‘The Greatest’, the ‘King of Kings’

“As a man who never sold out his people, but if that’s too much, then just as a good boxer. I won’t even mind if you don’t mention how pretty I was.”

This was the answer that Muhammad Ali gave when once asked how he would like to be remembered.  

The media paid glowing tributes to ‘The Greatest’, the ‘King of Kings’ from the time the news of his death was flashed across social media. The French Open tennis tournament was reaching its peak. Foxtel Sports televised a short, crisp, simple and dignified clip regularly. The weekend newspapers devoted several pages for him with photographs of all the big fights he played. 

Media remembered the three-time heavyweight champion as “the most iconic sportsman of all time and as a pioneer of civil rights activism”. 

“He was fast of fist and foot – lip, too – a heavyweight champion who promised to shock the world and did. He floated. He stung. Mostly he thrilled, even after the punches had taken their toll and his voice barely rose above a whisper,” the Sunday Times (WA) said.

The newspaper quoted the Mayor of Louisville where he was born as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. saying: “The values of hard work, conviction and compassion that Muhammad Ali developed in Louisville helped him become a global icon. As a boxer, he became The Greatest, though his most lasting victories happened outside the ring.”

He retired from his 30-year career with a record of 56-5.

With wit as sharp as the punches he used to ‘whup’ opponents, Ali dominated sports for two decades before time and Parkinson’s disease, triggered by thousands of blows to the head, ravaged his magnificent body, muted his majestic voice and ended his career in 1981. 

He won and defended the heavyweight championship in epic fights in exotic locations, spoke loudly on behalf of African Americans and famously refused to be drafted to the US Army during the Vietnam War because of his Muslim beliefs.

The newspaper devoted a column for Ali’s ‘Best Quotes’. Here are a few:

On himself: 

• “I am the greatest. I said that even before I knew I was. I figured that if I said enough, I would convince the world.”
• “I’m young, I’m handsome, I’m fast, I’m pretty, and can’t possibly be beat.”
• “It’s hard to be humble when you are the greatest as I am.”On boxing:
• “Float like a butterfly. Sting like a bee, your hands can’t hit what the eyes can’t see.”
• “It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.”
• “I hated every minute of training, but I said ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion’.”
• “Champions are not made in gyms. Champions are made of something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision.”
• “Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beat each other up.”
• “If you sign to fight me, you need speed and endurance but what you need most is to increase your insurance.”
• On life:
• “The service you do to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.”
• “The man who has no imagination has no wings.”

The newspaper’s cover carried what it called one of the most iconic photographs of the 20th century – Muhammad Ali knocking out Sonny Liston in the first round of their 1965 rematch.