The GOAT has died.

As boxing fans we shared our love of Ali with the rest of the world who did not understand boxing.

 

It's a truly sad day. If the past 24 hours has shown me anything, it's that he was even more iconic and legendary than I thought. The sheer amount of people he interacted with in various cities and countries around the world is probably unmatched by any other human.

People have stories of meeting Ali, from Chicago, to Ireland, to Zaire, to Sweden, to Iran. He was a genius of love, and a genius of life. I'm incredibly thankful to have shared the same world as him.

I will be at the memorial Thursday

 

Sad day ... And when he was young he could be funny S hell..... I just saw sonny Liston...ain't he ugly!!! Rest in peace

 

RIP Champ. Truly the Greatest.

 

Quite right Mac. Sadly I believe there is a sizable percentage of our American cousins who just don't realise how much the guy was admired, respected even revered globally. Particularly by people who have less than no time for boxing. They obviously saw the guy, not the icon, and became spellbound by his courage, charisma, charm, and genuine love for his fellow man.

May he R.I.P.

 

If it weren't for Ali, I doubt I would have developed the passion for the sport that I did. This probably true for a lot of other people as well. The whole boxing world owes him a huge debt, and while he was only 74, he experienced and accomplished more in those 74 years than most men could've in 100.

R.I.P Champ. You were truly The Greatest.

 

God Bless Muhammed Ali. I am impressed at all the news tributes to him. He once said "Don't count the days, make the days count." He truly was the Greatest.

 

https://youtu.be/NHgo_m6qN4I

No good watching clips like this when drunk, love you Champ.

 

RIP GOAT Lord knows you've earned it.

 

For as long as I can remember the first thing that always came to mind whenever I heard the word "boxer" with no further context was Ali.

I learned the beauty of the sport with Ali-Williams and it's cruelty with Thrilla in Manila. The throne he left will remain empty. Unreachable like the man on his best day.

 

A sad day. RIP Champ.

 

For 40 years - all my life's journey - the Man has been my brother, an example, a hero, the greatest inspiration to me out of all other fellow humans ever, bar none.

First, I share with him an abiding trust in God. And it's a good time to tell it like it is: Ali's unique charisma and light were born of his belief in the Almighty that, in his words in Zaire, "controls the universe."

It was in Zaire that Ali performed his greatest miracle, akin to young David slaying the giant Goliath - strictly based on faith in God. The vision, the confidence, the training, the tactical success of that night, and the strength to endure to the eighth round knockout, it all originated in God. You or I can perform the same momentous feats if we will only believe. Foreman himself accomplished a similar deed - having learned firsthand 20 years earlier the power of faith in God in a worthy cause - when "it happened" for him against Moorer.

The Man - in his undying faith and imperfections - was a reflection to us his brethren, of the love and wonder of the Omnipotent.

Only such a Man could command such worldwide admiration, yes, from the humblest huts, to the adoring, throbbing African and Muslim throngs, to those old ladies - I believe in London - who burst into tears upon seeing young Clay materialize riding in a car before their very eyes.

That he made his impact through the brutal sport of boxing is all the more amazing!

Don't be fooled. He was unorthodox, but he knew his craft like only a Master does. If it takes ten years to achieve greatness in an activity, he was ripe for greatness when he took on Sonny Liston at age 22 - having started boxing at 12. Those six rounds - rarely heralded as such - are a Master pugilistic display in every respect: generalship, speed, accuracy, power, offensive and defensive anticipation, coolness under pressure, endurance, toughness. The frightening Bear was done after six stanzas.

He did what he wanted in his prime. He was so head-and-shoulders above the best and rest that he could toy with extra-ring considerations like predictions, regard for an opponent's disadvantage in being a literally "shot" opponent or just plain bad or old, and whether or not someone would call him by his name. In a word, he was not fueled by rage or hatred or simmering passions like so many pugilists. He just wanted to "win a clean fight". And he could afford to jab, tap and slap his way to victory many a time, as only the Greatest could, while so many so-called boxing experts had no idea what was going on.

But he could turn it on - and leave for posterity amazing, sometimes unbelievable, performances - whenever he wished or was pushed to the brink, as against Big Cat, hapless Brian London, the final rounds against Chuvalo and Terrell, Folley, Quarry, Bonavena, Lyle, Shavers, and of course, nemesis Ken Norton whom as a has-been he held to a standoff at Yankee Stadium, and
of course, the great, indomitable Joe Frazier, whom he narrowly bested in the greatest boxing blood feud of all time.

He should have hung them up after Manila, but certainly after that magical night at the Superdome. Like Michael Jordan, who refused to make his buzzer-beater, championship-winning jumper the storybook ending of his storybook career, Ali simply could not call it the end after earning a unanimous decision against "tempered-steel" Leon Spinks, being hoisted in celebration and blowing kisses of appreciation to an adoring world watching on television in 1979. It's clear that true lovers of their craft - the true geniuses - need to be pried away from the work they were born to do. Witness how Ali could never properly respond to what else he would like to have done if not boxing.

With the utmost respect, I here, on this forum where I've spent countless hours learning and communing with my boxing heroes, direct my speech to that young, wide-eyed Cassius Clay from Louisville, Kentucky: Brother, you did it right. And you did it well. The only reason I didn't meet you was I'm still at a stage in my life when I'm compensating for past mistakes - among them financial - that prevented me from dropping everything and seeking you out in your final years in Arizona. But I know we will meet in heaven. Your spirit is free now, and I somehow feel it closer to me than ever, knowing it no longer confined, but now truly part of our Father's Kingdom. Your example, along with Mandela's, will always continue to inspire me, for another 40 years should it come to that. You were faithful to the end and have earned the crown of life, the crown of righteousness, from our Lord. May God give me the grace He gave you to persevere in trust NO MATTER WHAT, because that is what champions do.

You are Muhammad Ali, which I say with the greatest respect.