THE death of world heavyweight boxing champion Mohammad Ali has come as a big shock to people all over the world as a hero’s demise who transformed boxing to a fine art of dancing in the ring giving it a human face. The three-time world champion died on Friday in a Phoenix Hospital in the USA leaving his admirers and friends all over the world to mourn his death. He was the ‘greatest forever’ in boxing and his death at the age of 74 marked the departure of a legend who was treated as ‘all time greatest’ champion of the 20th Century by athletic world and his vacuum may never be filled up. We mourn his death in Bangladesh and pray for the eternal peace of his soul. Born as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr in 1942 he converted to Islam and took the name Mohammad Ali to become one of the most outspoken champions of Islam in the USA and world over while racism was still highly humiliating to the black people community in the USA and other places. He said he converted to Islam to shed off the pain of the past slavery but in our view he had also made the Islamic Ummah proud and his death has come as a big loss to the Muslim world. Ali won heavyweight championship in boxing in 1964, 74 and 78 that earned him the greatest forever title. His three classic matches with Joe Frazier were bloody and ferocious. He learnt not to brace defeat and his winning of 56 boxing matches out of 61 showed he was invincible. But his sickness with Parkinson disease from 1984 deprived the world from what more he could contribute to the service of humanity. An agile mind, a buoyant personality, a brash self-confidence and an evolving set of personal convictions fostered Ali’s magnetism that the ring alone could not contain. He was both admired and vilified at his prime time for his religious, political and social stances. He worked for charities; fought as a leader of civil rights to end racism and his refusal to join the Vietnam War made him the world hero. He accepted five-year punishment instead of joining the war. The US Supreme Court later waved his punishment but he lost three years of his active career from boxing.We remember Ali’s visit to Bangladesh in 1978 and his friendly boxing match that he played with a young budding athlete. His symbolic knock out accepting defeat in the ring showed his athletic mind that amused the viewers. Bangladesh has named the ring as Mohammad Ali Boxing Stadium at Dhaka Sports Complex and also made him an honorary citizen. We will remember him as a symbol of courage for all time to come. A great hero of all times, Mohammad Ali, displayed courage and charisma in refusing to be defeated.
