Pele pays tribute to ‘friend, idol, hero’ Muhammad Ali

“He was a giant”, said Imam Zaid Shakir. His conscientious objector stance would eventually be vindicated with his victory at the United States Supreme Court, which had struck down the decision of the lower court, clearing the way for the re-emergence of “The People’s Champion” in the boxing ring. Ali called on fellow Muslims to “stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda”. They chanted Islamic prayer.

Ali, born Cassius Clay, beat Sonny Liston in 1964 to win the heavyweight title but was stripped of his titles in 1967 when he refused to join the US Army and fight in the Vietnam War.

Ali’s body was to be brought back to Louisville “within the next 24 to 48 hours”, Gunnell said.

Sean Waddell Jr., Ali’s distant cousin, last saw Ali in September.

Ali’s death leaves Foreman as the sole significant survivor of the golden age of the heavyweights in which Joe Frazier, Jimmy Young, Ron Lyle, Ken Norton and Jimmy Ellis were also prominent.

After Ali’s organs failed, his daughter wrote in the tweet, his heart continued to beat for another 30 minutes: “A true testament to the strength of his Spirit and Will!”

The mayor says while Muhammad belonged to the world, he only had one hometown.

Nearby, hundreds more gazed at projections of phrases and images most associated with Ali, such as “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee”.

His funeral is scheduled for Friday afternoon in Louisville, Kentucky.

Muhammad Ali’s daughter Laila Ali said her dad was surrounded by all nine of his children when he died and “sent off in a very peaceful way”.

That public parade will end at Cave Hill Cemetery, where Ali will be buried.

Muhammad Ali, the iconic three-time world heavyweight boxing champion who died Friday, had recently shunned the public spotlight he once seemed to revere.

A Belizean Muslim by the name of Farrakhan remembers going to the Stanley Field Airport to pick up Muhammad Ali. In his tribute, Elliott said “there is no great man that has done more for this city than Muhammad Ali”. I don’t remember the book, but I certainly remember Muhammad Ali.

A famous black and white image of Ali with a stunned expression on his face covers the front page of French daily sports newspaper L’Equipe. The building where they worked is long gone, knocked down in the early 1990s.

Referencing the photo he posted of a young Johnson with Ali, the actor recalled, “From hanging out with you in New Zealand as this little punk kid, to years later as a WWE rookie when you whispered to me “Can you rumble?’ to a few years later when you bestowed upon me ‘The People’s Champ” moniker”.

“He will always establish a standard of excellence, both in the ring and as a personality”, said Dino Spencer, who now runs the 5th Street Gym – which to this day hosts a boxing class named for Ali, who was the guest of honor when the gym reopened in 2010. “He opened people’s eyes to it’s not about race; it’s about the love of the sport, it’s about the love of the game”.