Muhammad Ali, three-time world heavyweight boxing champion who was one of the most charismatic and controversial sports figure of the 20th century is dead. He was 74.
z‘After a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74. The three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer died this evening,’ Bob Gunnell, a family spokesman, told NBC News.
He further revealed that the boxing great’s funeral will be held in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. ‘The Ali family would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and support and asks for privacy at this time,’ Gunnell said.
Ali, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome in 1984, reportedly the result of taking too many punches during his years in the ring particularly at the end of his career, was hospitalized on June 2 in Phoenix for a respiratory ailment.
Born in Louisville in 1942 as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., he began boxing at the age of 12, winning a number of amateur titles, culminating in an Olympic gold medal as a light heavyweight at the 1960 Games in Rome.
He turned professional after soon after that, arriving on the national scene in 1964 with a stunning upset of then champion Sonny Liston. It made Clay, then 22, the youngest boxer to ever take a title from a champion.
Three years later he joined the Nation of Islam, changed his name to Muhammad Ali and subsequently refused to serve in the US military during the Vietnam War. He was found guilty of draft evasion, stripped of his title and was not allowed to box for more that three years.
During his exile from the ring, Ali tried his hands on acting, starring in the 1969 Broadway musical ‘Buck White’ at the George Abbott Theatre. He played a militant black lecturer, and got better reviews than the show, which closed after seven performances.
‘He sings with a pleasant slightly impersonal voice, acts without embarrassment and moves with innate dignity,’ wrote New York Times reviewer Clive Barnes.
States began to grant him boxing licenses in 1970, some under court order, and that eventually led to the first of three memorable fights against Joe Frazier. The first, at Madison Square Garden in 1971, led to the first defeat of Ali’s career.
A victory over Frazier in their rematch in 1974 led to a title fight against George Foreman in October of that year, and at the age of 32, Ali won by knockout to claim the world heavyweight title for the second time. Ali called the fight, held in Kinshasa, Zaire, the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’.
A year later he met Frazier for a third time in Manila – a fight that has come to be known as the ‘Thrilla in Manilla’ – and the two battled in high temperatures. Ali emerged victorious when Frazier could not leave his corner for the 15th and final round.
In 1978, a clearly overweight Ali lost his title to Leon Spinks, but won it back in a rematch just six months later, making him the first fighter to win the heavyweight title three times.
After a brief retirement, Ali returned to the ring against Larry Holmes in 1980 but suffered his only loss by knockout when his trainer, Angelo Dundee, stopped the fight in the 11th round. It was the first time Ali lost by knockout.
He would fight one last time, losing a 10-round decision to Trevor Berbick in 1981.
Ali finished with a 56-5 record, including 37 wins by knockout.
Ali suffered from Parkinson’s for about three decades, most famously trembling while lighting the Olympic torch in 1996 in Atlanta. Despite the disease he kept up a busy appearance schedule until recently, though he has not spoken in public for years.
Ali has looked increasingly frail in public appearances, including on April 9 when he wore sunglasses and was hunched over at the annual Celebrity Fight Night dinner in Phoenix, which raises funds for treatment of Parkinson’s Disease.
Ali is survived by his fourth wife, Yolanda ‘Lonnie’ Williams, two sons, and seven daughters, including Leila Ali, a boxer who retired, undefeated, in 2007.
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