SPORTING DEATH IN 2016

Ali

The greatest boxer of all time? He certainly thought so and it is hard to argue for what he achieved inside and outside the ring. Born Cassius Clay, he was 18 when he won a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome and four years later he upset Sonny Liston to win the WBA, WBC and lineal heavyweight titles, before courting controversy when he refused to be conscripted into the American army to serve in Vietnam. He was stripped of his titles, but won a court challenge over his non-compliance and was cleared, though by that time he had not boxed for four years. He would regain his titles later on and won 56 of his 61 fights, including the famous ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ against George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire in 1974. Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1984, but would remain a key figure in global politics, a vocal supporter of African-American ideals in the USA, and worked as an ambassador for countless worthy causes around the world. He died from septic shock after suffering from a respiratory illness on 3 June, aged 74.