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MIAMI BEACH: In this Feb 25, 1964 file photo, , or Cassius Clay at the time, strikes a familiar pose as he shouts ‘I am the greatest’, as he leaves the ring, arms raised, following his defeat of former heavy- weight boxing champion Sonny Liston. — AP Boxing legend Ali ‘the Greatest’, dies at 74

PHOENIX: Heavyweight boxing legend by bruising battles inside the ropes, had will go on forever,” King said of Ali. “He rep- dodging in 1971. He took the name of Muhammad Ali, a 20th Century icon whose limited his public speaking. But he contin- resents what every athlete and sports per- Muhammad Ali after converting to Islam in fame transcended sport during a remark- ued to make appearances and offer opin- son tries to do, an attitude of getting it 1964, soon after he had stunned the sport able career that spanned three decades, ions through his family members and done, success, he was fabulous. A great by claiming the title with a monumental died Friday, his family said. The 74-year-old spokespeople. In April, he attended a human being, and a champion of the peo- upset of Liston. sports hero, who had been battling Celebrity Fight Night Dinner in Phoenix ple. The greatest of all times.” He was vilified in some quarters for that Parkinson’s disease for decades, passed that raised funds for treatment of Other defining moments of Ali’s career conversion and his outspoken stance on away in a hospital here where he had been Parkinson’s. In December, he issued a state- included two knockouts of Sonny Liston Vietnam and civil rights issues. His refusal admitted earlier this week suffering from ment rebuking US presidential hopeful and his thrilling rivalry with - to fight in Vietnam saw him prosecuted for respiratory problems. “After a 32-year battle Donald Trump’s call for a ban on Muslims which saw the two men slug it out in draft evasion, and led to him being effec- with Parkinson’s disease, Muhammad Ali entering the United States. the ring and verbally spar out of it. “Ali, tively banned for boxing for three years of has passed away at the age of 74,” Frazier & Foreman, we were 1 guy. A his prime. But he held firm to his beliefs and spokesman Bob Gunnell said. “The three- ‘The Greatest’ part of me slipped away - the greatest eventually earned accolades as an activist. time World Heavyweight Champion boxer Ali’s 30-year career, which stretched piece” Foreman wrote on Twitter shortly He received the highest US civilian honor, died this evening.” from 1960 to 1981 and saw him retire with after Ali’s death was announced. Former the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 2005. Funeral arrangements for Ali were to be a record of 56-5, included such historic heavyweight champion Mike Tyson Ali represented the United Nations as a announced later, he added, with the cham- bouts as against added: “God came for his champion. So messenger of peace and was chosen to pion to be buried in his hometown of George Foreman. Don King promoted that long great one. @MuhammadAli light the Olympic torch in 1996, when he Louisville, Kentucky. Ali had been living in watershed bout in Kinshasa, Zaire, in 1974, #TheGreatest #RIP.” was already weakened by Parkinson’s. the Phoenix area with his fourth wife, in which Ali used his “Rope a Dope” strategy Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr in Lonnie, whom he married in 1986. He was to best Foreman and become just the sec- Louisville, Kentucky, dazzled fans with slick ‘A Giant’ survived by nine children, seven daughters ond fighter ever to regain the heavy- moves in the ring, and with his wit and Tributes flooded in from around the and two sons. As the family gathered at his weight world title. “His spirit engaging persona outside it. His refusal to world - celebrities, politicians, reporters bedside on Friday, concern for Ali had serve in the Vietnam War saw him banned that covered him, athletes and of course grown. from the sport for years, but the US boxers praised Ali for his superb work in Upon his death tributes immediately Supreme Court overturned and out of the ring. Floyd Mayweather, who poured in for “The Greatest,” who was his conviction for draft retired from boxing last year with a perfect known globally not only for his storied ring 49-0 record, recalled the awe he felt in career but also for his humanitarian meeting Ali in ‘96, when he was a US activism. US President Barack Obama, who Olympian. “I didn’t really know what to say. said he keeps a pair of Ali’s boxing gloves I couldn’t believe it,” Mayweather said. “I and a photo in his private study, hailed the didn’t even want to show my true feelings late boxer for his civil rights work. “His fight and emotions of how I felt.” Twenty years outside the ring would cost him his title on, Mayweather was clear on his view of and his public standing. It would earn him Ali’s legacy - forged inside and outside the enemies on the left and the right, make ring. “Never be afraid,” Mayweather said. him reviled, and nearly send him to jail. But “Never stop believing. And never settle Ali stood his ground. And his victory helped for less.” us get used to the America we recognize Mayweather’s great rival Manny today.” He was, Obama said, “not just as Pacquiao of the Philippines said skilled a poet on the mic as he was a fighter the world had lost “a giant”. in the ring, but a man who fought for what “Boxing benefitted from was right. A man who fought for us.” Muhammad Ali’s talents, but Longtime boxing promoter Bob Arum not as much as mankind said “Ali transformed this country and benefitted from his impacted the world with his spirit. His lega- humanity,” Pacquiao said. cy will be part of our history for all time”. British Prime Minister “He is, without a question in my mind, the David Cameron praised Ali most transformative person of our time,” on Twitter as “a champion of Arum said. civil rights, and a role model for Ali had been hospitalized multiple times in recent years. In 2014 he was treated for a so many people,” while India’s mild case of pneumonia and again in 2015 Narendra Modi said he was a for a urinary tract infection. His Parkinson’s, “source of inspiration who demon- thought to be linked to the thousands of strated the power of human spirit & punches he took during a career studded determination”.— AFP