The death of Muhammad Ali, the former heavyweight champion known as much for his political activism as his boxing brilliance, triggered a worldwide outpouring of affection and admiration for one of the best-known figures of the 20th Century.
Ali, who had long suffered from Parkinson’s syndrome which impaired his speech and made the once-graceful athlete almost a prisoner in his own body, died last Friday at age 74.
The cause of death was septic shock due to unspecified natural causes, a family spokesman said on Saturday. Ali was admitted to a Phoenix-area hospital, Honor Health, with a respiratory ailment on Monday.
“He’ll be remembered as a man of the world who spoke his mind and wasn’t afraid to take a chance and went out of his way to be a kind, benevolent individual that really changed the world,” the family spokesman, Bob Gunnell, said at a news conference in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Despite Ali’s failing health, his youthful proclamation that he was “the greatest” rang true until the end for millions of people around the world who respected him for his courage both inside and outside the ring.
Along with a fearsome reputation as a fighter, Ali spoke out against racism, war and religious intolerance, while projecting an unshakeable confidence that became a model for African-Americans at the height of the civil rights era and beyond.
Stripped of his world boxing crown for refusing to join the US Army and fight in Vietnam, Ali returned in triumph by recapturing the title and starring in some of the sport’s most unforgettable bouts.
“I think when you talk about Muhammad Ali, as great an athlete, as great a boxer as he was, he was the greatest boxer of all time, he means so much more to the United States and the world,” said Ali’s long-time friend, boxing promoter Bob Arum.
“He was a transformative figure in our society.”
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| Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali stood over Sonny Liston in the first round of their title fight in Lewiston, Me, on May 25, 1965, and was heard to say, “Get up and fight, sucker!” — Heritage/BNPS |
“In the end, he went from being reviled to being revered,” civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson told CNN on Saturday.
Pam Dorrough, a tourist in New York’s Times Square, admired Ali’s refusal to apologise for what he believed.
“The confidence — and I know everybody thought it was an arrogance about him — he always projected a confidence,” she said. “And he stood by that.”
President Barack Obama, the first African-American to reach the White House, said Ali was “a man who fought for us” and placed him in the pantheon of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela.
“His fight outside the ring would cost him his title and his public standing. It would earn him enemies on the left and the right, make him reviled, and nearly send him to jail,” Obama said in a statement. “But Ali stood his ground. And his victory helped us get used to the America we recognise today.”
Ali’s daughter Maryum said on Saturday: “I am happy my father no longer struggles. He is in a better place. God is the greatest.”
In New York’s Harlem district, fans gathered outside the famous Apollo Theatre, where a marquee paying tribute to Ali read: “The greatest of all time. 1942-2016.”
Nearby, hundreds more gazed at projections of phrases and images most associated with Ali, such as “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.”
Few could argue with his athletic prowess at his peak in the 1960s, with his dancing feet and quick fists. But Ali became much more than a sportsman. He spoke boldly against racism in the ‘60s as well as against the Vietnam War.
Ali met scores of world leaders, during and after his championship reign, and for a time he was considered the most recognisable person on earth, known even in remote villages in countries far from the United States.
Ali’s diagnosis of Parkinson’s came about three years after he retired from boxing in 1981. Despite his failing health, he appeared at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, stilling the tremors in his hands long enough to light the Olympic cauldron.
From Africa to East Asia to the US South, news of Ali’s death brought tributes across the world of sport, entertainment and politics.
In Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo), the city where he battled George Foreman in the 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” — a city that was then part of Zaire and is now the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo — the fight is remembered as much for its political symbolism as for Ali’s tactical brilliance in beating his hulking opponent. — Reuters.
