#MuhammadAli: There will never be another
This file photo taken on October 27, 1974 shows US boxing heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Clay) standing with her mother Odessa Grady Clay during a training session three days before the heavy weight world championship in Kinshasa. Boxing icon Muhammad Ali died on Friday, June 3, a family spokesman said in a statement. "After a 32-year battle with Parkinson s disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74," spokesman Bob Gunnell said. PHOTO: AFP
He called himself "The Greatest," and few disagreed. Ali was one of the iconic sporting heroes of the 20th century, the three-time heavyweight champion of the world who said he could "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies at 74
Ali, dazzled the boxing world as a youngster with his speed, never before seen in his weight class. He also rattled the established order with an equally quick wit and colourful personality that lifted him into the realm of super-stardom and ushered in the age of globally televised multi-million-dollar fights.
The legendary fighter spent his last years ravaged by Parkinson's disease but never retreated from public view and remained for 50 years one of the most recognisable people on the planet.
Muhammad Ali was alive for 74 years. He was the greatest. Is the greatest. Will continue to be the greatest.
As the world mourned, it remains evident there will never be another like him.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also expressed condolences to the family, loved ones and fans of boxing legend Muhmmand Ali, saying the "world was poorer without him."
“For the past half a century, he [Muhammad Ali] has been an inspiration for not only young Americans, but also young men and women of the world as a shining example of defying the odds with perseverance and a positive attitude,” the Foreign Office quoted the premier as saying.
“His [Ali’s] legacy has not only impacted modern boxing, he has also been an instrumental figure in changing social, political and religious narratives surrounding minorities in the West,” Nawaz said. “For that, we are in his debt. The world is truly poorer without him,” the premier maintained.