Great Boxer, Muhammad Ali Dies At 74

Great Boxer, Muhammad Ali Dies At 74

Muhammad Ali, the self-proclaimed “Greatest of all time” and civil rights champion, is dead.

Ali died Friday at a Phoenix-area hospital after he’d been hospitalised the day before for a respiratory complication. He was 74.

“After a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74. The three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer died this evening,” Bob Gunnell, a family spokesman, told NBC News.

Ali had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease since retirement in the 1980s, and was slowly robbed of his legendary verbal grace and his physical dexterity as the years wore on.

A funeral service is planned in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

Born Cassius Clay on Jan. 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky, to middle-class parents, Ali burst onto the scene in the 1960 Olympics in Rome, where he won a gold medal as a light heavyweight.

As a young heavyweight champion he converted to Islam and refused to serve in the Vietnam War, and became an emblem of strength, eloquence, conscience and courage.

The three-time heavyweight champion was an anti-establishment showman who transcended borders and barriers, race and religion. His fights against other champions – George Forman, Joe Frazier and Malcolm Larry Holmes – became spectacles, but he embodied much greater battles, and remains the greatest sportsman that ever lived.

The tributes have been pouring in from around the world…

RIP Muhammad Ali – Floated like a butterfly, Stung like a bee!

— ALL (@ALAW011) June 4, 2016

Rest in peace to the legend Muhammad Ali

— Ebon Lurks (@TheEbonLurks) June 4, 2016

BREAKING ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’: Vale boxing legend Muhammad Ali https://t.co/cW7A4ozJzA

— The Age (@theage) June 4, 2016

Muhammad Ali.
RIP to the greatest.

— VI Seconds (@visecs) June 4, 2016

“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” RIP Muhammad Ali.

— Matías Gasc (@mgasc_41) June 4, 2016

Muhammad Ali perfected Black arrogance long before and better than Kanye. LOL. I loved how he loved himself.

— Trudy (@thetrudz) June 4, 2016

#RipMuhammadAli thank you champ! You were an inspiration to all! Condolences To the @MuhammadAli family pic.twitter.com/UkblNNVGXt

— Living Colour (@LivingColour) June 4, 2016