Muhammad Ali acclaimed in death as he was in life

Ali had battled Parkinson’s disease for 32 years and died after being admitted to hospital with a respiratory condition earlier in the week.

Muhammad Ali’s body has arrived in his home town of Louisville, Kentucky, where he will be laid to rest on Friday.

Ali, the magnificent heavyweight champion whose fast fists and irrepressible personality transcended sports and captivated the world, has died according to a statement released by his family Friday, June 3, 2016.

Laila Ali, who herself became a boxer, said her father continued battling despite his limitations, never wavering against his cruelest opponent.

“I personally have been sad for a long time”.

George Foreman, defeated by Ali in Kinshasha in 1974, said: “He was one of the greatest human beings I have ever met”.

“My son is a spitting image of my father when he was young and he has so many of his same similar characteristics and qualities”, Ali told Matt Lauer.

In an interview, Ali said that if he had known “Holmes was going to whip me and damage my brain, I would not have fought him”. “He’s learning more and more as he gets older how special papa actually was”.

NY renamed a street outside Madison Square Garden “Muhammad Ali Way” after the boxing great who headlined a string of fights at the iconic sports arena.

Laila Ali, daughter of Muhammad Ali, speaks about the death of her father on NBC’s “Today“.

“He treated kids that he didn’t know the same as he treated us when it came to how much love he showed”, she said, noting that some of her dad’s humanitarian work focused on helping children. “I just want to be part of it”, Alcorn told AFP. Gunnell said he wanted his services “to reflect his life and how he lived” with a heart open to people of all colors and creeds.

“He was proud of who he was and that’s something we should all be proud of”, she said. “And when Muhammad Ali lit that torch in Atlanta for the [1996] Olympics, it gave him new life and it gave him so much hope”.

But she made sure to pave her own style and path.

Laila Ali is sad her father is gone – but she’s relieved that he isn’t suffering anymore. “But we’re not in control, God is in control”, she said. “And he’s talking again, and moving again, and doing all the things he couldn’t do in his body, and I’m happy for that, even though I will miss him deeply”.

Political leaders, sports figures, celebrities and fans around the world paused to remember “The Greatest”, whose remarkable career spanned three decades.