http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/muhammad-ali-struggles-with-respiratory-issues-in-ariz-hospital/ar-BBtPiHj?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp

Muhammad Ali struggles with respiratory issues in Ariz. hospital

Muhammad Ali remains The Greatest — although it’s uncertain how much longer the frail fighter’s reign will last.

The legendary three-time world heavyweight champion was fighting for survival Friday at an Arizona hospital where respiratory problems coupled with his Parkinson’s disease put Ali’s life in peril.

“It could be hours,” tweeted Los Angeles Times sportswriter Lance Pugmire. “Can confirm from very strong source that it’s ‘very, very grave’ for Muhammad Ali.”

The 74-year-old was hospitalized Thursday, the latest in a series of health issues that plagued the poetry-spouting pugilist in recent years.


Family members were warned that Ali’s health appeared worse than during other recent admissions for various problems.

“I can’t really say much more,” said Dr. Abraham Lieberman, Ali’s longtime Parkinson’s physician.

He was treated in early 2015 for a severe urinary tract infection initially misdiagnosed as pneumonia. And he was diagnosed with with the degenerative neurologic Parkinson’s in 1984.

The fighter, who changed his name from Cassius Clay when he switched his religion to Islam, transcended the boxing ring to become an international hero and role model.

But Ali’s public appearances waned dramatically in recent years as his health failed. A hunched-over Ali, his eyes obscured by sunglasses, moved feebly though an April 9 stop at a Parkinson’s fund-raising dinner.

Ali famously emerged, the Olympic torch in his visibly shaking right hand, to light the flame at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta.

The Ali family, one day after releasing a terse statement about his health, said Friday that nothing had changed for the athlete and humanitarian.

But lung issues are particularly treacherous for Parkinson’s sufferers, with weakened muscles making it hard to swallow or cough.

The resulting aspiration pnuemonia, where bits of food or liquid land in the lungs, is the No. 1 cause of death among Parkinson’s patients.

As word of his health woes spread, long-time fans and friends surfaced on Twitter to send along their good wishes.

“Prayers and blessings to my idol, my friend, & Without question, the Greatest of All Time @MuhammadAli!” wrote former champion Sugar Ray Leonard.

Veteran boxing promoter Lou DiBella offered similar sentiments: “Prayers for the Greatest, Muhammad Ali, Lonnie and his children at this tough time. May God be with them.”

Ali, who lives in the Phoenix area, married his fourth wife Lonnie in 1986. He retired from boxing in 1981 with a career mark of 56-5, including some of the most memorable fights in history.

There were his two knockouts of the seemingly invincible Sonny Liston, including one with the mysterious “Phantom Punch” finish.

There were three wars with bete noire Joe Frazier, including two in Madison Square Garden and the unforgettable “Thrilla in Manila.”

And there was his memorable upset of George Foreman, using the “rope-a-dope” strategy to captire “The Rumble in the Jungle.”

After retiring from the ring, the Louisville, Ky., native become a global humanitarian ambassador. In 2005, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush.

Doctors believe Ali’s neurological woes are the result of taking thousands of punches during a 21-year pro career. Ali also won the gold medal at the 1960 Summer Games in Rome.

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/ap-sources-ali-remains-hospitalized-issues-39599189

AP Sources: Ali Remains Hospitalized for 'Serious' Issues

By tim dahlberg, ap boxing writer

Jun 3, 2016, 9:31 PM ET



Muhammad Ali remained hospitalized Friday in the Phoenix area, battling respiratory problems serious enough to draw family members to his bedside.

The 74-year-old boxing great's respiratory issues have been complicated by the Parkinson's that he was diagnosed with in the 1980s, two people told The Associated Press a day earlier.

The two spoke separately in describing Ali's condition as being very concerning to family members. They declined to be identified because they were not speaking on behalf of the family.

Several of Ali's daughters reportedly flew to Phoenix late Thursday and early Friday to be with their father.

Laila Ali, herself a former boxing champion, posted a picture Friday afternoon on Facebook of her father holding her daughter when she was an infant.

"I love this photo of my father and my daughter Sydney when she was a baby!" she wrote. "Thanks for all the love and well wishes. I feel your love and appreciate it!!"

A spokesman for the former heavyweight champion said in an email Friday that there was no update on his condition. Spokesman Bob Gunnell said a day earlier that Ali was in fair condition and that a brief hospital stay was expected.

Ali's longtime Parkinson's doctor declined comment when reached by the AP Thursday night.

"I can't really say much more than what's in the papers," said Dr. Abraham Lieberman of the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.

Ali has been hospitalized several times in recent years, most recently in early 2015 when he was treated for a severe urinary tract infection initially diagnosed as pneumonia.

Ali has looked increasingly frail in public appearances, including April 9 when he wore sunglasses and was hunched over at the annual Celebrity Fight Night dinner in Phoenix, which raises funds for treatment of Parkinson's.

His last formal public appearance before that was in October when he appeared at the Sports Illustrated Tribute to Muhammad Ali at The Muhammad Ali Center in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, along with former opponents George Foreman and Larry Holmes.

Ali has suffered from Parkinson's for three decades, most famously trembling badly while lighting the Olympic torch in 1996 in Atlanta. Despite the disease he kept up a busy appearance schedule until recently, though he has not spoken in public for years.

Doctors say the Parkinson's likely was caused by the thousands of punches Ali took during a career in which he traveled the world for big fights.

An iconic figure who at one point was perhaps the most recognized person in the world, Ali has lived quietly in the Phoenix area with his fourth wife, Lonnie, whom he married in 1986.

News of his hospitalization brought well wishes from boxers and others on Twitter, including Sugar Ray Leonard, who modeled his career after Ali's.

"Prayers & blessings to my idol, my friend, & without question, the Greatest of All Time @MuhammadAli ! #GOAT," Leonard wrote.

Sorry to hear he is hospitalized.

Link (http://www.legacy.com/ns/muhammad-ali-obituary/180215318#sthash.Aitu2DLN.dpuf)

Muhammad Ali, the heavyweight boxing champion named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated magazine, died June 3, 2016. He was 74.

Born Cassius Clay Jan. 17, 1942, he began boxing as a preteen, enjoying an award-winning amateur career. He won six Golden Gloves titles in his home state of Kentucky, two national Golden Gloves titles and an Amateur Athletic Union National Title. His amateur career culminated with a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy.

Clay moved to a professional boxing career shortly after winning Olympic gold, debuting with a win against Tunney Hunsaker in October 1960. He continued to win and soon began developing the cocky, self-promoting attitude that fans would come to love. He displayed it memorably as his 1964 fight against Sonny Liston approached. They would be fighting for the heavyweight championship, and Clay taunted his opponent before the fight, with his verbal jabs including the famous quote, "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see." Fans initially mistook Clay's grandstanding for nervousness, but in the end, Clay won both the fight and the heavyweight championship title, becoming the youngest heavyweight fighter ever to take the title from a reigning champion. He took to calling himself The Greatest, and it stuck, becoming a popular nickname for the champion.

In the same year he won his first heavyweight championship, Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali, a decision he made after he converted to Islam and joined the Nation of Islam. He came to refer to Cassius Clay as his "slave name," generating controversy among fans.

The name change and associated controversy didn't hurt Ali's game – he continued winning, in a rematch with Liston, a title defense against former champion Floyd Patterson, a famously brutal bout with Ernie Terrell and more.

In 1967, Ali was drafted to serve in the Vietnam War, but he refused, commenting, "I got nothin' against them Viet Cong." His title was stripped and his boxing license revoked, prompting a hiatus from fighting of more than three years. During that time, Ali appealed the decision and ultimately won his case in the U.S. Supreme Court, regaining his license and jumping right back into fighting with more winning bouts, leading up to a 1971 championship fight with Joe Frazier. It was billed as the Fight of the Century, held at Madison Square Garden, and Ali shockingly lost – his first professional defeat.

It would be 1974 before Ali regained the championship, in the famous Rumble in the Jungle against heavyweight champion George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire. The Thrilla in Manila followed the next year, a third bout with Joe Frazier, won by Ali after he stopped the loser.

Ali retired in 1979 but quickly returned to boxing, fighting several matchups even as he began exhibiting the signs of Parkinson's disease, with which he was formally diagnosed in 1984. He fought his final match in December 1981 against Trevor Burbick.

In 1996, Ali was chosen to light the Olympic torch at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. He was a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, won the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 1997, and received a Presidential Citizens Medal and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. He was named the Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated magazine and Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC.

Ali is survived by his wife, Yolanda "Lonnie" Williams, and by his children, Maryum, Jamillah, Rasheda, Muhammad Jr., Hana, Laila and Asaad. Laila is a retired professional boxer, an undefeated former super middleweight champion.

The "Greatest" is gone. :( About the only sports figure/athlete I ever idolized growing up. I really looked up to him, not sure why but I really loved all of Muhammad Ali's bravado. May he rest in peace. This one's going to hurt for a while. I knew it was coming eventually but I can't believe it.

Ed.

The "Greatest" is gone. :( About the only sports figure/athlete I ever idolized growing up. I really looked up to him, not sure why but I really loved all of Muhammad Ali's bravado. May he rest in peace. This one's going to hurt for a while. I knew it was coming eventually but I can't believe it.

Ed.

I hated his bravado. I loved Joe Frazier.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cPZfT8NjQt8/hqdefault.jpg

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/muhammad-ali-who-riveted-the-world-as-the-greatest-dies/ar-BBtQqpr?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp

He was fast of fist and foot -- lip, too -- a heavyweight champion who promised to shock the world and did. He floated. He stung. Mostly he thrilled, even after the punches had taken their toll and his voice barely rose above a whisper.

He was The Greatest.


Muhammad Ali died Friday at age 74, according to a statement from the family. He was hospitalized in the Phoenix area with respiratory problems earlier this week, and his children had flown in from around the country.

"It's a sad day for life, man. I loved Muhammad Ali, he was my friend. Ali will never die," Don King, who promoted some of Ali's biggest fights, told The Associated Press early Saturday. "Like Martin Luther King his spirit will live on, he stood for the world."

A funeral will be held in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. The city plans a memorial service Saturday.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer ordered flags lowered to half-staff to honor Ali.

"The values of hard work, conviction and compassion that Muhammad Ali developed while growing up in Louisville helped him become a global icon," Fischer said. "As a boxer, he became The Greatest, though his most lasting victories happened outside the ring."


With a wit as sharp as the punches he used to "whup" opponents, Ali dominated sports for two decades before time and Parkinson's disease, triggered by thousands of blows to the head, ravaged his magnificent body, muted his majestic voice and ended his storied career in 1981.

He won and defended the heavyweight championship in epic fights in exotic locations, spoke loudly on behalf of blacks, and famously refused to be drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War because of his Muslim beliefs.

Despite his debilitating illness, he traveled the world to rapturous receptions even after his once-bellowing voice was quieted and he was left to communicate with a wink or a weak smile.

"He was the greatest fighter of all time but his boxing career is secondary to his contribution to the world," promoter Bob Arum told the AP early Saturday. "He's the most transforming figure of my time certainly."

Revered by millions worldwide and reviled by millions more, Ali cut quite a figure, 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds in his prime. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee," his cornermen exhorted, and he did just that in a way no heavyweight had ever fought before.

He fought in three different decades, finished with a record of 56-5 with 37 knockouts -- 26 of those bouts promoted by Arum -- and was the first man to win heavyweight titles three times.

He whipped the fearsome Sonny Liston twice, toppled the mighty George Foreman with the rope-a-dope in Zaire, and nearly fought to the death with Joe Frazier in the Philippines. Through it all, he was trailed by a colorful entourage who merely added to his growing legend.

"Rumble, young man, rumble," cornerman Bundini Brown would yell to him.

And rumble Ali did. He fought anyone who meant anything and made millions of dollars with his lightning-quick jab. His fights were so memorable that they had names -- "Rumble in the Jungle" and "Thrilla in Manila."

But it was as much his antics -- and his mouth -- outside the ring that transformed the man born Cassius Clay into a household name as Muhammad Ali.

"I am the greatest," Ali thundered again and again.

Few would disagree.

Ali spurned white America when he joined the Black Muslims and changed his name. He defied the draft at the height of the Vietnam war -- "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong" -- and lost 3 1/2 years from the prime of his career. He entertained world leaders, once telling Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos: "I saw your wife. You're not as dumb as you look."

He later embarked on a second career as a missionary for Islam.

"Boxing was my field mission, the first part of my life," he said in 1990, adding with typical braggadocio, "I will be the greatest evangelist ever."

Ali couldn't fulfill that goal because Parkinson's robbed him of his speech. It took such a toll on his body that the sight of him in his later years -- trembling, his face frozen, the man who invented the Ali Shuffle now barely able to walk -- shocked and saddened those who remembered him in his prime.

"People naturally are going to be sad to see the effects of his disease," Hana, one of his daughters, said, when he turned 65. "But if they could really see him in the calm of his everyday life, they would not be sorry for him. He's at complete peace, and he's here learning a greater lesson."

The quiet of Ali's later life was in contrast to the roar of a career that had breathtaking highs as well as terrible lows. He exploded on the public scene with a series of nationally televised fights that gave the public an exciting new champion, and he entertained millions as he sparred verbally with the likes of bombastic sportscaster Howard Cosell.

Ali once calculated he had taken 29,000 punches to the head and made $57 million in his pro career, but the effect of the punches lingered long after most of the money was gone. That didn't stop him from traveling tirelessly to promote Islam, meet with world leaders and champion legislation dubbed the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act. While slowed in recent years, he still managed to make numerous appearances, including a trip to the 2012 London Olympics.

Despised by some for his outspoken beliefs and refusal to serve in the U.S. Army in the 1960s, an aging Ali became a poignant figure whose mere presence at a sporting event would draw long standing ovations.

With his hands trembling so uncontrollably that the world held its breath, he lit the Olympic torch for the 1996 Atlanta Games in a performance as riveting as some of his fights.

A few years after that, he sat mute in a committee room in Washington, his mere presence enough to convince lawmakers to pass the boxing reform bill that bore his name.

Members of his inner circle weren't surprised. They had long known Ali as a humanitarian who once wouldn't think twice about getting in his car and driving hours to visit a terminally ill child. They saw him as a man who seemed to like everyone he met -- even his archrival Frazier.

"I consider myself one of the luckiest guys in the world just to call him my friend," former business manager Gene Kilroy said. "If I was to die today and go to heaven it would be a step down. My heaven was being with Ali."

One of his biggest opponents would later become a big fan, too. On the eve of the 35th anniversary of their "Rumble in the Jungle," Foreman paid tribute to the man who so famously stopped him in the eighth round of their 1974 heavyweight title fight, the first ever held in Africa.

"I don't call him the best boxer of all time, but he's the greatest human being I ever met," Foreman said. "To this day he's the most exciting person I ever met in my life."

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay on Jan. 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, Ali began boxing at age 12 after his new bicycle was stolen and he vowed to policeman Joe Martin that he would "whup" the person who took it.

He was only 89 pounds at the time, but Martin began training him at his boxing gym, the beginning of a six-year amateur career that ended with the light heavyweight Olympic gold medal in 1960.

Ali had already encountered racism. On boxing trips, he and his amateur teammates would have to stay in the car while Martin bought them hamburgers. When he returned to Louisville with his gold medal, the Chamber of Commerce presented him a citation but said it didn't have time to co-sponsor a dinner.

In his autobiography, "The Greatest," Ali wrote that he tossed the medal into the Ohio River after a fight with a white motorcycle gang, which started when he and a friend were refused service at a Louisville restaurant.

The story may be apocryphal, and Ali later told friends he simply misplaced the medal. Regardless, he had made his point.

After he beat Liston to win the heavyweight title in 1964, Ali shocked the boxing world by announcing he was a member of the Black Muslims -- the Nation of Islam -- and was rejecting his "slave name."

As a Baptist youth he spent much of his time outside the ring reading the Bible. From now on, he would be known as Muhammad Ali and his book of choice would be the Koran.

Ali's affiliation with the Nation of Islam outraged and disturbed many white Americans, but it was his refusal to be inducted into the Army that angered them most.

That happened on April 28, 1967, a month after he knocked out Zora Folley in the seventh round at Madison Square Garden in New York for his eighth title defense.

He was convicted of draft evasion, stripped of his title and banned from boxing.

Ali appealed the conviction on grounds he was a Muslim minister. He married 17-year-old Belinda Boyd, the second of his four wives, a month after his conviction, and had four children with her. He had two more with his third wife, Veronica Porsche, and he and his fourth wife, Lonnie Williams, adopted a son.

During his banishment, Ali spoke at colleges and briefly appeared in a Broadway musical called "Big Time Buck White." Still facing a prison term, he was allowed to resume boxing three years later, and he came back to stop Jerry Quarry in three rounds on Oct. 26, 1970, in Atlanta despite efforts by Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox to block the bout.

He was still facing a possible prison sentence when he fought Frazier for the first time on March 8, 1971, in what was labeled "The Fight of the Century."

A few months later the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction on an 8-0 vote.

"I've done my celebrating already," Ali said after being informed of the decision. "I said a prayer to Allah."

Many in boxing believe Ali was never the same fighter after his lengthy layoff, even though he won the heavyweight championship two more times and fought for another decade.

Perhaps his most memorable fight was the "Rumble in the Jungle," when he upset a brooding Foreman to become heavyweight champion once again at age 32.

Many worried that Ali could be seriously hurt by the powerful Foreman, who had knocked Frazier down six times in a second round TKO.

But while his peak fighting days may have been over, he was still in fine form verbally. He promoted the fight relentlessly, as only he could.

"You think the world was shocked when Nixon resigned," he said. "Wait till I whup George Foreman's behind."

Ali won over a country before he won the fight, mingling with people as he trained and displaying the kind of playful charm the rest of the world had already seen. On the plane into the former Congo he asked what the citizens of Zaire disliked most. He was told it was Belgians because they had once colonized the country.

"George Foreman is a Belgian," Ali cried out to the huge crowd that greeted him at the airport. By the time the fight finally went off in the early morning hours of Oct. 30, 1974, Zaire was his.

"Ali booma-ya (Ali kill him)," many of the 60,000 fans screamed as the fight began in Kinshasa.

Ali pulled out a huge upset to win the heavyweight title for a second time, allowing Foreman to punch himself out. He used what he would later call the "rope-a-dope" strategy -- something even trainer Angelo Dundee knew nothing about.

Finally, he knocked out an exhausted Foreman in the eighth round, touching off wild celebrations among his African fans.

"I told you I was the greatest," Ali said.

That might have been argued by followers of Joe Louis or Rocky Marciano or Sugar Ray Robinson, but there was no doubt that Ali was just what boxing needed in the early 1960s.

He spouted poetry and brash predictions. After the sullen and frightening Liston, he was a fresh and entertaining face in a sport that struggled for respectability.

At the weigh-in before his Feb. 25, 1964, fight with Liston, Ali carried on so much that some observers thought he was scared stiff and suggested the fight in Miami Beach be called off.

"The crowd did not dream when they lay down their money that they would see a total eclipse of the Sonny," Ali said.

Ali went on to punch Liston's face lumpy and became champion for the first time when Liston quit on his stool after the sixth round.

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee," became Ali's rallying cry.

His talent for talking earned him the nickname "The Louisville Lip," but he had a new name of his own in mind: Muhammad Ali.

"I don't have to be what you want me to be," he told reporters the morning after beating Liston. "I'm free to be who I want."

Frazier refused to call Ali by his new name, insisting he was still Cassius Clay. So did Ernie Terrell in their Feb. 6, 1967, fight, a mistake he would come to regret through 15 long rounds.

"What's my name?" Ali demanded as he repeatedly punched Terrell in the face. "What's my name?"

By the time Ali was able to return to the ring following his forced layoff, he was bigger than ever. Soon he was in the ring for his first of three epic fights against Frazier, with each fighter guaranteed $2.5 million.

Before the fight, Ali called Frazier an "Uncle Tom" and said he was "too ugly to be the champ." His gamesmanship could have a cruel edge, especially when it was directed toward Frazier.

In the first fight, though, Frazier had the upper hand. He relentlessly wore Ali down, flooring him with a crushing left hook in the 15th round and winning a decision.

It was the first defeat for Ali, but the boxing world had not seen the last of him and Frazier in the ring. Ali won a second fight, and then came the "Thrilla in Manila" on Oct. 1, 1975, in the Philippines, a brutal bout that Ali said afterward was "the closest thing to dying" he had experienced.

Ali won that third fight but took a terrific beating from the relentless Frazier before trainer Eddie Futch kept Frazier from answering the bell for the 15th round.

"They told me Joe Frazier was through," Ali told Frazier at one point during the fight.

"They lied," Frazier said, before hitting Ali with a left hook.

The fight -- which most in boxing agree was Ali's last great performance -- was part of a 16-month period on the mid-1970s when Ali took his show on the road, fighting Foreman in Zaire, Frazier in the Philippines, Joe Bugner in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Jean Pierre Coopman in Puerto Rico.

The world got a taste of Ali in splendid form with both his fists and his mouth.

In Malaysia, a member of the commission in charge of the gloves the fighters would wear told Ali they would be held in a prison for safekeeping before the fight.

"My gloves are going to jail," shouted a wide-eyed Ali. "They ain't done nothing -- yet!"

Ali would go on to lose the title to Leon Spinks, then come back to win it a third time on Sept. 15, 1978, when he scored a decision over Spinks in a rematch before 70,000 people at the Superdome in New Orleans.

Ali retired, only to come back and try to win the title for a fourth time against Larry Holmes on Oct. 2, 1980, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Ali grew a mustache, pronounced himself "Dark Gable" and got down to a svelte 217 1/2 pounds to beat Father Time. But Holmes, his former sparring partner, mercifully toyed with him until Dundee refused to let Ali answer the bell for the 11th round.

"He was like a little baby after the first round," Holmes said. "I was throwing punches and missing just for the hell of it. I kept saying, `Ali, why are you taking this?'

"He said, `Shut up and fight, I'm going to knock you out.'"

When the fight was over, Holmes and his wife went upstairs to pay their respects to Ali. In a darkened room, Holmes told Ali that he loved him.

"Then why did you whip my ass like that?" Ali replied.

A few years later, Ali said he would not have fought Holmes if he didn't think he could have won.

"If I had known Holmes was going to whip me and damage my brain, I would not have fought him," Ali said. "But losing to Holmes and being sick are not important in God's world."

It was that world that Ali retreated to, fighting just once more, losing a 10-round decision to Trevor Berbick in the Bahamas.

With his fourth wife, Lonnie, at his side, Ali traveled the world for Islam and other causes. In 1990, he went to Iraq on his own initiative to meet with Saddam Hussein and returned to the United States with 15 Americans who had been held hostage.

One of the hostages recounted meeting Ali in Thomas Hauser's 1990 biography "Muhammad Ali -- His Life and Times."

"I've always known that Muhammad Ali was a super sportsman; but during those hours that we were together, inside that enormous body I saw an angel," hostage Harry Brill-Edwards said.

For his part, Ali didn't complain about the price he had paid in the ring.

"What I suffered physically was worth what I've accomplished in life," he said in 1984. "A man who is not courageous enough to take risks will never accomplish anything in life."

RIP to the Greatest of All Time. It sucks that he had to deal with Parkinson's Disease. But he had a great life.

Btw, Antenna TV will have a tribute to him. Johnny Carson will have a Muhammad Ali interview tonight at 10 PM.

RIP to the Greatest of All Time. It sucks that he had to deal with Parkinson's Disease. But he had a great life.

Btw, Antenna TV will have a tribute to him. Johnny Carson will have a Muhammad Ali interview tonight at 10 PM.
Thanks for letting me know. I'll have to catch it.

As a boxer he was "the greatest". As a human being he was a man of integrity and character. We won't soon see his like again. :rip: Muhammad Ali / Cassius Clay

Rest in peace.

:rip: Muhammad Ali / Cassius Clay

RIP

RIP Mr. Ali! You were the Greatest! IMO the best boxer there ever was!

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTP7YWCTb7-YPERpoUJO89ZdD1J468sdCB0mwkRUIM01TikLQgc

:rip:

Um, OK thanks for that Babalu. But since we're not talking about Joe Frazier because he's not the one who died I really don't care anyways. Muhammad Ail was and will always be the best boxer who ever lived. After he retired I totally lost interest in watching boxing and there'll never be another boxer as good as him.

Ed.

http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/how-sports-news-networks-covered-the-breaking-news-of-muhammad-alis-death.html

NBC/MSNBC

NBC was the first network to break in at 12:17 a.m., according to TVNewser (http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/networks-break-in-with-news-of-the-death-of-muhammad-ali/295240). NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt anchored a brief report from NBC’s bureau in Los Angeles before the network continued airing The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Due to the network’s coverage of the French Open Women’s Final, NBC’s Today Show was not on air to continue coverage surrounding Ali’s passing. But before Serena Williams and Garbiñe Muguruza’s match began, NBC Sports’ Ted Robinson read an obituary covering some of Ali’s greatest moments which included exclusive footage from the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta when Ali was the last person to carry the Olympic torch and lit the Opening Cauldron.

NBC News’ Brian Williams picked up coverage on MSNBC and was joined by a cast of characters including the New York Daily News’ Mike Lupica in studio and The Nation’s Dave Zirin in D.C. Today Show’s Matt Lauer, who over the years has repeatedly called Ali his idol, joined MSNBC’s tribute via telephone along with NBC Sports’ Bob Costas, who had just finished calling a baseball game for MLB Network. MSNBC host Al Sharpton also joined the telecast which lasted for almost 3 hours.

CNN

CNN was in the middle of re-airing W. Kamau Bell’s new show, United Shades of America, but interrupted to join CNN’s International feed. Famous boxing promoter Don King was among the contributors who weighed in on Saturday morning’s news. Fox News was the last cable news network to break in at 12:33 a.m. with coverage led by Westwood One NFL reporter and Fox News contributor Jim Gray.

ABC

ABC’s Elizabeth Vargas was live in studio after anchoring 20/20 earlier that night. A pre-taped obituary from Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts recapped some of the quintessential moments in Ali’s career. Vargas also spoke with an historian who documented Ali’s boxing triumphs. The historian, in studio, was still shocked by the news at the moment but also pointed out that it was news he had been expecting all night.

ABC Sports and Howard Cosell played a major role in showcasing Ali to the world. Cosell’s interviews with Ali displayed his personality and helped create the greatest boxer’s persona. In ABC’s 20-minute special report, the network made sure viewers at home were aware of that symbiotic relationship by airing clips of previous interviews and discussing the bond Ali and Cosell had as well as Ali’s relationship with the media. Viewers watching in the east coast were also treated to more tribute coverage after the special report was over as TVNewser points out (http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/networks-break-in-with-news-of-the-death-of-muhammad-ali/295240):

The ABC special report wrapped around 12:41 a.m. A few minutes later, on the East Coast, a special edition of Nightline began.

ABC’s breaking news coverage of Ali’s death interrupted a Jimmy Kimmel Live re-run with presidential candidate Donald Trump.

CBS/CBSSN

CBS aired a short special report during the beginning of The Late Show with James Corden. The report was anchored by KCBS’ Paul Magers. CBS Sports Network also interrupted a poker tournament with a report from Adam Schein. An obituary from CBS News’ Scott Pelley aired before returning to poker.

FS1

During Fox Sports 1’s late night talk show recapping Copa America, host Fernando Fiore paid tribute to Ali before going to commercial break after showing highlights of USA-Columbia and breaking down the game with his co-hosts.

Vin Scully

Vin Scully announced Ali’s passing during the Dodgers/Braves game on Time Warner Cable SportsNet.

MLB Network/120 Sports

MLB Network also interrupted the regular flow of MLB Tonight to break the news of Ali’s passing. MLB’s online outlet 120 Sports (http://www.120sports.com/video/v181907680/muhammad-ali-dies-at-74), co-owned by Sports Illustrated, NHL and PGA, aired a tribute to Ali during their telecast which was on air when the news first hit the wires.

AXS TV

AXS TV’s Inside MMA airs every Friday at 12:30 a.m. and began their show as the news was just breaking. Host Mauro Ranallo is a boxing aficionado who calls matches for Showtime and brought special insight to the story.

Snapchat

Snapchat has even dedicated a live story on its app to The Greatest.

NFL Network

The biggest shock in terms of coverage came from the NFL Network. Former SportsCenter anchor Steve Weissman anchored wall-to-wall coverage from NFL Network’s Los Angeles newsroom and was joined via telephone by Marshall Faulk, who once met Ali, and Mark Kriegel, who covers boxing for Showtime in addition to his work at NFL.com. Clips from the NFL Films vault of Jim Brown, Marcus Allen and Richard Sherman paying tribute to the boxing icon were also aired. The network stayed on air for three hours and replayed their breaking news coverage overnight and into the morning.

ESPN

The night’s most impressive coverage by far came from the Worldwide Leader. SportsCenter’s LA anchors Neil Everett and Stan Verrett broke the news and aired a pre-taped obituary from ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap. After the obituary aired, SportsCenter proved its clout by setting up various units of coverage. Schaap was joined by Scott Van Pelt to recall funny stories of Ali’s past that Schaap knew from prior research or from his father, John Anderson took over the anchor desk to facilitate updates from reporters stationed at the Phoenix hospital Ali died at and Ali’s hometown of Louisville, Everett and Verrett were joined by Steve Levy in LA and all three introduced taped pieces on Ali along with social media tributes.

Bob Ley, ESPN’s standard bearer of journalism, joined his colleagues at the anchor desk around 1 a.m. and interviewed Stephen A. Smith and Michael Wilbon, both of whom are in California to cover the NBA Finals. Ley also conducted interviews with Teddy Atlas, Larry Merchant and other ESPN contributors who were privy to Ali’s legacy. ESPN was live from the moment news broke until 4 a.m. without any commercial interruption and provided a depth of knowledge and history that only a network of their stature could do. In an era when some question SportsCenter’s worth and value, last night’s breaking news coverage proved the legendary show still has a place in today’s world.

Summary

Last night’s tribute to Ali also separated ESPN from the rest of the sports television pack (FS1, NBCSN, CBSSN etc.) until further notice. The amount of resources and tools ESPN had at their disposal to move their coverage along is something the other networks are nowhere near attaining.

NBC Sports Network was the biggest disappointment of the night. The network failed to utter even a mention of Ali’s tragic passing throughout the night. NBCSN had the option of simulcasting MSNBC or could’ve displayed a text update on its bottom line but chose to do neither. With FS1’s recent cuts in the news department, it is unknown if the network would’ve even discussed Ali’s death on-air if they didn’t just happen to be live with Copa America coverage. Instead of carrying coverage throughout the night as ESPN did live for 4 hours straight, FS1 decided to air TMZ Sports and NHRA Racing. Ali’s death is a cultural moment that you just can’t miss if you’re a fledgling network trying to prove you’re the typical sports fan’s best destination for all things sports. Any ounce of credibility you’re trying to obtain over ESPN is lost when common sense isn’t common among the decision-makers at Fox and NBCSN.

In fairness, it should also be noted that NHL Network, BeIN Sports, Big Ten Network, Golf Channel, Tennis Channel, Pac 12 Network and NBA TV also didn’t interrupt programming to cover Ali’s death. SEC Network’s bottom line sent viewers to SportsCenter on ESPN for coverage.

Rest in peace, Cassius Clay(Muhammad Ali)

Rest in peace, Muhammad Ali. He really was the greatest.

Rest in peace.