Muhammad Ali

A three-time world heavyweight champion, Ali never fitted the stereotypical role of a boxer. He used his title as a pulpit, forcing people to reconsider their views, lecturing the world on Vietnam, racism, sexism and the emerging Third World nations. He told everyone who questioned his transformation to the Muslim faith, 'I don't have to be who you want me to be', and seldom did he adhere to the consensus of opinion. Nor did he match the conventional mode of past heavyweight champions who relied mainly on power, instead using his remarkable speed of hand and foot to whip such giants as Sonny Liston and Joe Frazier, and late in his career, guile and inventiveness to upset the seemingly invincible George Foreman. Where he once divided America with his social and religious beliefs, Ali, his body now ravaged by Parkinson's syndrome, has become a unifying force and a symbol of peace and hope. In an age of superstars without a public conscience, Ali was truly unique. He cavorted with presidents and kings, but was always more comfortable with the common man. Quite simply, 'The Greatest.'.