Muhammad Ali, died Friday at a Phoenix-area hospital, where he had spent the past few days being treated for respiratory complications, He was 74.
Ali had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for more than three decades.
“After a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74,” Ali family spokesman Bob Gunnell said.
Even as his health declined, Ali did not shy from politics or controversy, releasing a statement in December criticizing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States. “We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda,” he said.
Born Cassius Clay on Jan. 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky, to middle-class parents, Ali started boxing when he was 12, winning Golden Gloves titles before heading to the 1960 Olympics in Rome, where he won a gold medal as a light heavyweight.
He turned professional shortly afterward, supported at first by Louisville business owners who guaranteed him an unprecedented 50-50 split in earnings.
Nicknamed “The Greatest”, the American beat Sonny Liston in 1964 to win his first world title and became the first boxer to capture a world heavyweight title on three separate occasions.
He eventually retired in 1981, having won 56 of his 61 fights.
We lost a legend, a hero, and a great man.