Muhammad Ali, 'greatest' boxer, dies at 74

Muhammad Ali, the brash, fleet-footed heavyweight boxing champion whose charisma transcended sports and made him a global symbol of social change, has died. He was 74.
Ali was hospitalised in Phoenix, Arizona,USA with respiratory problems earlier this week.
He suffered from Parkinson’s disease, a neurological affliction that some doctors attributed to the head blows he took during two decades as a boxer.

The passage of the three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer was confirmed by Bob Gunnell, a spokesman for the family, who said in an e-mailed statement. “The Ali family would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and support and asks for privacy at this time.”
Ali’s illness prematurely silenced one of the great self-promoters, agitators and entertainers in sports history. He delighted sportswriters with his poetic putdowns of opponents and was outspoken as well on race, religion and war. He managed to emerge from his firebrand years as something of a statesman, saluted during the opening ceremonies of the 1996 and 2012 Summer Olympics.
He defended his religion in December after Donald Trump’s proposed call for a ban on Muslim immigration to the United States, saying in a statement to NBC News that “Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda.”
In the ring, Ali pulled off some of boxing’s biggest upsets. He first won the heavyweight title in 1964 by defeating the fearsome Sonny Liston. Exiled from boxing for more than three years for refusing military induction during the Vietnam War, Ali returned to the ring and reclaimed the heavyweight belt by handing George Foreman his first defeat in the historic 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” contest in Kinshasha, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (then known as Zaire).

Ten of Muhammad Ali’s greatest quotes

“Floats like a butterfly and sting like a bee, his hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see”

“I've wrestled with an alligator, I've tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail. Only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalised a brick. I'm so mean I make medicine sick.”

“I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and got into bed before the room was dark.”

“Superman don't need no seatbelt.”

“Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn’t choose it and I don’t want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name - it means beloved of God - and I insist people use it when people speak to me and of me.”

“Joe Frazier is so ugly that he should donate his face to the US Bureau of Wildlife. He is so ugly that when he cries, the tears turn around and go down the back of his head.”

“It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.”

“I am the astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and Dempsey were just jet pilots. I'm in a world of my own.”

“I'm not the greatest; I'm the double greatest. Not only do I knock 'em out, I pick the round.”

“If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologise.”