Ali too came into the locker room and as the two legends hugged, a reporter asked Ali what he thought of Pele. “I don't know if he is a good player, but I am definitely prettier than him!” Once the laughter subsided, Ali would say, “Now, there are two of the Greatest!”
After Ali's death in 2016 due to Parkinson's, Pele assured that he had lost a special person in his life: "my friend, idol and hero. I wish him to rest with God". The Brazilian star shared on his social networks a photograph of the afternoon of his retirement, precisely receiving Ali's congratulations.
Among them was Pele's best friend Manoel Maria, who is also a former Santos player. "If I had all the wealth in the world I would never be able to repay what this man did for me and my family. He was as great a man as he was as a player; the best of all time. His legacy will outlive us all.
"Float like a butterfly. Sting like a bee. You can't hit what your eyes don't see." Why we love it: Ali's most famous quote deserves all the love it gets.
Muhammad Ali quotes that are inspirational:
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” “If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it — then I can achieve it.” “A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”
He was given a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. * The U.S. Army measured Ali's IQ at 78. In his autobiography he said, “I only said I was the greatest, not the smartest.”
1. Muhammad Ali. The Greatest was not only one of the best heavyweights of all time, he was also one of the most colorful. He won the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics and went on to become the first boxer to win the heavyweight title three times.
"I'm the greatest thing that ever lived. I don't have a mark on my face and I upset Sonny Liston, and I just turned twenty-two years old," the exuberant new king of boxing's glamour division said after his stunning triumph at Miami Beach Convention Center in 1964. "I must be the greatest.
1975. Muhammad Ali converted to Sunni Islam. Ali also was interested in the Sufi tradition, the mystical way of approaching the Islamic faith. Sunni Islam is the largest sect of the religion with about 1.1 billion adherents worldwide.
Ali's place in boxing history as one of the greatest fighters ever is secure. His final record of 56 wins and 5 losses with 37 knockouts has been matched by others, but the quality of his opponents and the manner in which he dominated during his prime placed him on a plateau with boxing's immortals.
Maradona – 34
He scored many goals for the Brazilian team to contribute to their rise to fame. Pele played a total of 92 games for Brazil and scored 77 goals in his career whereas Maradona played a total of 91 games and scored a total of 34 goals.
Pele won the World Cup three times, in 1958, 1962 and 1970, a football milestone no other player has yet achieved. In 2000, Fifa named Pele as the player of the century along with Argentina's Diego Maradona, who died in 2020 at 60.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pele, was a football pioneer. He has passed away at the age of 82 after a battle with cancer. He was born with the ball at his feet.
Ali said: “That man was beautiful. Timing, speed, reflexes, rhythm, his body, everything was beautiful. "I'd say I'm the greatest heavyweight of all time, but pound-for-pound, I still say Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest of all time."
Clip: Episode 2 | 6m 15s | Prior to his match against Foley, Ali received news he had been drafted to fight in Vietnam. When Ali arrived to be inducted in the United States Armed Forces, however, he refused, citing his religion forbade him from serving.
Muhammad Ali's first loss happened at the hands of Joe Frasier in 1971 via a unanimous decision. It was Ali's first loss in 32 fights. Joe Frasier is an American boxer and a former Olympic champion.
Ali is highly regarded for his knowledge, belief, honesty, devotion to Islam, loyalty to Muhammad, his equal treatment of all Muslims, and his generosity in forgiving his defeated enemies. In addition, he is respected as the rightful successor of Muhammad.
Ali was a conscientious objector to the war in Vietnam in 1967, a principled stance that cost him financial and sporting success. It led to him being stripped of his world heavyweight championship at age 25 and a three-and-a-half year exile from boxing.
ʿAlī's role in the establishment of the written version of the Qurʾān is among the most important of his contributions to Islam. ʿAlī was also deeply involved in the military defense of the Islamic community, according to both Sunni and Shiʿi sources.
But in his private life, he was just a nice, quiet, calm person.” Ali was “good to people,” Hardin remembers. He always had time for his fans, he treated his employees well, and even though he was such a larger-than-life figure, he treated everyday people with respect.
Sugar Ray Robinson fought 202 times during a career that spanned three decades. Muhammad Ali called Sugar Ray "the king, the master, my idol." "Robinson could deliver a knockout blow going backward," boxing historian Bert Sugar said.
Muhammad Ali fought in 541 rounds while Tyson only fought in 211 rounds. That's an astounding 330 round difference or the equivalent of 27.5 more 12 round fights for Muhammad Ali. That experience simply can't be discounted. Muhammad Ali was a boxer who fought to embarrass and outclass his opponents.
Trevor Berbick, Larry Holmes, Leon Spinks, Ken Norton, and Joe Frazier are the five boxers who have beaten Ali.
Marilyn vos Savant (/ˌvɒs səˈvɑːnt/; born Marilyn Mach; August 11, 1946) is an American magazine columnist who has the highest recorded intelligence quotient (IQ) in the Guinness Book of Records, a competitive category the publication has since retired.