Nigerians Mourn as `The Greatest’, Muhammad Ali, Passes Away

Chuka Momah, a prolific boxing analyst on Saturday described Muhammad Ali, who died on Friday as a boxer of exemplary humanity, whose legacy would always be remembered and cherished.

Ali, 74, one of the greatest legends of the sport, passed away on June 3 at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., after being admitted on Thursday.

He had contracted a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by his years of suffering the Parkinson’s disease.

Momah told NAN in Lagos that one of the ways that the upcoming boxers could immortalise Ali as the `greatest boxing legend’, was by imbibing his ethics and morals, which made him outstanding all through his boxing career.

“All aspiring boxers should strive to be half as great as he was. They should be honest about it. “Ali had worked hard to reach the top of his profession as amateur and pro-boxer and was humble; his death is so heart breaking, because he was not just a boxer, he was a human rights activists.

“He changed the face of boxing and paved a way that, upcoming boxers should take advantage of to also reach the top,” he added. Renowned sports analyst Mitchel Obi of Mastersports International, Lagos, who also acknowledged Ali as the greatest boxer of all time, said he gave boxing a meaning. “Ali was phenomenal. He was superman. A man who refocused our mind to who black Americans were and advocated the virtue of racial equality; he reminded us of what humanity was all about’’.

Details later