A true sporting God, a role model and an icon. RIP.

A true icon.

Up there with Elvis, Lennon, Monroe, possibly the most recognisable man that ever lived.

People can debate his position in the greats of boxing but anyone of a certain age will know that he was more than just a boxer or a sportsman. He was walking charisma. His appearance in the ring was an event way more exciting than just another boxing match. Few have come close to that level and without him, boxing would have been nothing like the attraction it has remained.

His impact on pretty much everything and everybody resonates.

RIP a genuine legend, Icon and hero.

Agreed,RIP champ, the likes of you will never be seen again,not in my lifetime.

Sad, sad news.
RIP Champ.

Time to move forward together.

Another huge icon is taken from us in 2016 !

Paua oouaarancì Irà chiyeah Ishé galé ma ba oo ah

The term Legend is often banded about and demeans the term, but to describe Ali as a legend is perfectly correct.

He was a wonderful athlete, showman and human being..... he was cooler than The Fonz.

As a fellow Parkinson's sufferer, I know what he has endured this past 30 years, but kept his dignity.

RIP Cassius Clay/Mohammed Ali.

Oh how the ideological left love their anti white separatist racists.

I respect the fact that Ali softened in his attitudes with age and you could always tell that there was decency within him but he never apologised for all the racist crap he spoke and that was never ok in my book.

Great boxer, and condolences to those who actually cared about him, but personally....once I found out about Ali outside of boxing. I never looked at him as a role model.

Edited by Stirlingsays (04 Jun 2016 12.36pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

Well said. Mourn him as an incredible athlete but questionable person,particularly when he was younger. Strange how death can gloss over peoples faults.

Oh how the ideological left love their anti white separatist racists.

I respect the fact that Ali softened in his attitudes with age and you could always tell that there was decency within him but he never apologised for all the racist crap he spoke and that was never ok in my book.

Great boxer, and condolences to those who actually cared about him, but personally....once I found out about Ali outside of boxing. I never looked at him as a role model.

Edited by Stirlingsays (04 Jun 2016 12.36pm)

I agree with your first sentence but let us balance that by remembering that he was a man who was treated as a second class citizen in his own country, even after winning a gold medal at the Olympics.

He was a young man influenced by Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam and said things that were racist in the heated climate of a racist America. I would suggest that any man will say and do things in is lesser moments that he might regret later on. I would judge him for his best moments rather than his worst as we would all like for ourselves.
I would not want people to hijack his memory to make some trite, inappropriate political point on the day of his death.

A great eulogy from author Alan Gibbons...

So the giant has passed. I don't think we can exaggerate the importance of Muhammad Ali. I think he is quite simply the greatest sporting figure of all time, fusing sport, grace, humour, rebellion, dignity and politics. When he entered the stage, the dead hand of Jim Crow still gripped the throat of America. Ali himself was denied entry to a restaurant even after he had won a boxing gold medal in the Olympics. People talk with universal fondness of him now, but when he first came to Britain, most people hated him for being a 'lippy' black man. When no white heavyweight could deck him, the racists willed a safe black guy to do it as a proxy for slapping down the uppity ni**er. Frazier was a good guy and no 'uncle Tom', but when he beat Ali, the racists were jubilant. I remember getting ribbed by some lads at school. I was gutted because my hero had fallen. Imagine how wonderful it was when he came back, after the Vietnam ban, after the racist insults, after everything to defeat George Foreman in the greatest boxing match of all time, the Rumble in the Jungle. Three times champion, freedom fighter, spokesman for black America, Muslim and spokesman against terrorism, humanitarian, Ali bomaye.