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| Barack Obama has written a poignant and heartfelt tribute to his fallen hero, Muhammad Ali (pictured, Obama sitting under an iconic photo of Ali while he was still campaigning for senate in 2004) |
President Barack Obama has paid a heartfelt and candid tribute to Muhammad Ali who died aged 74 overnight.
In a joint statement, the US leader and the First Lady remembered the fallen icon as a man who 'helped us get used to the America we recognize today'.
Ali became such an inspiration to Obama that a photo of the boxer standing triumphantly over a floored Sonny Liston hung in his office when he was campaigning to become Illinois senator in 2004.
The president's former Chief Strategist David Axelrod shared a poignant image of the as yet unknown politician hard at work underneath the image of his hero.
The self-proclaimed greatest of all time died aged 74 after a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease, surrounded by his family in a hospital outside Phoenix, Arizona.
Obama wrote today: 'Muhammad Ali was The Greatest. Period. If you just asked him, he'd tell you.
'But what made The Champ the greatest – what truly separated him from everyone else – is that everyone else would tell you pretty much the same thing.
Like everyone else on the planet, Michelle and I mourn his passing. But we're also grateful to God for how fortunate we are to have known him... for how fortunate we all are that The Greatest chose to grace our time.'
Obama told of how he still keeps a pair of Ali's gloves in the Oval Office, underneath the photo of a 22-year-old him 'roaring like a lion over a fallen Sonny Liston'.
The president admitted he was too young to understand who he was at the time - 'yet to set out on a spiritual journey that would lead him to his Muslim faith, exile him at the peak of his power and set the stage for his return to greatness.'
The Ali he knew was the one who declared: 'I am America... I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me – black, confident, cocky. My name, not yours. My religion, not yours. My goals, my own. Get used to me.'
Obama went on to praise Ali 'not just as skilled a poet on the mic as he was a fighter in the ring, but a man who fought for what was right.
'A man who fought for us. He stood with King and Mandela, stood up when it was hard, spoke out when others wouldn't.
'It would earn him enemies on the left and the right, make him reviled, and nearly send him to jail.
But Ali stood his ground. And his victory helped us get used to the America we recognize today.
'We saw a man who said he was so mean he'd make medicine sick reveal a soft spot, visiting children with illness and disability around the world, telling them they, too, could become the greatest.
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| Obama (left, meeting Ali) still keeps a pair of Ali's gloves in the Oval Office underneath the photo of the then 22-year-old 'roaring like a lion over a fallen Sonny Liston' |
'We watched a hero light a torch, and fight his greatest fight of all on the world stage once again; a battle against the disease that ravaged his body, but couldn't take the spark from his eyes.
'Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it. We are all better for it. Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family, and we pray that the greatest fighter of them all finally rests in peace.'
Obama also said that Ali could be 'careless with his words' and his rhetoric about his faith was 'full of contradictions' - but this was all overshadowed by his 'wonderful, infectious, innocent spirit'.
Boxing promoter Bob Arum has praised Ali as the catalyst who 'paved the way for Barack Obama to be elected as the first black President of the United States'.
'The impact he had and the evolution he brought led people to accept the integration of blacks into American society,' he wrote for the Telegraph.
He added: 'When history books are read in 50 years' time, there will be a significant chapter about Muhammad Ali in the history of American civilization.'
Ali's spokesman announced the tragic news last night by saying: 'After a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74.'
He was taken to hospital with an 'unshakeable cough', another source said. His fatal respiratory problems likely to have been complicated by his Parkinson's disease.
His legion of fans, celebrities and fellow boxers lined up to memorialize their icon but the most heartwarming tributes were paid by his family. His daughter Hana remembered her father as a "Humble Mountain!" with a 'beautiful soul'.
Ali's family said his funeral would be held in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, and thanked the public for their outpouring of support.
The three-time heavyweight champion, who was also a key figure in America's civil rights movement, had been on life support in hospital, after he was found 'barely breathing' at his home on Thursday.
He is survived by his fourth wife Lonnie, whom he married in 1986, and nine children, many of whom were with him when he died.
'Hana paid tribute to her father on Twitter and Instagram today, writing: 'Our father was a "Humble Mountain!" And now he has gone home to God.
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