By now it will have already hit the news stands and tributes will start pouring in. The world lost one of its true greatest heroes of the last century on Friday, June 3 in Cassius Clay, better known by a different name: Muhammad Ali.
Ali was not just a boxing icon, but also an icon in humanity. Ali was many things: a great heavyweight champion, Olympic gold medalist in 1960, Parkinson’s activist and proud member of the Nation of Islam. His refusal to go to Vietnam is the stuff of legends; he was convicted of draft evasion before winning an appeal in 1971 after his case went to the Supreme Court.
His career record was a remarkable 56-5 with 37 coming by way of knockout. Some of his most memorable fights were the "Thrilla in Manila" against Joe Frazier in the Philippines and the "Rumble in the Jungle" against Big George Foreman in the now Democratic Republic of the Congo, then known as Zaire.
Ali retired from boxing permanently in 1981 due to head trauma from excessive blows to the head. Not soon after, in 1984, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, caused by the trauma.
Ali, however, would not let the disease control him and still continued to be involved in many humanitarian efforts such as negotiating peace in the Middle East and raising money for Parkinson’s research. One of the great highlights of his life post-diagnosis was lighting the Olympic torch at the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.
The world lost one of its last true icons, and there is no way to get around that. But the man who once said "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" sure floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee in everything he did. The world is a better place because of his life, and judging by that, Muhammad Ali lived a long and fulfilling life.
