I haven’t been this moved by someone’s death since John Lennon was murdered. I’m still coming to terms that Ali is gone. There’s been so many great pieces written in the past few days about Ali’s life, what he meant to the world.

This piece by Peter King on si.com is a good one.

Remembering the Greatest

Watch this 7 minute video of Ali fighting Cleveland Williams. No other heavyweight boxed like Ali did. In this fight Ali looks a lot like Sugar Ray Leonard in his prime.

I’m not a fan of boxing anymore. While I think it should be banned due to its brutality, that’s not the reason why. After all, I watch the Broncos every Sunday. Football is a brutal sport.

No, it’s because there’s not a boxer I admire or enjoy watching. I watched Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Marvin Hagler, and Roberto Duran fight. They were all great fighters. Each time I watched I looked for another Ali. Leonard came closest to Ali and therefore he was my favorite boxer after Ali retired.

I hope the world gets another Ali. Not for sports, that’s selfish. For mankind.

I don’t have a category on my blog that’s befitting for what Ali meant to me. But I did just add a new tag, The Greatest.