‘A sweet man, there will never be another Ali’

and thanked the public for their outpouring of support.

The condition was the adversary he had spent nearly half his life fighting – and the only one he could never defeat.

It was a condition doctors said was “probably” caused by the thousands of punches he took over his career.

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 17, 1942, he hailed from a respectable family.

He began to box at the age of 12 after his bike was stolen.

He reported the theft to a local policeman, Joe Martin, who also ran a boxing gym.

When Cassius told Joe he would “maim” the bike thief if he caught him, the trainer suggested he first learn how to punch properly.

It was the start of a story that would enthral the world.

The master of reinvention would go on to become Muhammad Ali – the greatest sportsman of the last century according to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

As a fighter he was capable of feats that made people’s hairs stand up on their arms. As a man, his views on everything from racialr segregation to the Vietnam War would go on to define an epoch.

Incredibly, he would later confidec he was never taught how to read properly – and had never read a book, neither the ones on which he collaborated or even his beloved Koran.

School records showed the teenage Clay had graduated 376th out of his class of 391 pupils.

Last night, Ali’s younger brother Rahman Ali, 72, paid tribute to his brother who he said was a “sweet, kind, nice” man who “was the world’s most famous person”.

“There was nobody on this Earth more famous than Muhammad Ali, he was known in every country,” Rahman said through his tears.

“There will never be another Muhammad Ali. So I cry from joy, and happiness.”