Muhammad Ali, greatest boxer of all time passes away

MNA Editorial Desk: Muhammad Ali, 74-years-old,  the greatest boxer of all time passes away after being rushed to hospital with breathing problems following 32-year battle with Parkinson’s.

Ali’s family said his funeral would be held in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, and thanked the public for their outpouring of support.

The three-time heavyweight champion had been on life support at a hospital outside Phoenix, Arizona, after he was found ‘barely breathing’ at his home on Thursday.

He was taken to hospital with an ‘unshakeable cough’, a separate source said, with his fatal respiratory problems likely to have been complicated by his Parkinson’s disease. It was earlier reported that Ali’s family had started making funeral arrangements after doctors warned that he was just hours from death.

Muhammad Ali made you love him

His trash-talking and way with words which produced unforgettable quotes such as ‘float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’ – were also part of what made Ali the best boxer to ever take to the ring. He also caused controversy by refusing to fight in Vietnam which led to him being stripped of his heavyweight championship title.

Ali’s daughter Laila spoke about her father’s health struggles in an interview in March, saying, “He’s such a fighter, still, when at times he seems weak and not able to handle it.He comes through stronger than ever. He’s still fighting regardless and I love my dad for that.”

Ali’s health last took a turn for the worse in early 2015, when he was treated for a severe urinary tract infection.

His high profile and willingness to share his very public struggle with Parkinson’s helped raise awareness of the disease. Ali’s Parkinson’s diagnosis was long-linked to the number of times he took blows to the head during fights.

The boxer looked increasingly frail during public appearances over the past few years, including his last outing in April. He wore sunglasses and was seen hunched over at the annual Celebrity Fight Night dinner in Phoenix, which raises funds for the treatment of Parkinson’s.

His last public appearance prior to that was in October of last year when he appeared at the Sports Illustrated Tribute to Muhammad Ali at The Muhammad Ali Center in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

Ali found himself embroiled in a long legal fight that ended in 1971, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor and he was allowed to box once more. He lost his first bid to regain the heavyweight crown when Joe Frazier knocked him down and won the ‘Fight of the Century’ at Madison Square Garden in 1971.

Ali regained the heavyweight title in 1974, defeating George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle in what was then Zaire. A year later, he outlasted Frazier in the epic Thrilla in Manila bout in the Philippines. Ali’s last title came in 1978, when he defeated Leon Spinks.

He retired from boxing in 1981 and devoted himself to social causes, before his Parkinson’s diagnosis took its toll. Ali traveled the world on humanitarian missions, mingling with the masses and rubbing elbows with world leaders. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2005.

Best quotes from Muhammad Ali

• ‘A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted thirty years of his life.’
• ‘I am so fast that last night I turned off the light switch and was in bed before the room was dark.’
• ‘Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beating each other up.’
• ‘Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn’t choose it, and I didn’t want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name, and I insist people using it when speaking to me and of me.’
• ‘It will be a killer and a chiller and a thriller when I get the gorilla in Manila.’ – Ali said this before the historic and legendary ‘Thrilla in Manila’ match against Joe Frazier in 1975.
• ‘I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’
• ‘Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.’
• ‘There are no pleasures in a fight, but some of my fights have been a pleasure to win.’
• ‘I am the greatest; I’m the greatest that ever lived. I don’t have a mark on my face.’ – Ali said this after he beat competitor Sonny Liston in 1964.
• ‘At home I am a nice guy: but I don’t want the world to know. Humble people, I’ve found, don’t get very far.’
• ‘If you even dream of beating me, you better wake up and apologize.’
• ‘My way of joking is to tell the truth. That’s the funniest joke in the world.’
• ‘I am America. I am the part you won’t recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky, my name not yours. My religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.’ – Ali said this in 1970 when he was convicted of draft evasion.
• ‘The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses—behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.’
• ‘He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.’
• ‘It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself.’