RIP Muhammad Ali

[sprite75]

Muhammad Ali passed this evening in Phoenix;

Muhammad Ali, the silver-tongued boxer and civil rights champion who famously proclaimed himself "The Greatest" and then spent a lifetime living up to the billing, is dead.

Ali died Friday at a Phoenix-area hospital, where he had spent the past few days being treated for respiratory complications, a family spokesman confirmed to NBC News. He was 74.

"After a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74. The three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer died this evening," Bob Gunnell, a family spokesman, told NBC News.

Ali had suffered for three decades from Parkinson's Disease, a progressive neurological condition that slowly robbed him of both his legendary verbal grace and his physical dexterity. A funeral service is planned in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

[RCMerchant]

No f**king way.
He's a hometown hero.
I meet him-a nice guy.

[Archivist]

RIP the Greatest.  An incredible boxer, athlete, and showman.

[Rev. Powell]

RIP to the Greatest. RC's right; he's a hometown hero. My hometown.

http://youtu.be/oPaxQUYpg_s

http://youtu.be/4UHt4U949YE

[VenomX73]

RIP 

Legend

[Trevor]

My enduring memory - also my first - of him was me as a kid seeing him in a documentary where he went up against a fearsome opponent: a ten year old kid who knocked Muhammad on the chin, the champ went down, got up painfully slowly and then started chasing the referee around the ring. 

The commentator said "And now he's taking out his frustrations on the referee!" 

RIP.

[Rev. Powell]

http://youtu.be/OmiWLoKzWO0