But as audaciously self-confident as Muhammad Ali was (“I must be the greatest!”), you can’t really argue his point – not as we consider the life of “The Greatest”.
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He went on to become the first man in history to win the world heavyweight title three times, and along the way fought race wars, was stripped of his world title for refusing to fight in the U.S. war in Vietnam and lost his boxing licence for close to four years as a result.
Tributes are pouring in from around the world for former world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. He later changed his name after his conversion to Islam. Ali was recalled not just as a heavyweight boxing king but also for his fight for social justice, while others told moving personal stories of his warmth and generosity, how he was equally at home with presidents and people on the streets.
It was the diversity of the causes embraced by Ali during his lifetime – from the civil rights movement and anti-war activism to global charity work and dealing with Parkinson’s disease – that has won him a large following among a wide range of admirers in the Muslim world.
“Muhammad Ali belongs to the world, but he only has one hometown”, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said at a ceremony Saturday. CTV’s Jordan Cunningham spoke with former boxer and Vancouver Island native Robin Webb who sparred with Ali in the 70’s.
“The world has lost today a great unifying champion whose punches transcended borders and nations”, Abdullah wrote on his Twitter account.
Yet others in the region remember him for his boxing first, not his religion or politics.
The city of Louisville will say goodbye formally to their beloved champion Muhammad Ali on Friday. “I don’t even have a gun”. “I mean you can’t buy that sort of thing”, Zelley added.
George Foreman, Ali’s friend and rival from the famous Rumble In The Jungle fight, said: “We were like one guy – part of me is gone”.
“This man loved people, and everywhere I was ever with him, he always respected people and he loved good human beings”, Brown said.
She said family members were hugging and kissing him, holding his hands and chanting an Islamic prayer while his heart kept beating and called it a “true testament to the strength of his spirit and will”.
Nizam Zayed, 48, a Palestinian handyman at a gym in the West Bank’s city of Ramallah, said he watched most of Ali’s matches during the old days of black-and-white television.
Ali’s storybook boxing career – highlighted by epic bouts with Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Sonny Liston – began with a theft.
“It was like chills running up your spine because he was the greatest of all time, and I do believe that”, the Denver business owner said. Muhammad Ali was what I call lovely.
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“He was unique, not only was a great, great boxer and athlete but also very intelligent and nobody could outwit him as far as the words were concerned”.
