Muhammad Ali dies at age 74 after long battle with Parkinson's disease

ESPN.com news services

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, according to a statement from his family. He was 74.

"We lost a legend, a hero and a great man," Floyd Mayweather told ESPN.

Ali had been hospitalized in the Phoenix area this week with respiratory issues, and his children had flown in from around the country.

The Paradise Valley Police Department told ABC News that an emergency medical services call was made from Ali's address in the Phoenix area on Tuesday, and the Phoenix Fire Department confirmed that it responded at that time to a call for mutual aid for a 74-year-old male with respiratory issues.

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Muhammad Ali Dies: 'The Greatest' Boxer Dead at 74

By ABC NEWS

Three-time heavyweight champ Muhammad Ali, who charmed millions with his wit and confidence in the ring and inspired many more with his commitment to humanitarian causes has died, according to the family spokesman. He was 74.

"After a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74. The three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer died this evening,” said family spokesperson Bob Gunnell.

Ali’s funeral will take place in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, Gunnell said in the statement, adding "the Ali family would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and support and asks for privacy at this time."

Ali had been hospitalized for a respiratory issue June 2. At the time, a rep said he was in fair condition.

The late boxer's son, Asaad Ali, wrote on Instagram, "Forever grateful for everything you have ever gave me...You've shown me how to love the world in ways I didn't know possible."

His daughter Hani Ali tweeted, "Our father was a 'Humble Mountain!' And now he has gone home to God."

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Boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies aged 74

Muhammad Ali has died at the age of 74, a family spokesman has said.

bbc.com

The former world heavyweight boxing champion, one of the world's best-known sportsmen, died at a hospital in the US city of Phoenix, Arizona, after being admitted on Thursday.

He was suffering from a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by Parkinson's disease.

The funeral will take place in Ali's hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, his family said in a statement.

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Muhammad Ali, Titan of Boxing and the 20th Century, Dies at 74

By ROBERT LIPSYTE

Muhammad Ali, the three-time world heavyweight boxing champion who helped define his turbulent times as the most charismatic and controversial sports figure of the 20th century, died on Friday in a Phoenix-area hospital. He was 74.

His death was confirmed by Bob Gunnell, a family spokesman.

Ali was the most thrilling if not the best heavyweight ever, carrying into the ring a physically lyrical, unorthodox boxing style that fused speed, agility and power more seamlessly than that of any fighter before him.

But he was more than the sum of his athletic gifts. An agile mind, a buoyant personality, a brash self-confidence and an evolving set of personal convictions fostered a magnetism that the ring alone could not contain. He entertained as much with his mouth as with his fists, narrating his life with a patter of inventive doggerel.  (“Me! Wheeeeee!”)

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Muhammad Ali: Boxing legend dies aged 74

abc.net.au

Boxing great Muhammad Ali has died aged 74 in a Phoenix hospital following a short battle with a respiratory illness.

Ali, regarded as the greatest professional boxer in the history of the sport, was admitted to hospital earlier this week with the illness and died on Saturday (AEST).

He had been suffering from Parkinson's disease for more than three decades.

"After a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74," Ali family spokesman Bob Gunnell said.

Ali compiled a 56-5 win-loss record as a professional boxer and won a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

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World mourns death of boxing legend Muhammad Ali dead age 74

Editor on duty: Stephen Wilson

MUHAMMAD Ali, the greatest boxer of his generation, has died at age 74 surrounded by family and friends in a Phoenix hospital.

Family spokesman Bob Gunnell has released a statement announcing the death of the three-time heavyweight champion boxer.

“After a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74.

“The Ali family would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and support and asks for privacy at this time.”

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Muhammad Ali, 'The Greatest' Boxing Legend, Dies at 74

by Mike Barnes

The most recognizable person on the planet gained fans in Hollywood and around the world for his exploits in and out of the boxing ring.

Muhammad Ali, the three-time heavyweight champion of the world and global icon whose magnetic charm and anti-establishment ethos made him someone Hollywood found impossible to resist, has died. He was 74.

Ali, named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated in 1999, died Friday at a hospital in Phoenix, a family spokesperson told ABC. In 1984, the boxer was diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome -- a disease thought to be brought on by head trauma -- and spent his last years increasingly shaky, immobile and quiet.

On Thursday, Ali was hospitalized for a respiratory issue as a precaution and by Friday, his issues were serious enough to draw family members to his bedside.

"After a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74. The three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer died this evening," family spokesperson Bob Gunnell said in a statement. The statement also reads, "Muhammad Ali’s funeral will take place in his hometown of Louisville, KY. The Ali family would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and support and asks for privacy at this time."

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Muhammad Ali, boxing champion and global good-will ambassador, dies at 74

By Matt Schudel and Bart Barnes

Muhammad Ali, the charismatic three-time heavyweight boxing champion of the world and Olympic gold medalist who transcended the world of sports to become a symbol of the antiwar movement of the 1960s and ultimately a global ambassador for cross-cultural understanding, died Friday night at a hospital in Phoenix, where he was living. He was 74.

The Associated Press and other news outlets confirmed the death. The boxer had been hospitalized with respiratory problems related to Parkinson’s disease, which had been diagnosed in the 1980s.

Mr. Ali dominated boxing in the 1960s and 1970s and held the heavyweight title three times. His fights were among the most memorable and spectacular in history, but he quickly became at least as well known for his colorful personality, his showy antics in the ring and his standing as the country’s most visible member of the Nation of Islam.

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Boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies aged 74

By Mark Ashenden

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali has died at the age of 74, a spokesman for his family has confirmed.

The three-time world heavyweight champion had suffered from Parkinson's disease since 1984 - three years after he retired from the sport.

In the days before his death, Ali had been admitted to hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, suffering from respiratory issues.

Reports had suggested his breathing problems had been complicated by his neurological disorder, which had long impaired his speech.

A statement from spokesman Bob Gunnell said: "Muhammad Ali's funeral will take place in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

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Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest sportsmen ever, has died at 74.

Mitch Abramson

He will forever be known as The Greatest.

Muhammad Ali, a sublimely skilled three-time heavyweight champion with unmatched charisma who became a transformative figure because of his personal beliefs, died on Friday at the age of 74.

Ali was taken by ambulance from his Phoenix-area home to a nearby hospital because of respiratory issues on Tuesday and reportedly declined as the days passed. No cause of death was provided by a family spokesman, other than complications with Parkinson’s disease.

The statement read: “After a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74. The three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer died this evening. The Ali family would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and support and asks for privacy at this time.”

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