“The People’s Champion” is no more. Boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies at 74

Image Wax statue of Muhammad Ali (Source – Cliff, Flickr Creative Commons)

Los Angeles- Legendary former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, who had been hospitalised following respiratory problems, has passed away, a family spokesman said.

“After a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74,” family spokesman Bob Gunnell said in a statement on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ali was hospitalised for a respiratory problem on June 2.

One of the greatest boxers in the history, Ali retired in 1981 and soon found signs of sluggishness and neurological damage. He thereafter received treatment for Parkinson’s disease.

Ali, known as Cassius Clay before he converted to Islam, began boxing training at the age of 12 years. He started with an Olympic gold in the light heavyweight category in Rome 1960.

He won the World heavyweight championship at the age of 22 in 1964, by beating the then world champion Sonny Liston. He again won the title in 1974 and 1978.

He was well known for his uncommon fighting style  for which his coach termed “Float like a butterfly , sting like a bee”. He was also known for his loud mouth on and off the ring. He would predict which round his opponent would fall and make it true more than often. His bouts with fellow boxer Joe Frazier (Smoking Joe) were legendary. Their first fight , also termed as “Fight of the century” was fought for the championship in 1971, which was won by Frazier.  Their second meeting in 1974 was won by Ali. Their third fight in Manila termed as “Thrilla in Manila” is considered one of the greatest boxing bouts in history, which Ali won.

Ali won his second championship in 1974 by defeating George Foreman in a title fight in Kinshasa , Zaire. It was the biggest upsets of that time when Ali, the people’s champion defeated Foreman the world champion. The fight termed as “Rumble in the Jungle” brought forth Ali’s techniques. He adopted a strategy which he called as rope-a-dope.

Apart from being a great boxer, Ali was also a civil rights champion. He claimed in his autobiography “The Greatest: My own story” that he threw his Olympic Gold Medal in a river after being refused entry into a hotel because of his colour. He also changed his name Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali as the earlier was considered a slave name by him. He joined the Nation of Islam and converted to Islam.

He refused to joined the armed forces and publicly stated “No Vietcong ever called me a nigger”. He  was punished for evading draft. He was stripped of his title and suspended from the association and barred from fighting till 1970 when he made a comeback.

He married four times and had seven daughters and two sons.