Muhammad Ali, whose record-setting boxing career, flair for showmanship and political stands made him one of the best-known figures of the 20th century, died on June 03, 2016 aged 74. 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. Ali's diagnosis of Parkinson's came about three years after he retired from boxing in 1981.
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 17, 1942, as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr, a name shared with a 19th century slavery abolitionist, he changed his name to Muhammad Ali after his conversion to Islam.
Ali's youthful proclamation of himself as "the greatest" rang true to millions of people worldwide who admired him for his courage both inside and outside the ring. Along with a fearsome reputation as a fighter, he spoke out against racism, war and religious intolerance, while projecting an unshakeable confidence and humour that became a model for African-Americans at the height of the civil rights era. George Foreman, who lost to Ali in Zaire in a classic 1974 bout known as the "Rumble in Jungle" said: "Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest human beings I have ever met. No doubt he was one of the best people to have lived in this day and age. To put him as a boxer is an injustice".
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 colourful and interesting athlete. He spoke boldly against racism in the 1960s, as well as the Vietnam War. During and after his reign of championship, Ali met scores of world leaders and for a time he was considered the most recognisable 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. Manny Pacquiao, a boxer and politician in the Philippines, where Ali fought arch rival Joe Frazier for a third time in a brutal 1975 match dubbed the "Thrilla in Manila" said "We lost a giant today. Boxing benefited from Muhammad Ali's talents but not nearly as much as mankind benefited from his humanity".
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. He once told a reporter "Humble people, I've found, don't get very far". 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".
He called himself "The Greatest," and few disagreed. Ali, who came of age amid the turmoil of the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War, dazzled the boxing world as a youngster with his speed, never before seen in his weight class. He also rattled the established order with an equally quick wit and colourful personality that lifted him into the realm of super-stardom and ushered in the age of globally televised multi-million-dollar fights. The legendary fighter spent his last years ravaged by Parkinson's disease but never retreated from public view.
The rise of Ali to the status of sports icon was not a smooth one. His conversion to Islam in 1964, announced when he was fresh from victory over Sonny Liston for his first heavyweight world title, deeply disturbed white America. His decision to change his name from what he called his "slave name" of Cassius Clay was derided. But that was nothing compared to the outrage that greeted his refusal to join the armed forces in 1967 on the grounds that he was a Muslim minister. Only 25 years old, he was convicted of draft dodging, stripped of his title and banished from boxing. He was allowed to resume his career in 1970. Ali suffered his first professional defeat in the fight with Joe Frazier, on March 08, 1971 at Madison Square Garden.
A few months later, on June 28 of that year 1971, the Supreme Court voted 8-0 to overturn Ali's draft dodging conviction. Ali said of the government's long struggle to imprison him: "They did what they thought was right, and I did what I thought was right". That battle left its mark on Ali both inside and outside the ring.
In the 1960s, Ali relied on speed and reflexes, taking risks that other fighters would have paid dearly for. After his enforced absence, he was a slower, craftier fighter, but one who still flouted the rule book and got away with it. In 1974, Ali set his sights on a second world title, promising the greatest miracle "since the resurrection of Christ". In boxing terms, he delivered it when he knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round in Kinshasa, Zaire - the famed "Rumble in the Jungle" - to regain the title taken from him in 1967. Eleven months later, he triumphed in the "Thrilla in Manila" - an epic 14-round battle with Frazier that ended when Frazier failed to answer the bell for the 15th round.
Although the two were bitter rivals in the ring - and sometimes out of it - Ali was among the mourners at Frazier's funeral in November 2011. Ali's courage and the strength of his chin kept him standing under brutal onslaughts that would have felled other fighters. He once said he reckoned he had taken 29,000 punches, and his ability to withstand such punishment no doubt contributed to the Parkinson's disease from which he suffered in later years. He said in 1992: "What I suffered physically was worth what I've accomplished in life. A man who is not courageous enough to take risks will never accomplish anything in life". Ali lost the heavyweight title to unheralded Leon Spinks on February 15, 1978, but won it back in a rematch in September the same year, becoming the first three-time heavyweight world champion.
But the accomplishments he cherished later in life were outside the ring. He used his popularity to spread the word of Islam, giving fans his autograph on religious pamphlets. He said "Boxing made me famous. This is the real thing. My main purpose in life is to be the world's greatest ambassador, to spread the word of Islam". The US civil rights campaigners said in doing so, Ali also opened a window on the world for black Americans. The Reverend Jesse Jackson said, "Ali helped to internationalise black consciousness as much as anybody". Andrew Young, a civil rights activist and former US ambassador to the United Nations, said, "He has given people all over the world a sense of pride. Oppressed people and people of colour have been able to identify with him".
Ali's stature as a global icon was confirmed with his poignant appearance at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where he lit the cauldron. Nine years later, in November 2005, then president George W. Bush awarded Ali the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honour. Even as his physical capacities diminished - his gait becoming more shambling and his speech more hesitant - Ali's public life continued. In 2002, he appeared with his wife, Lonnie, before Congress to press for more funding for Parkinson's disease research.
Ali, who was named a UN messenger of peace in 1998, continued to involve himself in various charitable ventures, and he campaigned for boxing reform, calling for a national body to oversee the sport he loved. In 2002, he visited Afghanistan to raise awareness of the problems still faced there after the fall of the Taliban regime. By that time Ali was already familiar with the role of overseas envoy, having visited five African nations in 1980 on behalf of President Jimmy Carter.
In 1990, on the eve of the Gulf War, he travelled to Iraq and met Saddam Hussein in an independent effort to promote peace in the region. He was credited with securing the release of 15 US hostages. One of the hostages, Harry Brill-Edwards, told an Ali biographer: "I've always known that Muhammad Ali was a super sportsman. But during those hours that we were together, inside that enormous body, I saw an angel".
The writer is a retired Professor of Economics, BCS General Education Cadre.
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