welcome to an msnbc special remembering muhammad ali. he was a boxer that preached peace. a fighter that fought harder for what he believed in and as he told us many times he was the greatest. muhammad ali died at the age of 74. he suffered from parkinson's disease. a disease most likely caused by boxing. he was surrounded by his family when he died. a family spokesperson talked about those emotional final moments with ali.

>> monday night he was in the hospital and he was in fair condition and we expected that to be the case. muhammad battled back many times and we expected it to happen this time. the family was called when things became more serious. still had a lot of hope that goithz it was going to turn around but it became clear in discussions that his condition wasn't going to improve so, you know, they were able to bring all family members in the last 24 hours when we knew that things weren't going to improve. they were given time to say good-bye. >> as the world mourns the loss of the legend so does muhammad ali's hometown of louisville kentucky, the american flag was lowered to half staff and the

mayor paid tribute to ali. >> muhammad ali belongs to the world but he only has one hometo hometown. [ applause ] >> the louisville lip spoke to everyone but we heard him in a way no one else could. as our brother, our uncle, and our inspiration. >> nbc's craig melvin joins us with more from louisville. when can you tell us more about the funeral plans coming up later next week? >> harry, muhammad ali will return to where it all began here in louisville. this is not just where he was born. this is where he learned how to box at the age of 12. the story has been told a number of times today but his bicycle. his $60 bike had been stolen and

he said that he wanted to and a police officer and the officer said you should probably learn how to fight. that is how it all began. friday here in louisville there will be a very public funeral. we found out a short time ago president clinton will be among those who eulogize him. billy crystal as well. and it's private as well and and his way one last time and louisville and it's muhammad ali openly dedicated.

and a growing memorial behind me as well here. folks have been showing up thousands of the hours and them and dropping off balloons. and got the opportunity to talk to a number of them including one woman that is originally from peru and my conversation with her speaks to how he was so much bigger than boxing. >> when i was 4 years old and my dad back home in peru, he would say he's going to fight tonight so it was just amazing. so i been knowing about him since i was born through my dad. >> your father was an ali man. >> oh gosh he was an ali man and he came to kentucky.

i moved to kentucky about 20 years ago. when he came about ten years ago the first thing he said is i know ali was born here. i want to know where. i want to go to these museums. it was all about him. my house in peru you'll see a huge picture of muhammad ali. so you know how big of a fan he is. and it's all kinds of people from all walks of life. all parts of the puzzle. it's really something. >> he was and i think a hot of young folks don't necessarily appreciate this long before michael jordan. he was a global star. undeniably the most famous person walking this earth for the better part of two decades. i also had some conversations with some folks who never --

they didn't share the ring with him but they were boxers. here's what he told me and it's to be happy for all things and he put all the memories he had given everybody to try to be the best in their endeavors. >> take me back to that first time you met him. it was in the mid 80s. >> and i met ali and it was a great thing.

>> someone asked me did i ever want to break his record? i told them no. they asked me why. i said because i'd have to lose. i did break ali's record because i lost more than one time. it was just the fact that i found out that people that take chances sometimes you can fall short but you can get back up and that's what ali has proven. >> holyfield in his prime versus ali in his prime, who wins? >> well, you know, no one.

he said himself i'm the greatest. when i understand what he said you can learn from the people in front of you but you can't learn from the people behind you. >> i'm the greatest -- i'm the greatest that's ever been. and so you know what, i called it. it's better than anybody before you. and they're behind you they will never quit. >> a former five time

heavyweight boxing champion sharing his thoughts on the greatest of all time. you were here for the opening of the ali center. this is going to play a row on friday. are you planning to make it back to louisville for that? >> thank you for your time. sorry for your loss. >> thank you. >> and along with him thousands of others expected to line the streets here in louisville tennessee next week to say good-bye to their favorite son here. >> thank you so much for all of your hard work. appreciate it. >> he was the once in a lifetime personality that seemed to change everything he came in contact with. there was no place in the world that didn't know ali. here's hoda kotb with a look

back. >> it was one of the enduring images of a man they called the greatest. he struggled to light the torch and the whole world cheered him on. but a generation earlier the heavyweight champion of the world was reviled for refusing to fight for his country. what an improbable journey from out cast to hero. what an improbable life. he was a beautiful boxing machine. the heavyweight champ a record three times. >> i am the greatest. >> but muhammad ali's records only hint of his greatness. people saw in ali a symbol of defiance, courage, faith, racial

pride. if not for boxing he would likely be back in his hometown parking cars. >> he was the outrageous louisville lip. >> that's impossible. >> he was the most flamboyant self-promoter the sports world had ever seen. >> float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. >> but it was outside the ring where he became a truly transsen dent figure. he was in the great issues of his day. race, religion, the war in vietnam. >> he's the most profound influence in the century. >> he was there for his entire career. >> he really became a cause, a

symbol, a sign of something much larger than himself. so he became a hero. people did not have heros at the time. >> who is the heavyweight champion of the world? >> he was born in 1942. his father painted signs. and there was no protecting him from the indignities of segregation and racism. >> it was a city where blacks were in the back stretch of churchill downs they might have served mint julips. >> but it was a petty crime that gave direction to his life. he reported it to a policeman that happened to train fighters in his spare time.

he told him he would teach him to fight in case he ever caught up with the thief. >> it was a passion that did not carry over to his school work. >> muhammad went to an all black high school in louisville and graduated 376 out of class of 391. >> boxing allowed him to realize his dreams. and flew over. and he wanted to be the center of attention. >> he soared to become national an tour champion. >> in 1960 won an olympic gold medal in rome. in 1964 he was set for a title fight against the champion

sonny liston. >> he was the destroyer of flesh. >> angelo was his trainer for more than 20 years. >> they gave my guy no chance. they thought i was nuts. >> you look at me i'm loaded with confidence. i've had 182 fights and 22 professional fights and i'm pretty as a girl. >> before the fight he was a poet. >> it goes back and further and he'll be in a ring side seat. >> during the fight he was poetry in motion. >> he emerged as the most charming outrageous champion boxing had ever seen. after the fight he told reporters i don't have to be what you want me to be. it was the end of him and the birth of muhammad ali. he showed the world the possibilities of what a modern

black man could be. >> why do you insist on being muhammad now. >> what does it mean. >> muhammad means worthy of all praises and ali means most high. >> most of the public couldn't recognize the name change or the fact that he was the most visible face of the member of islam. >> there's a heaven in the sky and the colored folks die and go to heaven. >> he was reviled and he was hated. the black muslims were not well understood by white people. >> then in 1967 he refused to fight in vietnam. and when he wouldn't go, muhammad ali, holder of the most coveted title in sports was banned from boxing and vilified

by main and he was swept of his championship and criminally prosecuted. he thought he would never be allowed to fight again so he paid a heavy price for his believ believes. it was nothing less than revolutionary. >> it convinced me that it was possible for a black man to be able to stand up for something in this society. >> overtime, many people, reporters included begin to see ali in a different light. a martyr taking a stand against an unjust war.

>> he had become an impossibly complex and compelling figure. champion, showman, dissident. the supreme court overturned his conviction after three years but muhammad came back a changed man. he still had the heart of a warrior but the lightning fast speed and the feet of clay were gone. in 1971 he lost the decision in a titanic title bout against joe frazier. >> i know people that cried when he lost to joe frazier in the first fight. people were that upset about it. >> to his fans and by now they were legion, his fights had become more than sporting events. >> i can probably think of an

athlete that had that kind of power. >> never was that power more in evidence than 1974. the rumble in the jungle. ali faced a young and heavily favored george foreman. he regained the title. it was the tough of legend. and when i get the gorilla in manila. >> he was the closest thing you'll ever see to death. >> and muhammad ali lying on the noor. ali is still the heavyweight champion of the world. >> his journey made him the most

recognized man on earth and the cultural icon. in the world of comic books he could whip anybody. even superman. in the real world at the end of his career mere mortals got the better of him. he couldn't step out of the spotlight. he lost three of his last four fights. when you're if greatest in the world it's hard to be convinced that you can't do it. >> he might have been the greatest fighter of all time but after more than 25 years the not so sweet science of boxing exacted a terrible toll.

>> doctors found parkinson's syndrome. the result of too many blows to the head. >> we're going to have a big fight. >> but with his fourth and final wife at his side he remained remarkably active he never wanted people to feel sorry for him but for those that remembered him in his youth a certain sadness was unavoidable. >> he was so alive and so full of life. he was so exuberant and he's a constant reminder of our own mortality. they wanted him to always be the way he was and that's not life. that's not the way it is. >> strangely those that knew him best said ali never understood how much he meant to people until the night he was is

surprise and secret choice to light the flame at the olympic gails. there he stood before a packed stadium and 3 million more around the world very much loved still and forever the greatest. >> when we come back, his very public con tro ver sis and challenges. my conversation with the author of the greatest. (avo) after 50 years of designing cars for crash survival, subaru has developed our most revolutionary feature yet. a car that can see trouble and stop itself to avoid it. when the insurance institute for highway safety tested front crash prevention nobody beat subaru models with eyesight. not toyota. not ford or any other brand. subaru eyesight. an extra set of eyes, every time you drive.

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he was a man of complications and contrast. he defied easy description. the editor of the new york wrote the book ali. king of the world. it tells the story of how a kid

from louisville transformed himself into ali. >> why write a book about ali. >> he was as important as the beatles or bob dylan. he was a culture hero. it wasn't just boxing. he had importance. he meant something to the culture. he meaning. he changed america. >> how is he that different compared to everyone that came before him. >> ali is a figure of it. >> he was the greatest boxer of all time. and this time to be the highest

office there was and gave it all up. >> it's hard for us to understand now the depth that was aimed at muhammad ali when he said i am not going to join the army. >> i ain't got to quarrel with them. >> yeah. >> he was seeing at home the situation of black men and women is what it was and he refused to get on a plane and go 10,000 miles away to fight on a war that at whatever level he knew to be wrong. he became a symbol for a lot of people and then an international figure of black pride. >> what did it cost him to say i'm not going to fight in the vietnam war? >> it cost him an enormous amount of money and the

heavyweight championship. he went to stand for the draft and refused and it took the decision of the supreme court to allow him to reenter his profession he was a figure of admiration and hatred and he was brave and inspired a lot of people in the antiwar movement and civil rights movement and redefined what it was to be an african american. >> what did it seem from you that parkinson's took from him? >> robbed him of movement and robbed him of speech and what was muhammad ali all about? movement and it robbed him of speech. and it's the poems.

and absolutely. and it was like and it's very interesting when in 1965 and millions of people found themselves threatened. and everybody worrying worrying that he might even. and some of that. and at that point i also think the country changed and he played a role. and he knew. i asked my dentist if an electric toothbrush was

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>> he shared his energy and easy humor with the folks on the "today" show but he moved us when he did a much more difficult thing and here's matt lauer. >> i can't wait to get this. i just can't wait. >> i have been waiting for this for the last ten minutes here. you're right. you're starting to get wound up. >> muhammad ali was more than a friend to us here on today. >> how are you champ? >> his signature style was something we long admire. >> this say guy i idolized since i was a little boy. >> i named him my inspiration in

2013. >> the fact of the matter is when muhammad ali became the most famous man in the world he didn't just treat it as being a celebrity. he felt a responsibility. >> a sense of purpose in the ring and outside it. he talked openly about his personal struggle with parkinsons and it's impossible. >> do you feel well. it's time for the fans to be there. >> and i have said that we do that selfishly. >> i don't want to remain. >> the champs surprising him in

1997. >> who did you bring with you? >> who did you bring with you? >> somebody you might know. >> what made their relationship so special? >> i think mutual respect. for what they stood for. muhammad blazed new territory. bryant has done the same. >> in 1991, ali told him his parkinsons almost kept him off the show. >> does your present condition upset you? does it bother you? >> tragedy in wealth. tragedy in pain. tragedy in failing whatever. so no. >> you view this as your trial then. >> are you passing? >> i'd say so. >> are you matching the trial? are you up to the challenge?

>> i'm doing it right now. coming on your show, facing you. >> his bravery and courage unmat unmatched. >> do you think about your own death much. >> this life is short. this is in preparation. >> but he lived. boy did he live with a signature swagger. >> the stage is set for me to just shock the whole planet and be recognized as not the greatest boxer but the greatest athlete of all time. >> in 1978 he chatted with jane pauley after his trip to russia. >> what did you miss while you were over there. >> ice. and the "today" show.

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for a man that made his living with his fist muhammad ali may be best remembered for what he said. there was also plenty of wisdom. here's josh.

>> arrogance. >> i predict he will not stand the chance. >> controversy. >> there's a lot of difference in fighting in the raing and going to war in vietnam. >> the greatest wonder, the greatest miracle, the greatest surprise is to be found in one's heart. >> grace. >> i've been on top for so long i win all the time. now let me get adjusted to being an ordinary guy and lose and try to come back. so i don't feel bad. >> the man became muhammad ali and claimed himself. >> i'm the greatest fighter of all time. >> he taunted. >> he'll do nothing because he's now too old.

>> ever always the poet. objective. >> we black people in america are fighting the same common enemy. >> rejoiced. >> you look at me i'm loaded with confidence. i can't be beat. 182 amateur fights, 82 professional fights and i'm pretty as a girl. >> he floated and stunned and so soared. >> that's why i'm the best of all time. this intelligent, this fast, this whitey. >> transcended the sport. >> the stage is set for me to shock the whole planet. >> inspired. >> in a way weakened.

>> i believe all of you remember when he moved millions with his vibrant voice and poetic expression. >> he won. he lost. but was never vanquished. >> that's all you're going to see all night is that jab. >> forever the champ. forever ali sometimes boastful but just as often humble. >> what say man? a man is his heart. >> service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth. >> when we come back the cameras loved him. muhammad ali through the lenses of one his one time personal photographers.

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michael spends a year as muhammad ali's photographer in the 1970s and has a collection of photographers never seen publicly before. now he shares them along with remarkable memories i felt i

could photograph one of the most important people of our lifetime. they would tell the driver to pull over and jump out and this was in detroit and he would jump out and he would just interact with people and in this particular shot he would always do a little boxing and within a couple of minutes everybody gathered around but you could see the joy he was bringing to all the people that were there. that's what he did all the time. >> he loved traveling and that was his rv and whenever he could he would get his kids together. he was married to veronica and in that particular photograph it was just hanna. >> that was part of my duty was to take the personal pictures.

>> i said hey champ can i get a picture of you with laila and he said sure so he knelt down on the floor and was just -- just holding her. and to me it's one of my favorite photographs because it totally shows a different side of ali, father. >> ali has said a couple of things that i remember. he said a champion has to have the skill and the will but the will must be stronger than the skill.

and that was something he carried through his whole life. his will to live carried hill through. >> when we come back the inspirational muhammad ali. how his words touched people's lives. my mom loves giving me advice. she even gives me advice...

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>> he became an icon and for many an inspiration. one of them was matt lauer. the childhood moment when a legend in the making changed his young life. >> who is the heavyweight champion of the world. >> 22 years old. i must be the greatest. >> i was 7 years old when he won the heavyweight championship of the world and i was a huge sports fan even at that young age. he was the biggest thing in the world of sports i'm young, handsome, fast, pretty and can't be beat. >> he was chiselled out of stone and had that persality. that's what got me was magnetic. you couldn't turn away from the

guy his hands can't hit what his eyes can't see. >> so along comes 1967. i'm 10 and he refuses to be inducted into the military in this country. i didn't know the religious reasons. i was too young to understand the politics of it. what i understood was that my idol was doing something that was going to make him no longer the heavyweight champion of the world so i went to my dad one day and i said to him, dad, do you agree with what muhammad ali is doing. i remember him saying matt i don't agree with what he's doing and it was devastating to me. my dad was telling me he didn't agree with what my a come was doing but he paused a second and i'll never forget it and he looked at me and he said i will tell you i admire him for

standing up for what he believes in and it was like double light bulbs went on. i learned a lot about my dad at that moment that he could see things in layers and disagree with his actions and admire him as a man and then i really got the bug because now he had the stamp of approval from the guy that meant the most to me in my life, my dad. when he became the most famous man in the world he felt a responsibility. >> people look for miracles. people look for surprises of all kinds. yet the greatest wonder, the greatest miracle, the greatest surprise is to be found in one's heart. >> he helped people who were hungry and poor and depressed

and illiterate and gave them hope and inspiration and he stood for something it leads to that night in atlanta and i'm sitting in that stadium and on to the platform out of the shadows comes muhammad ali and he's carrying the torch but he's shaking. imagine the message it sent to people all around the world that the once heavyweight champion of the world, the greatest was comfortable standing there in that world spotlight trembling holding that torch but sending a message that i am still powerful. i wept in that stadium. when you're used to being seen in that state and next thing you know you have something like parkinsons disease it would be

easy to run from the spotlight and say i don't want to be seen this way. it's not the way i want to be remembered. it can't be easy for muhammad to travel around these days. >> do you know this man here? >> oh, yes. >> but the fact that he is still willing to go out and finds it important to go out and inspire other people at his parkinson's center. >> >> your inspiration. god bless you. how many people do you know that continued to inspire millions of people all around the world past their 70th birthday. yet he chooses to live his life

in a way that makes it all about others. >> some will remember his fights in and out of the ring others will remember his words often as powerful as his punches. we'll leave you with a last look back at the man we will all remember as the greatest. cassius clay. i have wristeled with an alligator and tussled with a

rail and throw thunder in jail. >> last night i cut the light off in the bedroom and hit the switch and was in the bed before the room was dark. >> everybody stop talking now. >> people look for miracles. people look for sur priedprisesl kinds yet the greatest wonder, the greatest miracle t greatest surprise is to be found in one's heart.

i am the greatest. >> he knew it before the world did. knew it when he was cassius clay. >> i'm fast, pretty and can't possibly be beat. >> some say i need a good whipping. >> and unpredictable. >> he brought spectical and theater to the ring and then changed his name. became a muslim. >> i don't think he could have