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Remembering 'The Greatest': Muhammad Ali dead at 74

Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest, but it all started as an amateur at the Olympics in 1960.
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4th June, 2016
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“I am the greatest. I am the greatest thing that ever lived!” No athlete was as audacious, as spectacular or influential.

A light that didn’t burn bright, but white-hot, he was Muhammad Ali.

It is not just boxing fans who mourn the passing of the greatest boxer who ever lived, it is the whole world.

Ali entered the sport of boxing as a young promising amateur turning professional he has now left the world as a century-defining sports star. One can’t help but reflect on the King of the rope-a-dope’s amazing career.

Born in 1942 and an Olympic champion by 1960, the Kentucky born African-American fast became a rising star in the world of boxing.

Circa February 1964 and Ali (then known as Cassius Clay Jr) is set to take on the most intimidating fighter in the world and more importantly the heavyweight champion Sonny Liston.

From the get go Ali would use what came to be his best asset outside the ring, his mouth.

But unlike most, Ali didn’t just talk-the-talk, he walked it too and was crowned champion in 1964.

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The next time the pair met, the people’s champ knocked out the hardest hitter in boxing in the first round.

At 22 the man was a world-champion and a slick talker, but he still would accomplish much more. A man of convictions, he converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali.

Flash forward to 1966 and a political rebel is born. Through a change in military policy Ali is eligible for the draft and in 1967 when called upon to fight for his country in a war on communism he refuses.

Undoubtedly his politics exceeded well beyond one man consciously objecting to fight in a war that he didn’t see as legitimate. He spoke out on black suffrage and economic inequality regularly.

The reality was with a record of 31-0 when called for conscription Ali had more to lose than most did for draft-evasion.

When returning to the ring – after his ban and courtroom battles – in 1971, the world was treated to what would be known as the ‘fight of the century’ and the first of only five losses in Ali’s distinguished career.

The fight against Joe Frazier represented a time in boxing when it was one of the biggest – if not the biggest – sports on the planet.

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The next four years was part of a golden-era of boxing and one which we may never see again.

Personally I still consider the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ to be one of the greatest sporting moments ever. A fight which defied logic and reason to truly prove that even against a power puncher like George Foreman, Muhammad Ali could deliver magic.

The fight particularly resonates with me, being the first bout featuring Ali I watched.

I still remember – as many people would – watching the fight as a nine year old. The moment when you see the fight change a tired and weary Foreman is taken unawares by Ali, who used a tactic that was considered ridiculous, allowing Foreman to tire himself out by punching Ali over and over.

To understand how ludicrous this was, Ali allowed the hard hitting Foreman to have a go at him on the ropes, hoping he could endure it.

With 20 seconds left in Round 8 Ali attacked Foreman and before anyone knew it, Foreman was flat on the canvass with 11 seconds before the end of the round. Ali has done the impossible and won by knockout!

Many more watched this live and I envy those greatly. The film title truly summarises the kind of athlete he was, a king in his own right.

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Remembering Muhammad Ali is something the entire world is doing.

Remembering the great boxer who evolved to become the greatest of all-time.

Remembering the human who influenced more than sport, but society through his outspokenness over things that mattered.

In 2016, more than 50 years on there may well be the next Muhammad Ali entering the ring. We all hope that it happens, but it probably won’t because to be the next Muhammad Ali both inside and outside of the ring would be a super-human effort.

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