Boxing great punches well outside the ring

In boxing terms, he delivered when he knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round in Kinshasa, Zaire – the famed “Rumble in the Jungle” – to regain the title taken from him in 1967.

Eleven months later, he triumphed in the “Thrilla in Manila” – an epic 14-round battle with Frazier that ended when Frazier failed to answer the bell for the 15th round.

Although the two were bitter rivals in the ring – and sometimes out of it – Ali was among the mourners at Frazier’s funeral in November 2011.

Ali’s courage and the strength of his chin kept him standing under brutal onslaughts that would have felled other fighters.

He once said he reckoned he had taken 29,000 punches, and his ability to withstand such punishment no doubt contributed to the Parkinson’s disease from which he suffered in later years.

“What I suffered physically was worth what I’ve accomplished in life,” he said in 1992. “A man who is not courageous enough to take risks will never accomplish anything in life.”

Ali lost the heavyweight title to unheralded Leon Spinks on February 15, 1978, but won it back in a rematch in September the same year, becoming the first three-time heavyweight world champion.

But the accomplishments he cherished later in life were outside the ring.

He used his popularity to spread the word of Islam, giving fans his autograph on religious pamphlets.

“Boxing made me famous,” he said.

“This is the real thing. My main purpose in life is to be the world’s greatest ambassador, to spread the word of Islam.”

In doing so, Ali also opened a window on the world for black Americans, US civil rights campaigners said.

“Ali helped to internationalize black consciousness as much as anybody,” said the Reverend Jesse Jackson.

“He has given people all over the world a sense of pride,” said Andrew Young, a civil rights activist and former US ambassador to the United Nations. “Oppressed people and people of color have been able to identify with him.” Global icon Ali’s stature as a global icon was confirmed with his poignant appearance at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where he lit the cauldron.

Nine years later, in November 2005, then president George W. Bush awarded Ali the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor.

Even as his physical capacities diminished – his gait becoming more shambling and his speech more hesitant – Ali’s public life continued.

In 2002, he appeared with his wife, Lonnie, before Congress to press for more funding for Parkinson’s disease research.

Ali, who was named a UN messenger of peace in 1998, continued to involve himself in various charitable ventures, and he campaigned for boxing reform, calling for a national body to oversee the sport he loved.

In 2002, he visited Afghanistan to raise awareness of the problems still faced there after the fall of the Taliban regime.

By that time Ali was already familiar with the role of overseas envoy, having visited five African nations in 1980 on behalf of president Jimmy Carter.

In 1990, on the eve of the Gulf War, he travelled to Iraq and met Saddam Hussein in an independent effort to promote peace in the region.

He was credited with securing the release of 15 US hostages.

One of the hostages, Harry Brill-Edwards, told an Ali biographer: “I’ve always known that Muhammad Ali was a super sportsman. But during those hours that we were together, inside that enormous body, I saw an angel.” — AFP The following are highlights of Muhammad Ali’s record in the ring:

Oct 29, 1960: Feb 25, 1964: May 25, 1965: Nov 22, 1965: Mar 29, 1966: May 21, 1966: Aug 6, 1966: Sep 10, 1966: Nov 14, 1966: Feb 6, 1967: Mar 22, 1967: Mar 8, 1971: Oct 30, 1974: Mar 24, 1975: May 16, 1975: Jul 1, 1975: Oct 1, 1975: Feb 20, 1976: Apr 30, 1976: May 24, 1976: Sep 28, 1976: May 16, 1977: Sep 29, 1977: Feb 15, 1978: Sep 15, 1978: Oct 2, 1980: Dec 11, 1981:

Tunney Hunsaker Won 6th rd Pro debut Sonny Liston TKO 7th World championship Sonny Liston KO 1st World championship Floyd Patterson TKO 12th World championship George Chuvalo Won 15 World championship Henry Cooper TKO 6th World championship Brian London KO 3rd World championship Karl Mildenberg TKO 12th World championship Cleveland Williams TKO 3rd World championship Ernie Terrell Won 15 World championship Zora Folley KO 7th World championship Joe Frazier Lost 15 World championship George Foreman KO 8th World championship Chuck Wepner TKO 15th World championship Ron Lyle TKO 11th World championship Joe Bugner Won 15 World championship Joe Frazier TKO 14 World championship Jean Pierre Coopman KO 5th World championship Jimmy Young Won 15 World championship Richard Dunn TKO 5th World championship Ken Norton Won 15 World championship Alfredo Evangelista Won 15 World championship Earnie Shavers Won 15 World championship Leon Spinks Lost 15 World championship Leon Spinks Won 15 World championship Larry Holmes KO By 11 World championship Trevor Berbick Lost 10 Last pro fight