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welcome back to our ongoing coverage of the life and death of muhammad ali. i'm natalie allen along with my colleague, don riddell, from the world of sports. we're just trying to grasp the loss of muhammad ali. it's quite hard. one of the most legendary and iconic boxing greats of all time has died. people all around the world mourning the death of muhammad ali, the three-time world heavyweight boxing champion passed away friday evening in phoenix, arizona, where he had been hospitalized. he was 74. he had been at the hospital since thursday with what a family spokesman called a respiratory issue. family members, we're told, had gathered to be at his side. don king, the boxing promoter whose history with ali went back

decades, told us ali's spirit will go on forever. that's what he wanted to emphasize even during his sadness of losing muhammad ali. a spokesman for the family also issued a statement. quote, 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. muhammad ali's funeral will take place in his hometown of louisville, kentucky. the ali family would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and support and asks for privacy at this time. don. >> yeah, muhammad ali was always at his best in the ring but also in front of a microphone. he had a way with words like no one else before or frankly since. ali used that talent to back up his other one, his skill in the ring. and he wouldn't just beat his opponent. he'd tell them how he was going to do it before they'd even stepped in the ring. take a listen to one of his best. >> i'm afraid that we don't have

that sound bite for you, but just take my word for it. he used to do it a lot. he used to name his round and more often than not, he would deliver on it. >> and deliver it in rhyme as well when he was threatening his opponents. we want to turn now to david mckenzie. one of our correspondents kind of gauging the reaction from around the world. david, to talk about one of ali's most famous bouts, 1974's rumble in the jungle against foreman there in africa. you're joining us now live from nairobi. hi there, david. >> well, natalie, you know, and don, george foreman was considered to be the greatest at that time. ali had obviously lost his previous bout, had been stripped of his title after controversy in the u.s. and it all centered here on the african continent in then zaire, in kinshasa, became known as the rumble in the jungle. it was immortalized in the film "when we were kings."

throughout africa, there have been tributes, kmem rations pouring in from politicians, from ordinary citizens, from celebrities remembering the great man and remembering how he made africa the center of the world attention, particularly zaire at that time and kinshasa. it was an extraordinary boxing match between ali and foreman. very few people thought that muhammad ali, at age 32, could beat the undefeated foreman in the early hours of the morning, in that stadium in kinshasa with 60,000 congressenese fans. university shouting in support of muhammad ali. he did win in a late knockout in that match. and ali had an even deeper connection to one of africa's biggest icons, nelson mandela. famously sparring with him, with the great man, who himself was an amateur boxer before he entered politics. you know, mandela said that muhammad ali was one of his greatest sporting heroes and

admired him not just for his prowess in the ring but also for his moral conviction and his steadfastness through controversies in the u.s. natalie, don. >> right. and the two of those, you know, muhammad ali grew up in the civil rights era, and he was quite close with many civil rights proponents and activists including nelson mandela. it's nice to see that photo of them there together. thank you so much, david. we appreciate it. we'll talk with you again. well, as impressive as ali's punches were in the wring, of course we've been talking about it. his trash talk 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 ring today. that's my label. >> this might shock and amade ya, but i will destroy joe frazier. >> last week i went out to the young. i wrestled with an alligator. a tussled with a whale. i handcuffed lightning. threw thunder in jail. >> 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 tired of talking. >> 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. >> you can listen to these old clips forever. >> they really make me laugh, just seeing how much confidence he had. and i think he kind of cranked himself up on several occasions. you see the look on his face, like can i get away with this? he sees that people are into it. >> the media eating it up. >> absolutely. he was able to use this to really take a lead on defining his own personality. you know, some journalists, sports journalists will kind of write that they think they see. with ali, it was obvious what you were seeing. and he was defining his persona in front of their very eyes. you know, and that was huge for him and his celebrity. >> yeah, absolutely. anyone that might be having trouble with self-confidence right now, might want to just continue to watch muhammad ali,

right? well, reaction of course continuing to pour it on social media, on twitter. singer lionel richie tweeted, you will always be my hero. former boxer oscar de la hoya tweeted this out. rest in peace, muhammad ali. a legend who transcended sport and was a true champion for all. ufc and mixed martial arts fighter chuck lid del took to twitter to say in part, my heart hurts to hear the news just now about one of my heroes and one of the greatest boxers. and bernice king, daughter of the late civil rights leader martin luther king jr. tweeted, thank you, muhammad ali. you were a champion in so many ways. you fought well. rest well. he certainly deserves to rest well after what a life that he led. and i like something else that don king said to us earlier about the fact that here was a man who loved a challenge, didn't want to give up, was a

fighter all through his life, and was a fighter through decades of having parkinson's disease. and still had that manner about him that said he was enjoying life and being able to deal with that just goes to show what this man was made of. >> yeah, and you could see in the later years when physically he was really struggling and clearly his health was ailing. but if you just look into his eyes, you can see the sparkle was still there. you could still see the fire inside, you know, burning really quite brightly. and, you know, we've seen george bush presenting him with the medal of freedom, basically saying when you talk about the greatest, everybody knows exactly who you mean. he was still the imposing presence in the room. he still commanded so much respect and attention. and, you know, he just had it. and it is a tragedy because when you look at some of the earlier fights and what he was able to

achieve, and after the rumble in the jungle, the journalists who were covering that fight saw the way he was interacting with the people in zaire, and they were saying, this guy is a political figure. he could have gone on to achieve so much had this illness not got the better of him. and in the end, the fight was kind of his own private fight. but it's a real shame because we were robbed of another 30, 40 years of greatness that we could have had from muhammad ali that was denied us by his illness, which more than likely was brought on by, you know, the ferocious amount of hits he took during his career in the ring. >> right. it's interesting, what was the moment that everyone knew -- and i know that his trash talking and all of that made him no interesting. no athlete had ever done it like that. he started defending himself and talking about himself. what was the moment in the boxing ring that everyone knew, whoa, we've got something here? >> well, i mean i think they

knew he was special from the age of 22 when he took sonny liston's title. i believe he was the youngest at that time to take the title off a defending champion. it was the way he conducted himself in the ring and the way he conducted himself out of it. and of course it was his very principled stance that he took, standing up for what he believed in, refusing to fight for the american military in vietnam. a stance for which he could have ended up going to jail, and he was prepared to stick to his guns on that one. and it cost him the best years of his career. i mean he wasn't able to fight for three to four years between 1967 and 1970. and it's an even greater credit to him that after being made to sit on the sidelines for so long, he was able to get his license back, get his fitness back, get back into the ring, become the world champion again for a second time, and then for a third time. so i mean it's a part of the great muhammad ali story that he

went through that, but that is why for so many people, he is this inspirational figure that he was so principled, and he stood for really what is right and what is good. of course before he was a boxer, he had so many challenges in his life, growing up where he did, racial injustice. you know, he really wanted to fight for that. he wanted to fight for religious freedom, for civil rights in general. he inspired so many people of his generation. >> someone earlier told us that he got his rage out through boxing. what a positive thing to use, and look what the world got as a result. ali had a larger than life personality, a quick wit to match. here's cnn's wolf blitzer with a look at the champ. >> reporter: th >> this is the ljnd of muhammad ali, the greater fighter that ever whether be. >> reporter: he proclaim ed himself the greatest and millions of fans around the world agreed.

>> 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. i can't be beat. >> reporter: 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. >> reporter: it also offered ali 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. >> i shook up the world! i shook up the world! >> reporter: 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 fopolarizing period in his life. he renounced his given and joined the nation of islam. 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, ali also gave um 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. >> reporter: 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, there's no contest. he better not fight like that with ali. >> reporter: 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 an 1971 match dubbed the fight of the century. it was the first of three fights with smokin' joe. >> joe's going to come out smokin', but i ain't going to be jokin'. i'll be pecken and pokin', pouring water on his spokein'. this might shock and amaze ya,

but this time i'll retire joe frazier. >> reporter: and retire him he did. the famous thrilla in manila fight ended after frazier's trainer stopped the fight in the 14th round, giving ali a technical knockout. he was on a roll again. but his greatest come back was in shin casa 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. >> reporter: 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 trembling but never wavering. ali remained the consummate showman. as his condition grew progressively worse, ali struggled each day to whisper a word. his hands and legs shook, and his voice quivered. >> i am the greatest. >> reporter: yet his spirit was never shaken, and he never slowed down from serving as an ambassador for peace 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 ]

>> reporter: and tributes for the champ continue. >> how do you feel about getting the honor tonight? >> reporter: 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 a 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 pray that you never meet me again. >> amazing memories there. you know, i'll tell you, even if you're not a fan of boxing, you know muhammad ali. >> absolutely. >> and i'm sure that you will have heard of the rumble in the jungle, the thrilla in manila, even if you don't know about

those fights. >> you've heard that growing up. >> they're used so many times. we can talk to a man now who was very much at the heart of the thrilla in manila. ronnie nathaniels. he's a veteran sportscaster and boxing commentator. he served as muhammad ali's liaison officer during this fight in manila. thanks soo mu much for being wi us. what are your thoughts today on learning the news that the great muhammad ali has passed on? >> you know, by a strange coincidence, because only last night that i was going through a story written on the thrilla in manila, and i was going through some memorable photographs of both of us together in different situations. this morning around noontime, i received a call from the associated press, from a young man called jim gomez, interviewing me about ali,

saying ali was -- you know, his health is deteriorating and what i remember about the thrilla in manila. after he put the phone down, two, three minutes later, the phone rang again. and he said, ronnie, while we were talking, muhammad ali passed away. >> oh, my goodness. >> to me, it's a distressing moment. i was totally distraught when i heard the news because he had been very -- we had been very close to each other. our friendship grew through the years. i saw him at the convention in atlanta when i kofrd the olympic games. his spirit was strong. then again i met him at the nba all-star game in new york, which i was covering. i told my companion on the

coverage, i said muhammad ali has just arrived. i'm leaving you. i'm going over there to see him. and i went, and i said don't get up, champ. we embraced, and then i could see a tear rolling down his cheek. he remembered. and lonnie, his wife, was the one who did the talking because he couldn't talk anymore. that was another memorable moment that i shared with him and will never forget. >> amazing memories, ronnie. the fight in manila, of which you were a key part, really has helped to define the legacy of muhammad ali. for those who may be watching who don't remember the fight or who don't necessarily know very much about it, why was this fight so important? what was it about this fight that has gone down in history as one of the most iconic fights of all time?

>> well, for one thing, there was a stage in the fight that ali was wanted to quit. i think it was in the 13th round. he was getting batter through the body by joe frazier, who was a tremendous body puncher. and he wanted to quit, and then they pushed him down and said, no, you've got to fight. so he went out and fought. and he ultimately won by a tko in the 14th round when the left eye of joe frazier was closed shut. many folks decided rather than hurt frazier any more, they decided to call it off. and ali said right after this fight it was the closest thing to dying. >> he took a lot of punishment that night. if you watch the fight back, it's actually quite brutal to watch. >> oh, yes, he did. >> to what extent do you think

that that fight that evening might have impacted the illness from which muhammad ali has been suffering for the last 32 years? >> you know, shortly before the fight, he was -- he had joe frazier in all sorts of trouble, but he didn't push it because his intention was to entertain the fans. and the fans -- marcos, the entire cabinet, his children, government officials, the armed forces. and it was hot and humid. but he wanted to continue. he wanted to put on a show. and he did put on a show, and it's called probably the greatest victory of all time in the heavyweight division. >> we thank you so much. ronnie nathaniels for talking with us. we know you're in the philippines now.

thank you for your reflections on that fight and your friend, muhammad ali. we appreciate you talking with us. we'll have much more right after this. oh, look... ...another anti-wrinkle cream in no hurry to make anything happen. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair works... ...in one week. with the... fastest retinol formula available. it's clinically proven to work on fine lines and... ...even deep wrinkles. "one week? that definitely works!" rapid wrinkle repair. and for dark spots, rapid tone repair. neutrogena®. "see what's possible."

welcome back to our breaking news. it was about five hours ago that we learned that muhammad ali was gravely ill. we knew he was in a hospital in phoenix, arizona, and that is where cnn's dan simon joins us now to talk about what we know about the death of muhammad ali. hello there, dan. >> reporter: well, hi, natalie. we know that muhammad ali died sometime this evening at this hospital behind me in scottsdale, arizona. we should tell you that phoenix really became muhammad ali's home. this is where he lived with his wife, lonnie, for the past several years. and he really loved this community, and the community loved him back. we know that he had been in ill health for the past -- expected this to happen so suddenly. the last word we got was that he

was in fair condition, that he was brought here to the hospital yesterday with some kind of respiratory issue. and then of course tonight we got the horrible news. i think the speed at which this occurred really caught a lot of people off guard, natalie. >> and thankfully, he had his family with him there tonight. >> reporter: that's right. his family was at his side. we are told that they're asking for privacy, but we do know that tomorrow afternoon in phoenix, there is going to be a briefing for the news media to go over some of the funeral details. we don't know when it's going to be, but we know that it will take place in his hometown of louisville, kentucky. expect those details sometime tomorrow, natalie. >> all right, dan simon for us live in phoenix. thank you. we want to continue now our breaking news coverage of the life and death of muhammad ali. up next here, remembering the

greatest. a cnn special report. >> announcer: the follow is a cnn special report. >> i'm too fast. i must be the greatest. >> he told the world he was the greatest before anyone believed him. >> it was fighter fought that w. he could jab and move back. >> worshipped in the boxing

ring, once vilified in the public arena. >> ali lost a title, came back ten years later, and won the title. that's unheard of. >> he was a poet. a prophet. >> he made me feel like i could walk on water. >> and a role model. >> i remember every conversation, which is amazing. he's always taught me make sure you exercise your soul and your spirit. >> a fighter till the end. tonight, boxing legend muhammad ali. >> the opening ceremony of the 1996 olympics in atlanta, georgia. >> but look who gets it next. >> a surprise guest expected onstage. >> actually, they kept that a big secret from everyone. the children didn't even know.

>> muhammad ali's daughter, miriam. >> i got a call, and i was told your dad's going to light the torch. call all your siblings. it was just a beautiful moment. >> the greatest. >> the crowd roared when they see the champion stage. and the world held its breath as ali, diagnosed with parkinson's disease a decade earlier, struggled to control the torch. >> he burned himself trying to keep his hand from shaking. and nobody knew it. that's ali. i don't want anybody to know i can't light that torch. that was ali. >> when ali let the olympic flame, it was an indelible moment in sports history. >> needhe needed that. he needed to see people still cared for him even with parkinson's disease. >> i've always wondered what it would be like. he's your father, but he's also

this world renowned figure. >> he always fought for freedom and love, and he wanted this country to be accountable for treating all human beings equal. he was like really more than just a boxer. ♪ >> he was really just the kid next door. born cassius clay jr. in 1942 in heavily segregated louisville, kentucky, the older of two boys to mom, odessa, a housekeeper, and dad cassius, a billboard painter. he grew up here. >> cassius didn't appear to be the greatest athlete when he was a kid. i don't think he even played basketball with us. >> robert coleman lived down the street. >> i remember ali punched me on the chest, and i said we can't play no more. >> at 12 years old, cassius discovered the power of his punch through an odd twist of fate, when his bike was stolen. he told a police officer he

wanted to beat up the thief. that cop, joe martin, was also a trainer, and encouraged him to try that aggression out in the ring. he was a natural. years later, martin and ali were reyeun reunited on tv's "this is your life." >> both of them together made me what i am today. >> cassius was hooked and dead serious about learning the ropes. he trained at two gyms, hitting the streets before school. >> you could tell he was going to be different. >> we'd ride the bus to madison junior high, and he would be running behind it, still training. we'd laugh at him. you're crazy. >> crazy fast and driven. and by the age of 14, he had six kentucky golden glove titles, and two national titles under his belt. by 18, cassius clay was an olympic champ, winning the gold medal at the 1960 summer games in rome. ali's longtime business manager

gene kill roy. >> i met him in the olympics. if they could have taken a mayor in the olympic village in rome, it would have been him. everybody loved him. >> where do you think the confidence comes from? >> he just believed in himself. >> cassius clay of chicago challenges gary jiesh. >> that confidence combined powerfully with his size, fast speed, and stinging jabs. he was a dancer in the ring. clay turned pro in the '60s, winning most matches by knockouts. >> why all the crowd and all the cameramen? why of course cassius has just hit town. >> as his star power grew, so did his voice. >> he ain't nothing but a chump. >> clay craved the spotlight and became as famous for his rants. >> this will be no contest. this will be a total annihilation. >> and rhymes. >> claiming to be the real heavyweight champ. >> as he did for his boxing.

any fight that involved him was a circus. >> now that you have your cool about you -- >> boxing announcer bob sheridan. >> athletes at this time prior to cassius clay were not brash and outspoken. >> they wanted those people in the seats to go and see him. he was a promoter's dream. >> i'm the prettiest fighter in the ring today. >> there's a fine line between confidence and brag doeshio, and i had no idea which side of the line he was on. >> sports writer jerry eisenberg covered most of ali's fights including the bout against sonny liston. >> lands a left jab on the nose. clay moving to his left as they said he would do. >> ali was in the ring with his hands down and was moving around like this. >> he was the only fighter that i ever knew who could punch moving backwards.

>> liston tagged him with a left high on the head. >> his knockouts came after he hit you and he hit you and he hit you, and finally you fell down. >> another left by clay. >> the big bear, sonny liston couldn't withstand clay's jabs. he was a beaten man by the sixth round. and didn't answer the bell in the seventh. >> the winner and the new heavyweight champion of the world is cassius clay. >> it was one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, and cassius clay, at 22 years old, became the youngest boxer to beat a heavyweight champ for the title. >> i'm the greatest thing that ever lived. >> next, ali's biggest fight came outside of the ring. >> under no conditions do we take part in wars and take lives of other humans.

i must be the greatest. i told the world. >> almost as quickly as cassius clay arrived, he vanished. >> his life changed the next morning. >> in 1964, after he stunned the nation by winning the heavyweight title, he joined the black separatists, nation of

islam, and became muhammad ali. >> did the two of you ever talk about why it was important for him to change his name? >> it was important to him because he did believe he had a slave name. he wanted a new identity. >> you know my new name. why are you calling me that? >> will your next fight be billed as cassius clay or muhammad ali? >> muhammad ali. >> the fact that he made this conversion from cassius clay to muhammad ali helped make him a figure in the arab world, in africa. it may not have been paying any attention whatsoever to american boxing champions. he basically was the sporting reflection of what would become the black power movement. >> if i'm going to die, i'm going to die a man fighting you. >> ali, famous worldwide, was a radical voice at home. he criticized u.s. involvement in the vietnam war and refused

to serve in the army as a muslim and a conscientious objector. >> tell me, champ, would you have been prepared to go into the army if it hadn't been for the vietnam war. >> under no conditions do we take part in wars that take the lives of other humans. >> ali turned for many from sports hero to villain. >> when he made that decision, a number of people in this country turned against him. >> a number of people didn't like him to begin with because he was what they call a braggart. then when the army came up, it alienated a whole other section of the country. >> heavyweight champion cassius clay, at a federal court in houston, is found guilty of violating the u.s. selective service laws. >> ali faced five years in prison, and in 1967 was stripped of his heavyweight title. banned from the sport at the prime boxing age of just 25. >> i loaned him $20 one day in front of the americana. >> so he was broke? >> he didn't have any money, and he didn't have any income.

>> but his gift for gab helped him earn money lecturing at universities. ali easily held his own. >> you won't even stand up for me in america for my religious beliefs and you want me to go somewhere and fight. but you won't even stand up for me here at home. >> in a war in which young black men, mainly without any money and with little education, were dying in disproportionate numbers, this young black man, outspoken, stands up and says, no. >> exiled from boxing for more than three years, ali even gave acting a shot, taking a part in the broadway musical "buck white." >> here's the world famous world heavyweight champion. >> he performed on the ed sullivan show. ♪ we came in chains >> his music career, not surprisingly, fizzled. in 1967, he got hitched to

belinda boyd. they had four children. >> he wanted all his kids to be with him in the summertime. so he got himself a pool. there's laila here, the twins, muhammad. >> ali doteding on all his children, seen here in a home video from the film "i am ali." >> you want to go with me? can you fight? >> he called them from the road with fatherly advice. >> i remember every conversation, which is amazing. >> many of those conversations were recorded. >> everybody's born for a purpose. what do you think you were born for? >> to make people feel better. to fix people up. >> that's good. that's good, miriam. >> i remember when i'd tell my dad he's too old to fight. >> to go look another another place like deer lake.

it might be possible if i like, i might fight again. >> no. don't fight again, please. >> but just for a man to ask me, an 11-year-old and get my take on it, it was amazing. he would ask about boys. >> while married to boyd, ali had daughter mia with another woman. >> i remember growing up, and he used to play boxing in the street. it would start with one person, and then there would be hundreds of people surrounding him. he never lost me, thank god. he just really was the glue that held it all together with his nine children. you know, my dad, if he makes mistakes, nine children and, you know, four wives, a couple of mistresses, what i love the most is that he doesn't pretend to be perfect. never has. that's why he's always taught me make sure you exercise your soul and your spirit. >> ali's spirit, his convictions about the war, never wavered. he stood his ground and eventually the nation came

around. in 1971, the supreme court overturned his conviction. he returned to the ring and got a chance to win back his title. billed as the fight of the century, it pitted ali against current champ, smokin' joe frazier. >> they were the two best fighters in the world. >> bing, pop, bing, pop, and frazier is plotting. he's got that left hook. you can make a comic strip about his left foot. >> the slugfest went the full 15 rounds. ali was losing but tried hard to psych out frazier. >> god says i'm the champion. when that happens, he slips a jab, steps inside, throws that left hook right on there. ali goes down.

>> it was ali's first ever professional loss. but he and smokin' joe were far from finished. >> joe frazier is in trouble because the muhammad ali joe frazier is going to meet is going to be better than the muhammad ali he met three years ago. >> when we return, the greatest comeback ever. >> i thought he was going to fall. this was going to be a long night.

too much speed. too fast. i'm too fast. >> it was 1974 and 32-year-old muhammad ali was on a mission. >> i'm going to retire the heavyweight champion of the world. that's right. if you think the world was

surprised when nixon resigned, wait till i kick foreman's behind. >> big george foreman was boxing's most feared fighter. destroying joe frazier in two rounds. >> i'm sitting on the throne. i thought i was doing a charitable contribution to muhammad ali by allowing him to fight for my title. >> the match was called rumble in the jungle. >> i was being offered 5 million to fight muhammad ali. i went to africa to get my money and beat up someone and go home. >> they want to be like me, i'm getting ready to go whip george foreman. >> but the locals fell hard for ali, and ali, seen here when "when we were kings," loved every minute of it. >> ali! >> he loved people, and i think that's why they loved him so much. >> 18-year-old veronica porsche was hired as a poster girl to promote the fight. >> we were told at the very last moment that we could go.

>> when does he start getting the butterflies? >> it was when -- we used to walk by the zaire river in the evening, and that was probably during those times. >> they would marry eventually. but first the fight that captured the world. >> george foreman is head hunting himself. ali tries to hang on. >> i hit him with all kinds of punches, and one thing about a power punker is every time you throw one big right hand, a left hook wide and wild, it's like ten miles of road work that's going away from you, and you'll never get it back. >> ali's got his gloves up here. so the round goes by. boom, boom. he's hitting gloves. boom, boom. he's going to wear him out. he's going to make him wear himself out. >> somewhere around the sixth round, i hit him and he folded, and i thought i got him now. he just fell down and whispered, is that all you got, george? that's when i realized this was going to be a long night.

>> round eight, ali leaned back on the ropes, purposely absorbing punch after punch until he was ready to attack. >> i never saw a fighter fall in sections. like his ankles hit the ground, his knees hit the ground. his chest hit the ground. and then he hit the ground. >> ali has won! >> against all odds, ali made one of the greatest comebacks in history. >> i told you, all of my critics. i told you all that i was the greatest of all time. >> ali lost the title and then came back ten years later and won the title. won the title, won the title. that's unheard of. >> i was a good fighter, very good fighter. but muhammad ali was better than me. >> a year later, ali got his revenge against smokin' joe frazier in their final brutal

fight called thrilla in manila. >> frazier is standing there with his legs the consistency of wet spaghetti. all ali has to do is walk three feet, push him. ali could not walk those three feet. neither one was ever the same again. they took everything they had out of each other. >> it's all over. >> frazier's trainer stopped the fight after the 14th round. ali won with a tko, ending one of the biggest boxing rivalries of all time. friends and family begged ali to hang up his gloves and go out on top. >> ali came up the aisle, and he said, this is the closest you fellas will ever see to death. i pleaded with him to retire, retire after this fight. retire, retire. >> abc sports announcer howard

cosell, who covered ali for most of his career, even tried to talk the champ down. >> he told me 3 1/2 weeks ago, one more fight. one big fight, a lot of money, and that was it. now there are more fights in the offing. why? >> well, because i've changed my mind, and i feel that i can go another few years. the fans want to see if. >> and that in effect is our show today. ali still the heavyweight champion of the world. knock it off! >> they loved each other, man. they really did. they were like brothers. they really were. >> over the next six years, there were ten more fights, two more marriages, and three more children. including daughter laila, who followed in her father's footsteps. >> just being muhammad ali's daughter, people are always going to want to test you. i've always been the one to take it on, and not want to back down. >> then muhammad ali would take on his toughest opponent. >> we saw the slurred speech, a

little slowness. >> how did you find out that your father had parkinson's? >> the diagnosis came years after he actually had it. that was a time when even the top researchers did not know that young people can get parkinson's. >> he was 38 years old. in 1982, after three decades of redefining boxing with a lifetime record of 56 wins and only five defeats, ali retired for good. >> the disease had a very slow progression for him and it hasn't stopped him from doing anything he wants to do. >> like that moment in 1996 that brought the world to its feet. >> once the most dynamic figure in sports -- >> that was a very positive highlight for him, and it was massive. i mean millions of people saw that. >> millions of fans all over the world continued to worship the

champ. >> when you say the greatest of all time is in the room, everyone knows who you mean. >> and in 2005, the one-time objector of conscience received the country's highest civilian award, the presidential medal of freedom. cnn's last visit with ali was at his home. the champ moving slower. his voice, barely a whisper. >> this was the gymnasium of my comeback. >> his spirits unshaken until the end. >> i still look at the guy and see the greatest. >> muhammad ali had no fear. >> he always fought for freedom and love. that was his mission in life is to help people. >> we were privileged to lay on hands on him a little bit. >> muhammad was bigger than boxing. >> but to say a great boxer, give that to some boxer. the guy was one of the greatest human beings i've ever met in my

life. >> i am the greatest! -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. >> hi, there. thanks so much for joining us. now, he battled parkinson's disease for more than three decades. the world is remembering the joy, the character, and the fighting spirit that only the man called the greatest could bring in and out of the ring. >> this is s