight champion or had changed his name from Cassius Clay, Muhammad Ali was a force in the music world. To them, he meant different things.
Fans gathered on Saturday at his modest childhood home on Grand Avenue, which has been converted to a museum, and at the Muhammad Ali Center, a cultural and educational venue, to pay their respects.
Muhammad Ali’s influence on the black organisers who formed the backbone of the Civil Rights Movement was distinctly positive and remarkably broad-based. Accompanying his tweet was a photo of Ali, King Hussein, Abdullah’s late father, and U.S. President Gerald Ford – all in tuxedos.
Yet others in the region remember him for his boxing first, not his religion or politics.
Ali was married four times – and had seven daughters and two sons.
I still vividly recall being woken up by him early in the morning so my brother and I could watch PTV’s live transmission with him of Ali’s famous ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ fight against George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire. “He was strong, courageous, and I hope I can be like that one day and just show love to my daughter like he showed his”. “Man, I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong”.
To Nashaat Nashed, a 55-year-old boxing coach who is also a member of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority, Ali was an inspiration. God created us all.
“There was a lot of talk that Muhammad Ali was around…we were just lucky he came over and was with us”, he said. “My generation liked Muhammed Ali because he was very good at boxing and because his name was Muhammed Ali and he was a Muslim”.
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Ali’s life was a story of sheer grit, determination and courage in the face of awful odds.
“Today marks the death of a great champion”.
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Bursting onto the boxing scene in the 1960s with a brashness that threatened many whites, Ali would come to be embraced by Americans of all races for his grace, integrity and disarming sense of humour.
