Boxing titan Muhammad Ali dies at 74

World leaders, sportsmen, politicians pay rich tributes to great boxing hero; PM, Bilawal also condole Ali’s death; Muhammad Ali was battling with Parkinson’s disease for 32 years

PHOENIX: Heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali, a 20th Century icon whose fame transcended sport during a remarkable career that spanned three decades, died Friday, his family said.

The 74-year-old sports hero, who had been battling Parkinson’s disease for decades, passed away in a hospital here where he had been admitted earlier this week suffering from respiratory problems.

“After a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74,” spokesman Bob Gunnell said. “The three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer died this evening.”

Funeral arrangements for Ali would be announced on Saturday, he added, with the champion to be buried in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

Ali had been living in the Phoenix area with his fourth wife, Lonnie, whom he married in 1986. He was survived by nine children, seven daughters and two sons.

As the family gathered at his bedside on Friday, concern for Ali had grown. Upon his death tributes immediately poured in for “The Greatest,” who was known globally not only for his storied ring career but also for his humanitarian activism.

US President Barack Obama, who said he keeps a pair of Ali’s boxing gloves and a photo in his private study, hailed the late boxer for his civil rights work. “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. But Ali stood his ground. And his victory helped us get used to the America we recognise today.”

Longtime boxing promoter Bob Arum said “Ali transformed this country and impacted the world with his spirit. His legacy will be part of our history for all time.” 

In April, he attended a Celebrity Fight Night Dinner in Phoenix that raised funds for treatment of Parkinson’s.

“Nelson Mandela, a boxing enthusiast most of his life, acknowledged Ali as his boxing hero. Madiba had great respect for his legacy and spoke with admiration of Ali’s achievements,” said Sello Hatang, chief executive of the foundation.

Football great Pele led the tributes from the sporting world, which united to remember one of its biggest names. “The sporting universe has just suffered a big loss. Muhammad Ali was my friend, my idol, my hero,” Pele said on Instagram.

Retired NBA all-time scoring leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar praised Ali’s courage in fighting discrimination. “At a time when blacks who spoke up about injustice were labelled uppity and often arrested, Muhammad Ali willingly sacrificed the best years of his career to stand tall and fight for what he believed was right,” said Abdul-Jabbar.

Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, said Ali “was engaged beyond sport, an athlete who had the courage to give hope to so many suffering illness by lighting the Olympic cauldron and not hiding his own affliction.”

In Tashkent, Uzbekistan at the amateur World Series of Boxing the crowd and boxers from Cuba and Britain stood in respectful silence as three bells rang out in poignant respect.

In December, he issued a statement rebuking US presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States.

Ali’s 30-year career, which stretched from 1960 to 1981 and saw him retire with a record of 56-5, included such historic bouts as the Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman.

Don King promoted that watershed bout in Kinshasa, Zaire, in 1974, in which Ali used his “Rope a Dope” strategy to best Foreman and become just the second fighter ever to regain the heavyweight world title. “His spirit will go on forever,” King said of Ali. 

Other defining moments of Ali’s career included two knockouts of Sonny Liston and his thrilling rivalry with Joe Frazier — which saw the two men slug it out in the ring and verbally spar out of it. “Ali, Frazier & Foreman, we were 1 guy. A part of me slipped away — the greatest piece” Foreman wrote on Twitter shortly after Ali’s death was announced.

Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson added: “God came for his champion. So long great one. @MuhammadAli #TheGreatest #RIP.”

Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr in Louisville, Kentucky, dazzled fans with slick moves in the ring, and with his wit and engaging persona outside it. His refusal to serve in the Vietnam War saw him banned from the sport for years, but the US Supreme Court overturned his conviction for draft dodging in 1971.

He took the name of Muhammad Ali after converting to Islam in 1964, soon after he had stunned the sport by claiming the title with a monumental upset of Liston.

Ali received the highest US civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 2005.

Ali represented the United Nations as a messenger of peace and was chosen to light the Olympic torch in 1996, when he was already weakened by Parkinson’s.

Tributes flooded in from around the world -- celebrities, politicians, reporters that covered him, athletes and of course boxers praised Ali for his superb work in and out of the ring.

Floyd Mayweather, who retired from boxing last year with a perfect 49-0 record, recalled the awe he felt in meeting Ali in ’96, when he was a US Olympian. “I didn’t really know what to say. I couldn’t believe it,” Mayweather said. Mayweather said. “Never stop believing. And never settle for less.”

Mayweather’s great rival Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines said the world had lost “a giant”.

British Prime Minister David Cameron praised Ali on Twitter as “a champion of civil rights, and a role model for so many people,” while India’s Narendra Modi said he was a “source of inspiration who demonstrated the power of human spirit & determination.”

Former US president Bill Clinton said on Saturday that he and his wife, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, were “saddened” by the passing of Muhammad Ali.

“From the day he claimed the Olympic gold medal in 1960, boxing fans across the world knew they were seeing a blend of beauty and grace, speed and strength that may never be matched again,” read a statement from the former president’s office.

Clinton said he was “honoured” to have awarded Ali the Presidential Citizens Medal at the White House in January 2001, just before leaving office.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has offered condolence on the passing away of former boxing champion Muhammad Ali in his message on Saturday.

The prime minister expresses his condolences to the family, loved ones, and fans of the late boxer, Muhammad Ali. “For the past half a century, he has been an inspiration for not only young Americans, but also young men and women across the world as a shining example of defying the odds with perseverance and a positive attitude.”

The prime minister has maintained that the legacy of late Muhammad Ali had not only impacted modern boxing, he had also been an instrumental figure in changing social, political and religious narratives surrounding minorities in the West and for that, “we are in his debt.” The world is truly poorer without him, he added.

Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has expressed deep grief and sorrow over the demise of world’s greatest heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali who passed away in Arizona state of the United States on Saturday at the age of 74.

“Muhammad Ali was not only a greatest sportsman but also among greatest human beings the earth has ever produced who fought against his opponents with same spirit whether it was boxing ring or against racism and discrimination against his people,” he stated in a statement issued here on Saturday.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Saturday mourned the passing away of Muhammad Ali saying he was far more than a legendary boxer he was a world champion for equality and peace. He is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Muhammad Ali a statement issued by his spokesman said. He extends his condolences to the Ali family and the many millions of fans mourning his death in every corner of the world.