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Muhammad Ali: simply ‘The Greatest’

– Epic fights –

In 1974, Ali set his sights on a second world title, promising the greatest miracle “since the resurrection of Christ.”

In boxing terms, he delivered when he knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round in Kinshasa, Zaire – the famed “Rumble in the Jungle” – to regain the title taken from him in 1967.

Eleven months later, he triumphed in the “Thrilla in Manila” – an epic 14-round battle with Frazier that ended when Frazier failed to answer the bell for the 15th round.

Although the two were bitter rivals in the ring – and sometimes out of it – Ali was among the mourners at Frazier’s funeral in November 2011.

Ali’s courage and the strength of his chin kept him standing under brutal onslaughts that would have felled other fighters.

He once said he reckoned he had taken 29,000 punches, and his ability to withstand such punishment no doubt contributed to the Parkinson’s disease from which he suffered in later years.

“What I suffered physically was worth what I’ve accomplished in life,” he said in 1992. “A man who is not courageous enough to take risks will never accomplish anything in life.”

Ali lost the heavyweight title to unheralded Leon Spinks on February 15, 1978, but won it back in a rematch in September the same year, becoming the first three-time heavyweight world champion.

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But the accomplishments he cherished later in life were outside the ring.

He used his popularity to spread the word of Islam, giving fans his autograph on religious pamphlets.

“Boxing made me famous,” he said. “This is the real thing. My main purpose in life is to be the world’s greatest ambassador, to spread the word of Islam.”

In doing so, Ali also opened a window on the world for black Americans, US civil rights campaigners said.

“Ali helped to internationalize black consciousness as much as anybody,” said the Reverend Jesse Jackson.

“He has given people all over the world a sense of pride,” said Andrew Young, a civil rights activist and former US ambassador to the United Nations. “Oppressed people and people of colour have been able to identify with him.”

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