Muhammad Ali died late Friday, surrounded by his family at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, where he had been treated for respiratory problems. The passing of the three-time world heavyweight boxing champion, a legendary figure in sports since he catapulted to fame in the 1960 Rome Olympics, dominated headlines everywhere almost immediately.
It was already Saturday on the U.S. East Coast and across most of the rest of the world when Ali’s death was announced. Fellow athletes, celebrities, government leaders and political figures quickly began sending condolence messages and tributes to Ali. Many shared photos of themselves with Ali and recounted special memories on social media.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who keeps a pair of boxing gloves the champion once wore in his private office at the White House, said Saturday that Ali “shook up the world, and the world is better for it.”
Obama likened the 74-year-old boxer to other civil rights leaders of his era, saying that Ali stood with Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela in fighting for what was right.
On his Twitter account, Obama posted a picture of himself earlier in his presidency, sitting beneath a photo of Ali standing over a defeated Sonny Liston in 1964. “Rest in peace, Champ,” Obama tweeted.
Former president Bill Clinton, who awarded Ali the Presidential Citizens Medal, paid tribute in another tweet: “Goodbye my friend. You were Great in so many ways.”
Clinton also issued a statement from himself and his wife, presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying: “From the day he claimed the Olympic gold medal in 1960, boxing fans across the world knew they were seeing a blend of beauty and grace, speed and strength that may never be matched again.”
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump also tweeted a tribute to Ali: “A truly great champion and a wonderful guy. He will be missed by all!”
At the U.N., Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, “The United Nations is grateful to have benefited from the life and work of one of the past century’s great humanitarians and advocates for understanding and peace.”
Ali’s influence spread far beyond the boxing world. Celebrities in the U.S. and abroad remembered him fondly and with admiration.
An all-time football legend, Brazil’s Pele, posted on Twitter and Instagram: “The sporting universe has just suffered a big loss. … The sadness is overwhelming.”
Another world-famous football player, Argentina’s Diego Maradona, wrote on Facebook: “The best of all time has left… How can I not feel this loss… Surely he left because he could no longer give us more happiness. My condolences to his family.”
Muhammad Ali will appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated June 13 – his 40th time as the magazine’s top story, with a photo from 1970, when he was training in Miami Beach, preparing to return to the ring after a lengthy enforced absence from boxing caused by legal problems arising from his conversion to Islam and refusal to serve in the U.S. military.
”Muhammad Ali was a singular force of athletics, humanitarianism and social equality unlike anyone in our history,” said Paul Fichtenbaum, an executive of Sports Illustrated’s publishers.
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