Boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies aged 74

[Raptor]

Muhammad Ali has died at the age of 74, a family spokesman has said.
The former world heavyweight boxing champion, one of the world's best-known sportsmen, died at a hospital in the US city of Phoenix in Arizona state after being admitted on Thursday.
He was suffering from a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by Parkinson's disease.
The funeral will take place in Ali's hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, his family said in a statement.
Obituary: Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali in his own words
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Ali shot to fame by winning light-heavyweight gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Nicknamed "The Greatest", the American beat Sonny Liston in 1964 to win his first world title and became the first boxer to capture a world heavyweight title on three separate occasions.
He eventually retired in 1981, having won 56 of his 61 fights.
The former heavyweight champion was suffering from respiratory problems
Crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC, Ali was noted for his pre- and post-fight talk and bold fight predictions just as much as his boxing skills inside the ring.
But he was also a civil rights campaigner and poet who transcended the bounds of sport, race and nationality.
Asked how he would like to be remembered, he once said: "As a man who never sold out his people. But if that's too much, then just a good boxer. I won't even mind if you don't mention how pretty I was."
Ali turned professional immediately after the Rome Olympics and rose through the heavyweight ranks, delighting crowds with his showboating, shuffling feet and lightning reflexes.
British champion Henry Cooper came close to stopping Clay, as he was still known, when they met in a non-title bout in London in 1963.
Cooper floored the American with a left hook, but Clay picked himself up off the canvas and won the fight in the next round when a severe cut around Cooper's left eye forced the Englishman to retire.

---

Ali's boxing career

• Won Olympic light-heavyweight gold in 1960
• Turned professional that year and was world heavyweight champion from 1964 to 1967, 1974 to 1978 and 1978 to 1979
• Had 61 professional bouts, winning 56 (37 knockouts, 19 decisions), and losing five (4 decisions, 1 retirement)

---

In February the following year, Clay stunned the boxing world by winning his first world heavyweight title at the age of 22.
He predicted he would beat Liston, who had never lost, but few believed he could do it.
Yet, after six stunning rounds, Liston quit on his stool, unable to cope with his brash, young opponent.
At the time of his first fight with Liston, Clay was already involved with the Nation of Islam, a religious movement whose stated goals were to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans in the United States.
But in contrast to the inclusive approach favoured by civil rights leaders like Dr Martin Luther King, the Nation of Islam called for separate black development and was treated by suspicion by the American public.
Ali eventually converted to Islam, ditching what he perceived was his "slave name" and becoming Cassius X and then Muhammad Ali.
In 1967, Ali took the momentous decision of opposing the US war in Vietnam, a move that was widely criticised by his fellow Americans.
He refused to be drafted into the US military and was subsequently stripped of his world title and boxing licence. He would not fight again for nearly four years.
After his conviction for refusing the draft was overturned in 1971, Ali returned to the ring and fought in three of the most iconic contests in boxing history, helping restore his reputation with the public.
He was handed his first professional defeat by Joe Frazier in the "Fight of the Century" in New York on 8 March 1971, only to regain his title with an eighth-round knockout of George Foreman in the "Rumble in the Jungle" in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) on 30 October 1974.
Ali fought Frazier for a third and final time in the Philippines on 1 October 1975, coming out on top in the "Thrilla in Manila" when Frazier failed to emerge for the 15th and final round.
Six defences of his title followed before Ali lost on points to Leon Spinks in February 1978, although he regained the world title by the end of the year, avenging his defeat at the hands of the 1976 Olympic light-heavyweight champion.
Ali's career ended with one-sided defeats by Larry Holmes in 1980 and Trevor Berbick in 1981, many thinking he should have retired long before.
He fought a total of 61 times as a professional, losing five times and winning 37 bouts by knockout.
Soon after retiring, rumours began to circulate about the state of Ali's health. His speech had become slurred, he shuffled and he was often drowsy.
Parkinson's Syndrome was eventually diagnosed but Ali continued to make public appearances, receiving warm welcomes wherever he travelled.
He lit the Olympic cauldron at the 1996 Games in Atlanta and carried the Olympic flag at the opening ceremony for the 2012 Games in London.
Let's block ads! (Why?)


BBC News

[Raptor]

Muhammad Ali was, at his peak, arguably the most famous man on the planet.
His prodigious boxing talent was matched only by a towering self-belief.
"I am the greatest," he said, and who could doubt a man who won the World Heavyweight Championship three times.
His outspoken support for civil rights endeared him to millions of people across the world.
He was born Cassius Marcellus Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, on 17 January 1942, the son of a sign painter. He was named after a prominent 19th Century abolitionist.
When he was 12, he reported his bicycle had been stolen and told a police officer he was going to "whup" the culprit.
The officer, Joe Martin, trained young fighters at a local gym and suggested the youngster learn to box before he challenged the thief.
Clay quickly took to the ring, making his competitive debut in 1954 in a three-minute amateur bout.
"He stood out because he had more determination than most boys," Martin later recalled. "He was easily the hardest worker of any kid I ever taught."
Over the following five years, his amateur career flourished and he won a number of awards including the Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions in 1959.
In 1960 he was selected in the US team for the Rome Olympics. At first he refused to go because of his fear of flying. Eventually, according to Joe Martin's son, he bought a second-hand parachute and wore it on the flight.
It was worth all the effort. On 5 September 1960, he beat Poland's Zbigniew Pietrzykowski to become the Olympic light-heavyweight champion.
He received a hero's welcome when the team returned to New York but the reality of the segregated US society hit home when he got back to Kentucky and was refused a table in a restaurant.
Ali claimed in his 1975 autobiography that he threw away his Olympic medal in disgust but it was later revealed that he lost it a year after his return from Rome.
Outrageous

Though only 18, he joined boxing's paid ranks and began his professional career later the same year with a six-round points win over Tunney Hunsaker, a police chief from West Virginia.
"Clay was as fast as lightning," Hunsaker said after the bout. "I tried every trick I knew to throw him off balance but he was just too good."
Ali also took on Angelo Dundee, the trainer who would contribute so much to his boxing success.
A steady succession of victories, reinforced by outrageous self-advertising, brought him fame, if not universal popularity.
Clay's extraordinary manner in the ring involved dancing around his opponents like a lightweight.
He taunted them, delighting crowds with his showboating, shuffling feet and lightning reflexes.
He offered further hostages to fortune by predicting not merely his opponents' defeat, but when precisely he would dispose of them. "They must fall the round I call," he boasted.
In London in 1963, he was floored in the fourth round by British champion Henry Cooper, but fulfilled his pre-fight prediction when cuts to Cooper's eye forced his retirement in the next round.
Nation of Islam

The following year Clay challenged the formidable world champion Sonny Liston, whom he referred to as "that ugly old bear".
Clay was given no chance by the boxing press but ran rings round his older opponent and forced Liston to quit on his stool at the end of the sixth round.
"I shook up the world," a near-hysterical Clay declared after the fight.
Away from the ring, Clay was a fierce opponent of the racism that blighted large areas of the United States in the 1960s.
By the time of his first fight with Liston, Clay was already involved with the Nation of Islam, which called for separate black development.
The policy was in direct contrast to the inclusive approach favoured by civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King.
The heavyweight champion of the world became Muhammad Ali. Cassius Clay, he said, was his "slave name", and he took exception to anyone who continued to use it.
Ernie Terrell referred to Ali by his birth name during the build-up to their world championship fight in 1967, only for Ali to hand out a 15-round battering.
Jail sentence

At various points during the bout, Ali screamed in Terrell's face: "What's my name, Uncle Tom?"
Ali became a hate figure for sections of the American public and barely more than 2,000 people turned up to see his rematch with Liston, which he controversially won with a first-round knockout.
Eight more title defences followed but when Ali refused to sign the oath of allegiance to join the US Army ("I ain't got no quarrel with them Vietcong") , he was stripped of his title.
He was also given five years in jail, a sentence that was quashed on appeal.
After three years of growing anguish among Americans about the Vietnam War, Ali was granted a reprieve and returned to the ring in 1970 with a win over Jerry Quarry.
But his enforced absence had taken its toll on his speed, and in 1971 he was beaten for the first time in his professional career by Joe Frazier. Ali gained his revenge three years later.
Perhaps Ali's greatest moment came in October 1974 when he defeated George Foreman in Zaire in the so-called Rumble in the Jungle.
Brutal

As with the first Liston fight, Ali was given little chance against the indomitable Foreman and some commentators even feared for his life.
With a frenzied crowd behind him, Ali spent most of the first eight rounds leaning back on the ropes, soaking up the punches of his younger, and significantly larger, foe.
He called the tactic "rope-a-dope", and at the end of the eighth round he sprang out of his defensive shell and sent Foreman sprawling to the canvas with a picture-perfect combination.
At the age of 32, Ali had become only the second man in history to regain the heavyweight championship of the world.
A year later, Ali met Frazier for a third time in the so-called Thrilla in Manila, perhaps the most brutal encounter in heavyweight history.
Ali said it was the closest he had come to death in the ring, but he was victorious when Frazier's corner halted the fight after 14 rounds.
Ali could, and perhaps should, have retired at that point, but he fought on.
Fading force

In Las Vegas in February 1978, he lost his title to Leon Spinks, the 1976 Olympic light-heavyweight champion who was 12 years his junior.
The return fight in New Orleans eight months later drew a world record gate, with millions more watching on television.
This time Ali took a unanimous decision and won the world title for a third time at 36.
Generous with his money, Ali is thought to have earned more than $60m (£37.2m) from his ring career - but by 1979, he seemed to have little of it left.
That may be one of the reasons he refused to call time on his ring career, but he was clearly a fading force when he lost his title for the last time to former sparring partner Larry Holmes in Las Vegas in 1980.
Ali had one more fight, against Canadian Trevor Berbick in December 1981, and after losing on points he finally retired from the ring, at the age of 40.
Soon after, rumours began to circulate about the state of his health. His speech had become slurred, he shuffled and was often drowsy.
Exemplary services

Parkinson's disease was eventually diagnosed, a condition only too obvious when, with courage and dignity, he lit the 1996 Olympic cauldron in Atlanta.
Rumours about Ali's health periodically became a subject of heated discussions in the US and abroad.
But he continued to travel, receiving an ecstatic welcome wherever he appeared, especially in the developing world, where he was particularly revered.
The millennium celebrations saw Ali honoured around the globe.
In Britain, BBC viewers voted him Sports Personality of the Century, and he was given a similar award from Sports Illustrated in the US.
In 2005, Ali received America's two highest civilian awards - the Presidential Citizens Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom - for "exemplary services" to the country.
The same year saw the opening of the non-profit Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky, which promotes peace, social responsibility and respect.
Muhammad Ali's record as a boxer was impressive. The record books show that his professional career spanned 21 years, during which he won 56 fights, 37 by way of knockout, and lost five.
But he was much more than that. He was a great showman whose off-the-cuff quips and improvised poetry won him many friends, not least in the UK.
His high profile gave his espousal of civil rights additional weight and he was a hero to large numbers of black people both in the US and further afield.
And late in life, when this magnificent athlete was brought low by a debilitating disease, his quiet dignity impressed everyone he met.
Rarely has any person transcended his sport in the way Ali did, to become one of the best-known figures of his time.
Let's block ads! (Why?)


BBC News

[GTI]

Muhammad Ali, boxing great and cultural symbol, dead at age 74
BY BILL TROTT




Former world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, whose record-setting boxing career, unprecedented flair for showmanship, and controversial stands made him one of the best-known figures of the 20th century, died on Friday aged 74.

Ali's death was confirmed in a statement issued by family spokesman Bob Gunnell late Friday evening, a day after he was admitted to a Phoenix-area hospital with a respiratory ailment.

The cause of death or the name of the hospital where he died were not immediately disclosed.

Ali had long suffered from Parkinson's syndrome, which impaired his speech and made the once-graceful athlete almost a prisoner in his own body.

Even so, Ali's youthful proclamation of himself as "the greatest" rang true until the end for the millions of people worldwide who admired him for his courage both inside and outside the ring.

"A part of me slipped away, the greatest piece," George Foreman, a former heavyweight boxer and one of Ali's most formidable opponents in the ring, said on Twitter after the news of Ali's death.

Roy Jones Jr., a former champion boxer who grew up during Ali's prime, also said in a Tweet: "My heart is deeply saddened yet both appreciative and relieved that the greatest is now resting in the greatest place."

Few could argue with his athletic prowess at his peak in the 1960s. With his dancing feet and quick fists, he could - as he put it - float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. He was the first person to win the heavyweight championship three times.

But Ali became much more than a colorful and interesting athlete. He spoke boldly against racism in the '60s, as well as the Vietnam War.

During and after his championship reign, Ali met scores of world leaders and for a time he was considered the most recognizable person on earth, known even in remote villages far from the United States.

Ali's diagnosis of Parkinson's came about three years after he retired from boxing in 1981.

His influence extended far beyond boxing. He became the unofficial spokesman for millions of blacks and oppressed people around the world because of his refusal to compromise his opinions and stand up to white authorities.

In a realm where athletes often battle inarticulateness as well as their opponents, Ali was known as the Louisville Lip and loved to talk, especially about himself.

"Humble people, I've found, don't get very far," he once told a reporter.

His taunts could be brutal. "Joe Frazier is so ugly that when he cries, the tears turn around and go down the back of his head," he once said. He also dubbed Frazier a 'gorilla' but later apologized and said it was all to promote the fight.

Once asked about his preferred legacy, Ali said: "I would like to be remembered as a man who won the heavyweight title three times, who was humorous and who treated everyone right. As a man who never looked down on those who looked up to him ... who stood up for his beliefs ... who tried to unite all humankind through faith and love.

"And if all that's too much, then I guess I'd settle for being remembered only as a great boxer who became a leader and a champion of his people. And I wouldn't even mind if folks forgot how pretty I was."

Ali was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on Jan. 17, 1942, as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., a name shared with a 19th century slavery abolitionist. He changed his name after his conversion to Islam.

Ali is survived by his wife, the former Lonnie Williams, who knew him when she was a child in Louisville, along with his nine children.

Source

[DavidF]

RIP Ali. A true legend.

[Mickey]

Always on the cards with this guy.

Finally knocked out

RIP

[snowmist]

Totally unique. I know there are a million stories about him but my favourite is still the fight he had against Ernie Terrell in 1967. Leading up to the fight, Terrell refused to call him Muhammad Ali and kept referrring to him by his old name of Cassius Clay. Ali said that before the fight was over Terrell would call him Muhammad Ali.

For about 14 out of 15 rounds (if not all 15) Ali battered Terrell. Between each flurry of punches throughout the fight, Ali kept asking Terrell "What's my name?"

A real legend. RIP

[Raptor]

Tributes have poured in from across the world for boxing legend Muhammad Ali, who has died at the age of 74.
"Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it," said US President Barack Obama.
The three-time world heavyweight champion - one of the world's greatest sporting figures - died on Friday at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona.
He had been suffering from a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by Parkinson's disease.
"I am happy my father no longer struggles. He is in a better place. God is the greatest," his daughter Maryum said on Saturday.
Ali's funeral will take place in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.
Ali was as much a campaigner for black equality as he was a champion in the ring, where he won 56 of his 61 fights.
Asked how he would like to be remembered, he once said: "As a man who never sold out his people. But if that's too much, then just a good boxer.
"I won't even mind if you don't mention how pretty I was."
But he was once a polarising figure in the US. At a time of racial segregation in the 1960s he joined the separatist black sect, The Nation of Islam, which rejected the inclusive approach of civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King.

---

At the scene: Jessica Lussenhop, BBC News, Louisville, Kentucky

Many residents of Louisville, Kentucky, woke up on this hazy Saturday morning to the news: Muhammad Ali is dead.
The news of his death is on every local television station, and the front page of the local newspaper reads simply "The Greatest" over the iconic image of Ali standing victorious over Sonny Liston in 1965.
Flags at Louisville's city hall will fly at half mast today and the mayor will deliver a memorial service there.
Almost everyone has a personal story about Ali, whether it's a favourite fight, a glance through a car window, or a trip to his boyhood home, which opened as a museum only last week, the interior recreated as if Ali were still living there as a precocious 12-year-old boy in the 1950s.

---

George Foreman, who lost his world title to Ali in the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" fight in Kinshasa in 1974, called him one of the greatest human beings he had ever met.
"To put him as a boxer is an injustice," said Foreman.
Former President Bill Clinton - husband of Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary - said the boxer had been "courageous in the ring, inspiring to the young, compassionate to those in need, and strong and good-humoured in bearing the burden of his own health challenges".
American civil rights campaigner Jesse Jackson said Ali had been willing to sacrifice the crown and money for his principles when in 1967 he refused to serve in the Vietnam war.
That decision was widely criticised by the boxer's fellow Americans. He was stripped of his title and had to put his fighting career on hold for three years.
Latest updates and tributes
Obituary: Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali in his own words
Latest tributes
Nick Bryant: How Ali changed his sport and country
Foreman: "One of the greatest human beings"
Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump, meanwhile, tweeted that Ali was "truly great champion and a wonderful guy. He will be missed by all!"
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Ali shot to fame by winning light-heavyweight gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Known as "The Greatest" - a nickname characteristically coined by the boxer himself - the American beat Sonny Liston in 1964 to win his first world title and became the first boxer to capture a world heavyweight title on three separate occasions.
Noted for his pre- and post-fight talk and bold fight predictions as much as his skills inside the ring, he retired in 1981 having won 56 of his 61 fights - 37 by knockout - and was later crowned "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC.
A special programme on the life of Muhammad Ali will be shown on BBC 1 at 22:45 BST. It will also be also available to UK viewers online.
How great was he?
Muhammad Ali timeline
Online tributes to Ali
Heavyweight champ at 22

Ali turned professional immediately after the Rome Olympics and rose through the heavyweight ranks, delighting crowds with his showboating, shuffling feet and lightning reflexes.
British champion Henry Cooper came close to stopping Clay, as he was still known, when they met in a non-title bout in London in 1963.
Cooper floored the American with a left hook, but Clay picked himself up off the canvas and won the fight in the next round when a severe cut around Cooper's left eye forced the Englishman to retire.
In February the following year, Clay stunned the boxing world by winning his first world heavyweight title at the age of 22.
He predicted he would beat Liston, who had never lost, but few believed he could do it.
Yet, after six stunning rounds, Liston quit on his stool, unable to cope with his brash, young opponent.
At the time of his first fight with Liston, Clay was already involved with the Nation of Islam, a religious movement whose stated goals were to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans in the US.
But in contrast to the inclusive approach favoured by civil rights leaders like Dr Martin Luther King, the Nation of Islam called for separate black development and was treated by suspicion by the American public.
Ali eventually converted to Islam, ditching what he perceived was his "slave name" and becoming Cassius X and then Muhammad Ali.
How world remembers Ali
World media: Muhammad Ali was unique
After his conviction for refusing the draft was overturned in 1971, he returned to the ring and fought in three of the most iconic contests in boxing history, helping restore his reputation with the public.
He was handed his first professional defeat by Joe Frazier in the "Fight of the Century" in New York on 8 March 1971, only to regain his title with an eighth-round knockout of George Foreman in the "Rumble in the Jungle" in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) on 30 October 1974.
Ali fought Frazier for a third and final time in the Philippines on 1 October 1975, coming out on top in the "Thrilla in Manila" when Frazier failed to emerge for the 15th and final round.
Six defences of his title followed before Ali lost on points to Leon Spinks in February 1978, although he regained the world title by the end of the year, avenging his defeat at the hands of the 1976 Olympic light-heavyweight champion.
Ali's career ended with one-sided defeats by Larry Holmes in 1980 and Trevor Berbick in 1981, many thinking he should have retired long before.
He fought a total of 61 times as a professional, losing five times and winning 37 bouts by knockout.
Soon after retiring, rumours began to circulate about the state of Ali's health. His speech had become slurred, he shuffled and he was often drowsy.
Parkinson's Syndrome was eventually diagnosed but Ali continued to make public appearances, receiving warm welcomes wherever he travelled.
He lit the Olympic cauldron at the 1996 Games in Atlanta and carried the Olympic flag at the opening ceremony for the 2012 Games in London.

---

What are your memories of Muhammad Ali? Did you ever meet him? Share your stories and pictures. Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

• WhatsApp: +44 7525 900971
• Send pictures/video to yourpics@bbc.co.uk
• Upload your pictures / video here
• Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSay
• Send an SMS or MMS to 61124 or +44 7624 800 100

Let's block ads! (Why?)


BBC News

[Raptor]

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali died of "septic shock due to unspecified natural causes", his family has said.
The three-time world heavyweight champion - one of the world's greatest sporting figures - died on Friday night at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona.
The 74-year-old had been suffering from a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by Parkinson's disease.
A public funeral will be held for the boxer on Friday in his hometown of Louisville in Kentucky.
"He was a citizen of the world and would want people from all walks of life to be able to attend his funeral," said the family spokesman, Bob Gunnell.
Former US President Bill Clinton is among those who will give a eulogy at the service, and was one of many prominent global figures who paid tribute to Ali on Saturday, saying he lived a life "full of religious and political convictions that led him to make tough choices and live with the consequences".
The legendary Brazilian footballer, Pele, said the sporting universe had suffered a huge loss.
"Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it," said US President Barack Obama.

---

Obituary: Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali in his own words
Tributes pour in

---

• 3 times crowned World Heavyweight Champion
  
• 1 Light-heavyweight Olympic gold medal
  
• 31 straight wins before being beaten by Joe Frazier
  

Getty


Ali was as much a campaigner for black equality as he was a champion in the ring, where he won 56 of his 61 fights.
Asked how he would like to be remembered, he once said: "As a man who never sold out his people. But if that's too much, then just a good boxer.
"I won't even mind if you don't mention how pretty I was."
How great was he?
Muhammad Ali timeline
Online tributes to Ali
But he was once a polarising figure in the US. At a time of racial segregation in the 1960s he joined the separatist black sect, the Nation of Islam, which rejected the inclusive approach of civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King.
George Foreman, who lost his world title to Ali in the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" fight in Kinshasa in 1974, called him one of the greatest human beings he had ever met.
"To put him as a boxer is an injustice," said Foreman.
American civil rights campaigner Jesse Jackson said Ali had been willing to sacrifice the crown and money for his principles when in 1967 he refused to serve in the Vietnam war.
That decision was widely criticised by the boxer's fellow Americans. He was stripped of his title and had to put his fighting career on hold for three years.
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Ali shot to fame by winning light-heavyweight gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Known as "The Greatest" - a nickname characteristically coined by the boxer himself - he beat Sonny Liston in 1964 to win his first world title and became the first boxer to capture a world heavyweight title on three separate occasions.
How world remembers Ali
World media: Muhammad Ali was unique
Nick Bryant: How Ali changed his sport and country
Foreman: "One of the greatest human beings"
At the time of his first fight with Liston, Clay was already involved with the Nation of Islam, a religious movement whose stated goals were to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans in the US.
But in contrast to the inclusive approach favoured by civil rights leaders like Dr Martin Luther King, the Nation of Islam called for separate black development and was treated by suspicion by the American public.
Ali eventually converted to Islam, ditching what he called his "slave name" and becoming Cassius X and then Muhammad Ali.

---

Septic shock

• Life-threatening condition when blood pressure drops to dangerously low level after infection
• People with weakened immune system are more prone to developing septic shock
• Symptoms include slurred speech, confusion, diarrhoea, vomiting, shivering, muscle pain
• Quick response is key to successful treatment

Noted for his fast talk and bold fight predictions as much as his skills inside the ring, he retired in 1981 having won 56 of his 61 fights - 37 by knockout - and was later crowned "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC.
He was handed his first professional defeat by Joe Frazier in the "Fight of the Century" in New York on 8 March 1971, only to regain his title with an eighth-round knockout of George Foreman in the "Rumble in the Jungle" in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) on 30 October 1974.
Ali fought Frazier for a third and final time in the Philippines on 1 October 1975, coming out on top in the "Thrilla in Manila" when Frazier failed to emerge for the 15th and final round.
Six defences of his title followed before Ali lost on points to Leon Spinks in February 1978, although he regained the world title by the end of the year.
His career ended with one-sided defeats by Larry Holmes in 1980 and Trevor Berbick in 1981, many thinking he should have retired long before.
Soon after retiring, rumours began to circulate about the state of his health. His speech had become slurred, he shuffled and he was often drowsy.
Parkinson's syndrome was eventually diagnosed but Ali continued to make public appearances, receiving warm welcomes wherever he travelled.
He lit the Olympic cauldron at the 1996 Games in Atlanta and carried the Olympic flag at the opening ceremony for the 2012 Games in London.

---

What are your memories of Muhammad Ali? Did you ever meet him? Share your stories and pictures. Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

• WhatsApp: +44 7525 900971
• Send pictures/video to yourpics@bbc.co.uk
• Upload your pictures / video here
• Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSay
• Send an SMS or MMS to 61124 or +44 7624 800 100

Let's block ads! (Why?)


BBC News

[Raptor]

A huge funeral and procession will take place for Muhammad Ali to "allow anyone that is there from the world to say goodbye", his family says.
The funeral will be in Ali's home city of Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday. Ex-President Bill Clinton will deliver a eulogy.
Comedian Billy Crystal and sports journalist Bryant Gumbel are also expected to speak.
The boxing legend, 74, died on Friday of "septic shock due to unspecified natural causes".
A private family service will be held on Thursday.

---

Muhammad Ali: 1942-2016

'No sportsman has touched more lives'
Obituary: Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali in his own words
Hometown mourns the 'Louisville Lip'
What made him so great?
How world remembers Ali

---

The three-time world heavyweight champion, and one of the world's greatest sporting figures, died in Phoenix, Arizona, and his body will be flown to Kentucky in the next two days.
He will be buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, the city of his birth in 1942.
The fighter had been suffering from a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by Parkinson's disease.
'People's champion'

"He was a citizen of the world and would want people from all walks of life to be able to attend his funeral," said the family spokesman, Bob Gunnell.
After the family service on Thursday, Friday's events will begin with another private prayer service for family members at a Louisville funeral home.
Ali's body will then be taken in procession through the main streets of Louisville, including an avenue that bears his name and Broadway, where a procession was held in 1960 to celebrate his Olympic gold medal.
The main service will be at 14:00 local time (18:00 GMT) at the KFC Yum Center, which seats more than 20,000 people.
It will be interfaith but in the Muslim tradition, led by an imam, the family said, in keeping with Ali's beliefs.
"Muhammad Ali was clearly the people's champion," Mr Gunnell said, "and the celebration will reflect his devotion to people of all races, religions and backgrounds."
The event will be live-streamed on the centre's website.
Mr Gunnell said the fighter died in Arizona at 21:10 on Friday, and was able to say goodbye to his wife and children, who were present for his final moments.
Tributes have poured in from across the world but also dominated his home city, where flags were at half-mast at city hall and thousands of people visited the Muhammad Ali Center or paid homage at his modest childhood home on Grand Avenue.
Bill Clinton paid tribute to Ali on Saturday, saying he lived a life "full of religious and political convictions that led him to make tough choices and live with the consequences".
"Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it," said US President Barack Obama.

• 3 times crowned World Heavyweight Champion
  
• 1 Light-heavyweight Olympic gold medal
  
• 31 straight wins before being beaten by Joe Frazier
  

Getty


Ali was as much a campaigner for black equality as he was a champion in the ring.
Asked how he would like to be remembered, he once said: "As a man who never sold out his people. But if that's too much, then just a good boxer.
"I won't even mind if you don't mention how pretty I was."
But he was once a polarising figure in the US. At a time of racial segregation in the 1960s he joined the separatist black sect, the Nation of Islam, which rejected the inclusive approach of civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King.
George Foreman, who lost his world title to Ali in the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" fight in Kinshasa in 1974, called him one of the greatest human beings he had ever met.
"To put him as a boxer is an injustice," said Foreman.
American civil rights campaigner Jesse Jackson said Ali had been willing to sacrifice the crown and money for his principles when in 1967 he refused to serve in the Vietnam war.
That decision was widely criticised by the boxer's fellow Americans. He was stripped of his title and had to put his fighting career on hold for three years.
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Ali shot to fame by winning light-heavyweight gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

---

Septic shock

• Life-threatening condition when blood pressure drops to dangerously low level after infection
• People with weakened immune system are more prone to developing septic shock
• Symptoms include slurred speech, confusion, diarrhoea, vomiting, shivering, muscle pain
• Quick response is key to successful treatment

---

Known as "The Greatest" - a nickname characteristically coined by the boxer himself - he beat Sonny Liston in 1964 to win his first world title and became the first boxer to capture a world heavyweight title on three separate occasions.
At the time of his first fight with Liston, Clay was already involved with the Nation of Islam, a religious movement whose stated goals were to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the US.
But in contrast to the inclusive approach favoured by civil rights leaders like Dr Martin Luther King, the Nation of Islam called for separate black development and was treated by suspicion by the American public.
Ali eventually converted to Islam, ditching what he called his "slave name" and becoming Cassius X and then Muhammad Ali.
Noted for his fast talk and bold fight predictions as much as his skills inside the ring, he retired in 1981 having won 56 of his 61 fights - 37 by knockout - and was later crowned "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC.

---

What are your memories of Muhammad Ali? Did you ever meet him? Share your stories and pictures. Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

• WhatsApp: +44 7525 900971
• Send pictures/video to yourpics@bbc.co.uk
• Upload your pictures / video here
• Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSay
• Send an SMS or MMS to 61124 or +44 7624 800 100

Let's block ads! (Why?)


BBC News