human beings i ever met in my life. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >> i'm natalie allen along with don riddell from cnn sports and we continue to bring you breaking news of the death of muhammad ali, the boxer known as the greatest died, we reported about an hour and a half ago. he was 74 years old. the cause of death rite now unclear, but ali had struggled with parkinson's for more than 30 years. we do know he had been hospitalized in phoenix, arizona, since last thursday with breathing issues. don and i have been talking with people calling in since news of his death about the fact it's just impossible, don, to sum up who muhammad ali was.

the greatest boxer ever, but so much more than that. >> so much more than that. i mean i don't think there's any doubt that he is considered the greatest boxer of all time. three times a world heavyweight champion. arguably he's the most recognizable athlete of the 20th century. in his prime, he was a global icon. arguably the most recognizable individual on the face of planet earth. and he utterly transcended his sport. he was so much more than a boxer and a supreme athlete. he was an incredibly principled man. he stood for racial justice, religious freedom, and he really went above and beyond to make his points and stand up for what he believed in. it is tragic that we haven't seen the best of muhammad ali for some time. he died at the age of 74. public appearances from him in the last few years have been few and far between as he's struggled with parkinson's disease for the last 32 years.

but even in moments like this, you can still see the spirit within him, the passion and the fire and just the excitement for life within him. but as you can see, in later years he really was struggling quite a bit, and we didn't see quite so much of him publicly. as you say, he was admitted to hospital on thursday with breathing problems. i guess he went downhill fairly quickly. but we do know that many of his family members were with him at his bedside when he passed late on friday evening. >> ali had nine children, and his wife lonnie by his side. we are told by our reporter who is there in phoenix. there's so much you can say about the man. ali had a larger than life personality and, of course, a quick wit to match. he was a wonderful poet, wasn't he? >> a rapper. >> cnn's wolf blitzer takes a look back at the life of the champ.

>> this is the legend of muhammad ali, the greatest fighter there ever will be. >> he proclaimed himself the greatest, and millions of fans around the world agree. >> float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. >> those phrases became his motto. his wit would also make him one of the world's best known personalities. >> you look at me, i'm loaded with confidence. >> but his persona began to emerge long before he captured his first heavyweight championship. he was born cassius marcellus clay jr. in louisville, kentucky, during an ugly era of racial segregation in america. at 12 years old, ali's world would change forever when a local police officer introduced him to boxing. it became an outlet for his rage. >> cassius clay of chicago challenges gary jiesh.

>> it also allowed him an opportunity to develop his remarkable talent. just six years later, ali would bring home a gold medal from the 1960 summer olympic games in rome. he turned pro at the age of just 18, and at 22, he stunned the boxing world, defeating a fighter the experts thought was invincible, sonny liston. ali had arrived, and liston would never be the same. to prove the point, ali put liston away for a second time in a rematch the following year. the '60s were glory days for ali, but the civil rights era would also become a controversial and polarizing period in his life. he renounced his given name and joined the volatile black separatist nation of islam. almost as quickly as he had arrived, ali's heavyweight title was gone, revoked after he claimed conscientious objector

status and refused to serve in the vietnam war. at the peak boxing age of 25 he also gave up millions of dollars in endorsements and faced five years in prison all in defiance of a war he called despicable and unjust. >> my intention is to box, to win a clean fight. but in war, the intention is to kill, kill, kill, kill and continue killing innocent people. >> ali began a 3 1/2 year exile from championship fights until the u.s. supreme court overturned his conviction on a technicality. >> everybody that watches him train says no contest. he better not fight like that with ali. >> but the world would soon learn that even superman has his off days. ali was barely back in the ring when his undefeated professional record came to an end. he lost to joe frazier in a 1971 match dubbed the fight of the century. it was the first of three fights

with smokin' joe. >> joe is going to come out smokin', but i antd going to be jokin'. i'll be peckin' and pokein', pourin' water on his smokin'. >> retire him he did. the famous thrilla in manila fight ended after frazier's trainer stopped the fight following the 14th round, giving ali a technical knockout. ali was on a roll again. but his great athletic comeback was in can sha sa in what was then zaire. >> only last week, i murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick. i'm so mean, i make medicine sick. >> ali knocked out the heavily favored young champion george foreman. it was called the rumble in the jungle. his last fight in 1981 would mark the beginning of another battle that ali described as his toughest. the diagnosis that he was afflicted with parkinson's disease. after two decades of redefining

the heavyweight division, ali was forced to retire. his lifetime record, 56 victories, just five defeats. but he never retreated from living a very public life. in 1996, ali provided one of the most poignant moments in sports history. with 3 billion people watching, he lit the olympic flame at the summer games in atlanta. his hands tremendous being but never wavering. ali remained the consummate showman. as his condition grew progressively worse, he struggled each day to whisper a word. his hands and legs shook, and his voice quivered. >> i am the greatest. >> yet his spirit was never shaken, and he never slowed down from serving as an ambassador and a mediator in world conflicts. in 2005, ali was presented with the presidential medal of

freedom award, the nation's highest civilian honor. >> when you say the greatest of all time is in the room, everyone knows who you mean. [ applause ] >> and tributes for the champ continue. >> how do you feel about getting the honor tonight? >> ali was one of the most gifted and unique personalities in sports history. the world may never see the likes of him again. in the final chapter, few would argue that ali needed the crowds as much as they needed him. not for mere validation, but because each saw in the other the best in themselves. >> ali's got left. ali's got a right. if he hits you once, you'll sleep for the night. and as you lie on the floor while the ref counts ten, hope and frpray that you never meet

again. >> we certainly lost a giant in hu muhammad ali. >> i mean it's fantastic watching some of those old clips of him fighting. it is a very, very sad night for boxing fans and fans of muhammad ali all over the world. but i mean it's a nice to celebrate an incredible life. just everything that he achieved really will stand the test of time. and you look at his skills as an athlete. i mean such a fine athlete. a rather unusual style of boxer when he began. i mean he was actually better known for his reflexes than his hand speed. and the way he was able to outthink his opponents, i mean quite often he would take on opponents, and he was so quick at getting out of the way that he would basically force the opponents to lose their balance, and then he hit them on the counterattack. and when he beat george foreman in the rumble in the jungle, he really outwitted his opponent in that fight. he went tiny that fight knowing that his tactic was going to be

to let the other guy hit, wear himself out, and then when he was exhausted, he'd strike in the sixth, seventh, eighth rounds. that's what he did, and that's why he won one of the most iconic fights of all time. just a tremendous athlete but just a great human being. >> and i think it was don king who told us a short while ago, he could throw a wicked punch while he was going backwards. >> absolutely. >> so we'll be looking at what made him so fabulous in the ring, what made him so fabulous outside the ring. it's interesting to note he was a sunni muslim, and he stood up for his beliefs very powerful and hearing this probably bring more discussions during the climate we're having with the presidential election about races and people coming together right now. >> sure. >> we'll continue our look at the life of muhammad ali, and we will play our interview with don king as he talked about his friend, ali. we'll be right back.

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you're watching cnn's coverage of the death of

muhammad ali. we have lost a giant in the past couple of hours. we want to show you now laila ali's facebook page. she is one of muhammad ali's children and a boxing champion herself. her new facebook profile pic shows her with her dad, and on her page she posted a picture of her father with her own daughter, sydney, his grand daughter. she said in a caption above it, quote, i love this photo of my father and my daughter, sydney when she was a baby. she added, thanks for all the love and well wishes. i feel your love and appreciate it. from muhammad ali's daughter there. joining us now is cnn's dan simon. he is outside the hospital in phoenix, arizona, where muhammad ali died a short time ago. dan, any other words from the hospital about the death of muhammad ali? >> reporter: well, hi, natalie. at this time the details are a bit thin. we just know that he passed away

this evening. obviously this was a situation that nobody wanted to see. he was having some respiratory issued associated with his parkinson's disease. we know that his family was by his side. we know that he had been in and out of the hospital, natalie, for the past few years and had increasingly become frail. he was last seen in public a few months ago at a charity event here in phoenix, arizona. and of course everybody was just hoping for the best. they knew that he had been in poor health. and, you know, when we first got word about this last night, it was originally communicated to us that he was in fair condition. so really nobody saw this coming in terms of the speed in which it occurred. i can tell you outside of the hospital, there is a little bit of a police presence. something that you might expect in a situation like this. and of course you have the curious folks in the community who are coming out to take a look. obviously express their sorrow. we're beginning to see people

place some signs outside of the hospital and, of course, that's something that you'd expect to see throughout the night. natalie. >> yeah, and you can certainly understand why people have -- we've lost a champ, and people want a place to go. they want a place to remember. they want a place to congregate, and it's certainly understandable that people would come there because that is the place perhaps where muhammad ali drew his last breaths. do we know anything more about what his hospital stay has been? he came there on thursday, right? he was having breathing problems. is the hospital releasing any more information? are they announcing that they're going to release any more information in the next few hours? >> reporter: not at this time, natalie. we know that the family has requested privacy. however, tomorrow afternoon in phoenix, there is going to be a media briefing where we understand the family is going to release some details about the funeral.

at this point we just know that it's going to occur in louisville, his hometown. we don't know when it's going to happen, but some of those details should be forthcoming tomorrow afternoon, natalie. >> thanks so much. dan simon for us live in phoenix, arizona. well, a short time ago, we talked with don king. he had a long history with muhammad ali back in 1974. he promoted the heavyweight championship fight between ali and george foreman that became known as the rumble in the jungle, don. >> yeah, he also promoted ali's 1975 bout with joe frazier in manila, of course known as the thrilla in manila. i spoke with don a short time ago about his incredible experiences with muhammad ali. >> muhammad ali, you know, was a man of the people. he was a fighter for the people. i love muhammad ali. he was a friend for life, and he had -- he will never die. his spirit will go on forever, and he represents what every

athlete and sports person in life will try to do. an attitude of going out there and getting it done without any equivocation. success. what he was after, the goal he was after, he was just fabulous. so he was just a great human being and a champion of the people. the greatest of all times. >> when you first met him, what was it that attracted you to him as an athlete and as a boxer? what was it he had that the other guys just didn't? >> he had an attitude that he cared for people and little kids and old people. you know, he would go out and do things without any type of trying to find any type of publicity or any type of aggrandizement. he would do it because it was in his heart. he was a very jovial person, a person that you could deal with. he was one of the masses, you know what i mean? and he would fight for the masses, for what's right and

what's wrong. and he would stand up for what his beliefs are. no one can truly say how great muhammad ali really was because during the height of his career is when he run into the encounter of being charged with draft evasion and that he wouldn't go to the war, but he was a conscientious objector, and he believed in that. therefore, he stood his ground on what he was, and they took him through all type of trials and tribulations. but he rose to the occasion to prefer to go to jail than to break what he believed in. and that's why everybody loved him. friends and foe alike because he stood up for what he believed in and he fought for the will of the people. so the supreme court of the united states vindicated him with that glorious decision that came in his behalf, and it was just like, wow. it was like heaven on earth because this young man, those four years that he lost at the height of his career, they can never say how good he would have

been because he did all this greatness after being held out from practicing his trade at the height of his career. he sacrificed, and he had something to lose. and that's when you can really tell a person when they have something that they will be able to lose when you put them to the test. and he stood the test of time. i loved the man. >> and he was incredible when he came back after losing, as you say, three, four of the best years of his career. early on, don, people didn't really know what to make of him. he was so brash, so bombastic. i mean you look back at his press conferences now, and they're just juteabsolutely ama proves, and it was all off the cuff. in the early days, he was quite polarizing and controversial. what do you think turned the public opinion in his favor? >> well, because he stood steadfast, tenacious in his belief, and firm. he said what he means. and he means what he said.

and this is what you can win the people with because when you got everything to gain -- and he had everything to gain by just going along with the system, but he fought the system for righteousness. and in so doing he gained fame, but more importantly the loyalty of the people. the people that didn't like him had to respect him, and that's really all you have to do is to deal with respect thmpt . this is what turned him around because he kept his brash statements. he stayed right there with it. he was a visionary, he would prognosticate what he would do and then go out and do it. so he was a fighter for the people. he was the greatest of all times. and, you know, i coined a phrase for him. i said every head must bow, every knee must ben, every tongue must confess that thou aren't the greatest. the greatest of all times, muhammad ali.

this is what he exemplified, and he demonstrated that with the love of the people. he was a tremendous, tremendous not only just a boxer, a great human being, and he's an icon, and his spirit will never die. ali will never die like martin luther king. the president that i love, john f. kennedy, all of them had ways and means of saying things that will be able to incite and get people motivated and inspired to do what was right and stand their ground on what was right. and that's why muhammad ali will never die. >> don, you're absolutely right. he transcended his sport and at his peak, he was arguably the most recognizable figure on the planet. you traveled the world with him. are there any stories or memories you can recall which really exemplified that? >> it's a multitude. when he was fighting, when we made the fight for him to go to

kinshasa, zaire, he told me, i'm going to show you something. i'm going to do this. i said, yes. but we couldn't get the fight. george foreman, one of the greatest guys in the world, he didn't want to fight muhammad ali because he said that ali, you know, he was old, and the people loved him. and if he beat ali, he would be -- instead of getting credit for beating ali, they would say he beat an old man. and he said that if he hurt him, that would be the end of his career, if he hurt muhammad ali. he said, so i don't really want to fight ali. and besides that, he talks too much. and from that talked too much, i got george to agree. now he goes in there and he introduces the rope-a-dope.

an awesome, devastating puncher. and he beat george foreman. then we go over to 1975. he goes into manila, the thrilla in manila. all right? so here's a guy then he's fighting joe frazier and one of the greatest fights that ever took place in the history of the sport. you know what i mean? and eddie butch, god bless his spirit, he stopped that fight in the 14th round. he wouldn't let joe go on because joe would go on forever. but he said he wasn't going to let that happen. and ali said, this is the closest i've ever come to death. so now, you know, death has caught up with him. but like you say, death will not put him to sleep forever because he will live forever. the spirit, his house down here on earth, he has vacated. but he has gained the aplomb and respect. muhammad ali is a legend in his

time, but he's a fighter for the people. that's why he's always said never forget where you come from and stand up for what you believe in. >> yeah, he came up with so many quotes, muhammad ali. didn't he? one ofy favorites, live every day as if it's your last because one day you're going to be right. we haven't seen much of him in public really for the last 20 years. i mean we go back to atlanta '96, the olympics when he lit the caldron and that's really the last time many of us can remember seeing him in public. did you have a chance, don, to speak with him in more recent times, and how would you describe his spirit more recently? >> his spirit is solid as ever. he wasn't a man that would take defeat. defeat was not in his vocabulary and not in his behavior. whatever he took on, it was a challenge, and he would fight the challenges just like others would have done with parkinson's or other diseases that would be

as demoralizing, especially to a person who was as loquacious as he was, who was so high-spirited and, you know, it was just tremendous. but he'd never say die, you know. it was remarkable because, you know, they coined the phrase, float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see. rumble, young man, rumble. muhammad ali would emulate all that. so he would challenge anything and everything in the sport of boxing, and he rose to the occasion, you know? and he made every fight was a tough fight. he never would put an opponent down. instead of running away from signing autographs and things, he would take time every day in hotels to sit down in the lounge or whatever area to meet the

people and especially to motivate and inspire the kids and to be able to hug and talk to the people. you know what i mean? so he was just a tremendous people person, and that's what i love about him. in fact, he brought me into the business. he brought me into the business. i was not in the boxing business. muhammad ali was my first fighter. he brought me in. and after we put on his show in cleveland ohio to keep the hospital doors open for four city hospitals, he said, you should go into boxing. i sa he said, you are a great promoter and you should go into the sport of boxing. said you want me to go in boxing? let me promote you. he said, you got it. you know what i mean? so we started out working together because i know him before. when he went into exile, i went into prison. and when i come out of prison, he was -- he came out of exile

about maybe seven, eight months before i got out of prison. so he fought jerry quarry, i think, in atlanta. but he was waiting on me when i came out, you know. and when the people asked me to help him at this hospital, i called on him, and he was right there to put on a show for people care. he fought four, five, six opponents in one night, and it was just -- it was just incredible. he focused the plight of that hospital nationwide and worldwide, and good year and firestone companies, they came in as supporters and people came in and, you know, working and supporting and kept that hospital open because it only serviced the poor white and the colored community. so it was a tremendous thing. he's always been right there, johnny on the spot, anything he could do for the betterment of mankind. >> don, you did a great job of promoting him. he did a great job of promoting himself. he really was a wonderful human

being as you say. this is a very, very sad evening, but this is a life to be celebrated. don king, muhammad ali's former promoter. thanks very much for joining us on cnn tonight. >> let us say, let us celebrate his life. this is not a time to mourn. this is a time to try to emulate the job that he was doing and the burden that he leaves behind for us to carry on. to remember that the people are the most important. >> well said. don king, thank you very much. >> back here live now with don riddell. you cover sports every day, don, all over the world. but there is none other like muhammad ali. not even close. >> no. i would agree with that. i mean i've said this before this evening. really was one of a kind. the way he conducted himself at his craft and in the ring, the way he trained. but the way he represented himself outside of the ring. an inspiration to so many people, not just athletes but to so many people all over the world for the way he stood up for what he believed in.

civil rights, a role model to so many people. and, you know, so many athletes who have come since i think have all modeled themselves to some extent on muhammad ali and the way he conducted himself. >> that would be a good thing to do, to model yourself after muhammad ali. one had said that he grew up in the troubles '60s as a young man and learning to box helped give an outlet for the rage that he felt as far as az circumstances. we're continuing our live coverage right after this on the life and death of muhammad ali. we'll talk with one of the now famous photographers who took so many phenomenal pictures of muhammad ali. back in a moment. & in a world held back by compromise, businesses need the agility to do one thing & another.

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welcome back. we're live in atlanta, and we continue to bring you the breaking news of the death of legendary boxer and man, the greatest, muhammad ali. ali died in phoenix, arizona, after being hospitalized thursday. the man known as the greatest was 74.

>> the veterans sports illustrated photographer neil leifer has photographed ali throughout much of his boxing career. leifer looks back at his interactions with the champ and shares some of the stories behind some of his most famous photos. >> i like to call what ali has visual charisma. there are some people that like the camera. muhammad, whether he was in the ring or in the studio, he has this charisma. he just seems to do whatever the things are that one does to make good pictures. muhammad ali turned 70 on january 17th. i first photographed ali as a 19-year-old kid, and i've been lucky enough to ride his coattails for the last 50-plus years. i've done 35 of his fights. then i've had my photographs of muhammad on the cover of sports illustrated 12 times. i'm afn asked do i have one favorite photograph? may favorite picture ever, it's

a remote camera looking straight down on the apron. it was the cleveland williams-ali fight. it is far and away my favorite picture. much more -- i don't want to say more important to me than ali standing over sonny liston because i know that my legacy is going to be that picture. but you had to be in the right seat at the liston ali fight. so i was in the right seat. the cleveland williams picture had nothing to do with luck. it was something i thought about. it was something i made happen. it was something i worked on to get it perfect. and it's the only picture i've taken in my life where even today i look at it, and there isn't anything i would change. you talk to anybody that was lucky enough to cover muhammad ali during his boxing career and even now, and they're all in love with him. and the reason for it is muhammad ali never ran out of time for anybody. i'd come back to sports illustrated with the pictures

and they thought, geez, the man is good. he's genius, you know. well, you couldn't miss. he was one of those guys occasionally he'd come in and say, okay, you got 20 minutes today. you took too long last time, neil. and an hour later he was suggesting things. and the most recent one in a lot of ways maybe is the most exciting. it was a fabulous experience, and i found that if i waited patiently for the right time of day, he's never looked better. i always thought of my own ideas, and then suddenly, you know, something happens. magic happens. with ali on this recent shoot, the lead picture in the magazine is this thing he's done for a million years where he gets in that boxing pose. well, i didn't ask him to do that. he was standing there, and suddenly he turned into the old fighter, you know. and he just knows -- he just makes good pictures. >> and even though we couldn't hear from ali in the later years, you can see that in his eyes that he's very much the champ. he's very much there giving that

sparkle the best he can with his smile. >> that's right. >> and you met mr. leifer, talked with him about following ali all those years. >> yeah. i went out to meet him at sports illustrated in new york a few years ago, and actually some of those photographs that he was just talking about were there framed on the walls. and that spectacular picture of the cleveland williams fight with williams just lying on his back like this. and leifer is absolutely right. he really had to be incredibly creative to capture that picture, the picture looking down on the ring with ali victorious. and it's just beautiful symmetry. but he is right. this picture that we're seeing behind us now of ali standing over sonny liston is the iconic picture. and there's more to it than just ali's victorious pose. look at the man between ali's legs. he's a photographer on the other side of the ring who doesn't have a shot. like a photographer should have his camera over his face. he doesn't because he doesn't have the shot. that was actually leifer's boss

or mentor, and they had gone to the fight together. >> leifer got it over his boss. >> and the story goes that he said, you know, neil, you're the young rookie, you know. stick with me. i'll show you what to do. be on this side. he said, no, i'm going to go on the other side. of course you can't possibly know at a fight which is going to be the good side. but leifer took his chance. he got this amazing picture which has stood the test of time. as they say, it's not just a picture of ali winning an historic fight. it's the fact that leifer has got the picture of his boss failing in the moment. >> you see the photographers there scrambling to get their cameras up close by. >> you're not going to get a shot from that angle around the back. >> it's just indescribable. really amazing. as we've been saying, as impressive as ali's punches were in the ring, his trash talking was legendary. here are some of ali's best moments. >> i don't like fighters who talk too much. ♪

>> i must be the greatest. >> float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. >> i'm the prettiest fighter in the rings today. that's my label. >> this might shock and amaze ya but i will destroy joe frazier. >> last week i went out to the jungle. i wrestled with an alligator. i tussled with a whale. i'm bad, man. >> can i dance? is the pope a catholic? >> the man to beat me hasn't been born yet. >> i'm the greatest. >> last week, i murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick. i'm so mean, i make medicine sick. >> look at me now. don't tell me that ain't a perfect specimen of a man. look at that body.

slim, trim, and on my toes. >> i don't get hit. i'm the fastest thing on two feet, man. are you crazy? >> i'm not only a fighter. i'm a prophet. i'm the resurrector, i'm the savior of the boxing world. if it wasn't for me, the game would be dead. >> muhammad ali. perhaps he was the inventor of trash talking. i think he was. of course all kinds of reaction today coming on twitter. muhammad ali is taking up all the top trending spots on twitter. he deserved that. of course boxer roy jones jr. tweeting, my heart is daep deeply saddened yet both appreciative and relieved that the greatest is now resting in the greatest place. fellow boxer mike tyson tweeting, god came for his champion. so long, great one. george foreman tweeting his condolences. ralph, ali, frazier and foreman. we were one guy. a part of me slipped away, the greatest piece.

we'll have more of our coverage right after this. everything these days. awards for rolling balls. awards for spelling words nobody uses. we get it. you're smart. they give awards for haircuts for dogs. awards for scientific theories. i've got a theory. nobody cares. but people care about cheese. cracker barrel has won awards for their delicious cheddar and they put that cheddar in a new macaroni & cheese. now, that's an award worth winning.

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if you're just joining us here at cnn, we've lost a great one in the past couple of hours. legendary boxer muhammad ali has died. the greatest was 74. muhammad ali had a style and flare that remains unmatched to this day. dominating his opponents physically and verbally. but outside of the ring, the champ threw a few punches and took a few too. here's cnn's wolf blitzer. >> i shook up the world! i shook up the world! >> reporter: shook it up like no athlete before or since. born cassius marcel us clay jr. in 1942, muhammad ali first put on a pair of box is gloves at age 12 and six years later burst onto the scene as a brash but incredibly talented champion at the 1960 olympics.

his star and voice rising as he turned pro, ali stepped up against sonny liston for the heavyweight title four years later. >> you look at me. i'm loaded with confidence. i can't be beat. >> when liston could not answer the bell for round 7, cassius clay had arrived. >> come here, champ. >> i'm the greatest thing that ever lived. >> reporter: but almost as quickly as he arrived, cassius clay was gone, after joining the nation of islam in 1964, clay changed his name to muhammad ali. he criticized u.s. involvement in the vietnam war and refused induxz in the army as a muslim and as a conscientious objector. the year was 1967. ali was sentenced to five years in prison, which he never served, and was stripped of his heavyweight championship and suspended from boxing for three

years. the u.s. supreme court reversed his conviction in 1971. ali's undefeated record as a professional came to an end in '71 when he lost to joe frazier in 15 rounds. it was the first of three fights with smokin' joe culminating in the famous thrilla in manila, which ali won by a technical knockout after the 14th round. after two decades of redefining the heavyweight division, ali retired with a ring record of 56 victories and just five defeats. in 1984, he was diagnosed as suffering from parkinson's syndrome. but while over time ali's voice was quieted, his spirit was not. he provided one of the emotional high points at the 1996 summer olympic games in atlanta when, with trembling hands, he lit the olympic caldron. in 2005, ali joined the distinguished company of people like former president jimmy carter and pope john paul 2nd as a winner of the presidential

medal of freedom. muhammad ali, one of the most charismatic figures in sports history, and he knew it. >> i am the greatest. >> i love this old, old footage of him. he's who he was from the very start, don. >> so theatrical. the thing that impressed me when i started to learn about muhammad ali -- sadly i'm not old enough to have watched his fights and enjoyed them while they were happening. but when i first saw the documentary film "when we were kings" and he's regailing the media with so much confidence and charisma, talking in rhyme, basically rapping, i just assumed that this was an actor playing muhammad ali because i can't believe anybody would have been that good. but i mean he was absolutely amazing. i mean he was just an incredible performer and a showman both inside the ring and outside the ring.

a great ambassador for boxing. a great ambassador for sport, and a man who was so principled and who lived his life in that way. and that is why so many people who are tuning in and learning of the news of muhammad ali's passing will be so sad today that we really have lost such a great man, such a great human being. but as we were saying to don king earlier on, it is a sad day, but it is a day of celebration because of all that he achieved in his life. >> it's what he gave us throughout his entire life, what he gave the world. not just to boxing. all of us. can you imagine the people around the world right now and their response to this news of muhammad ali. we have several reporters around the world helping cover this story for us because he wasn't just an american boxer. he was an international icon. andrew stevens is in our hong kong bureau right now to tell us more about the thrilla in man a manila. andrew, hello.

>> reporter: fun to say, brutal to watch, though. as we heard from that obituary from wolf, this was the third of three fights against joe frazier in manila. and it was -- it's gone down as one of the greatest fights ever. but also one of the most brutal. it was two boxers past their prime but with amazing determination, still skills and still strength. and they pounded each other over 14 rounds. ali won the early rounds. frazier won the middle rounds, and it got down to the end of the 14th round, and frazier's trainer basically threw in the towel. frazier couldn't see through one eye. he could barely see through the other eye. and he lost on a technical knockout, a tko as it was. i remember actually. it dates me somewhat, but in a small town in australia in the school ground talking about the thrilla in manila. it transfixed us then as kids in

rural australia, listening to and watching this muhammad ali, who he was. he was an absolute hero at our school. and, you know, we were glued to the radio, listening to that fight. and, you know, ali walked away as the champion of the world. that was a world championship fight. and with the claim of the greatest because he had beaten frazier over three boxing fights by 2-1, and he kept that title. and frazier said afterwards, i hit that man with blows that would have brought down the walls of a city, and ali withstood it. ali himself was quoted as saying after that match that it's the closest he's ever come to feeling like he was dying. just gives you an idea of what was going on there, the strength of that. and right around the world, there was this -- you know, people were tuning in like the rumble in the jungle, the thrilla in manila.

arguably some would say a better fight, certainly some would say a more brutal fight. >> don riddell is here with me, and i think he said of the thrilla in manila, don -- they said you've got to go back and watch that. it was amazing. that was hell. why would i ever want to watch hell? >> it is an incredible fight to watch, andrew. you're absolutely right. and even watching it now, it's quite difficult at times to watch that fight. i mean the buildup to this fight was very, very tense. there was a lot of animosity between the two guys. i think they really did hate each other in the ring. and towards the end of the fight when they're just exhausted, you can hear the commentator saying, i think they just about thrashed the hate out of each other during these brutal 14 rounds. andrew, one of the things a lot of people might not realize is this fight was actually held at 10:00 in the morning at a time when the temperature conditions were absolutely awful. i mean i think it was 100 degrees. the air was just hot and sticky and stifling. just fascinating to sort of look

back on that time and see, you know, the conditions that these fights were held in so they could be watched by an american audience back home. i'm really curious because you've covered this area a lot. i mean what do people in the philippines make of the fact that this historic fight was held in manila, you know, and people still talk about it? >> reporter: yeah, i mean boxing is huge in mill nil la. across the philippines to this day. and a lot of reason for that is that fight. it brought the world's attention to manila. there was a political angle to this as well, don, because this was in 1975, three years after ferdinand marcos became the basically dictator in the philippines. and this was seen as almost like a hearts and minds move on his part to bring about this fight to manila. and tickets were dirt cheap. so ordinary filipinos could, if they could actually scrounge up a ticket, could get there.

but enormous following in manila. as you say, conditions absolutely brutal. the coliseum arena was basically -- it had a tin roof. the philippines, if you've ever been there, bakes at the best of times. everything was heightened. it was steamy, and it was over 14 hundreds. i just want to read you a quote. manny pacquiao, probably the most famous of all philippines boxers, tweeted today, we've lost a giant today. boxing benefited from muhammad ali's talents, but nearly as much as meng kind benefited from his humanity. that's what you're seeing time and again, guys, on twitter. that's the thing. he was an unbelievable boxer, but he was much bigger than that. >> i love all the stories that we're hearing and it's nice to hear from manny pacquiao. of course his publicist, the former publicist of muhammad ali. thank you so much andrew for us there in hong kong. we'll continue our live coverage

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