this is a special edition of "nightlin "nightline." muhammad ali, the greatest of all time. tonight, muhammad ali. he floated like a butterfly, stung like a bee. the three time world champion boxer who took on racism, intolerance and finally parkinson's. the humor still there'ven in silence. tonight we remember the death and life of an american legend. this special edition of "nightline" will be right back.

good evening. thank you for joining us. we begin with the breaking news, the ledge dare boxer, muhammad ali has died at 74. he was the beloved iconic three-time boxing champion. as byron pits tells us tonight, he was so much more. >> you out, sucker. >> reporter: he was a lightning rod in and out of the boxing ring. known for his grace and power and poetry. >> i'm handsome. i'm fast. i'm pretty, and can't possibly be beat. >> reporter: he was born cassius

clay in louisville, kentucky in 1942. he is learned to fight as a boy after his bicycle was stolen and soon climbed the ranks of amateur boxing. by 18 he was the star of the u.s. olympic team. light on his feet and unlike anything the boxing world had seen, he took home a gold medal. the victory was bittersweet, returning home to a segregated south where he was still treated as a second class citizen. he said he threw his medal into the ohio river in disgust. four years later he was up against his first title fight. defying 7 to 1 odds, he stole the title in one of the biggest upsets in history. >> i upset him and i must be the greatest. >> reporter: he loved the spotlight but privately he was going through his own transformation. he dared to align his end at both ends of the civil rights moment. a shared faith with malcolm x.

>> i would like for you to call me by my name now, muhammad ali. >> reporter: he joined the nation of islam and rejected what he called his slave name. >> he was revolutionary in terms of race by standing up for things people weren't yet standing up for, and he gave up a lot for his politics, and he was criticized and vilified by many people. >> reporter: he was viewed with suspicion by those in his community. >> i and a number of actors in color would look at him and wonder, what was his game? what role was he playing? >> reporter: on the short list of those who knew the private and public ali, a man equally blessed with gifts admired worldwide. famed actor, singer and human rights activist, harry

belefonte. >> i met him at the airport the first time. he says they tell me i look like you. i can't have two of us in the world. he said do you fight? i said no. he said you may have to because i'm coming after you. just at that moment, he came into my face and held his fist up. >> reporter: two handsome young men pictured during one of the ugliest times in american history. sounds like in many ways that your journey with humid ali is like america's journey with ali, initial fascination, deep curiosity, and concern, and then great affection later. >> but i then began to look at him and our struggle and our movement through a different lens. i saw him as critically important to smashing the traditions. >> reporter: how so?

>> most of us had somehow adopted a code of existence that always put upon us the need to show a gentler side, always be respectful, never be contentious, don't be aggressive. be a good negro. >> reporter: perhaps he showed it was okay for a black man to be bold and outspoken. >> the beauty is it was really him. deep down inside what you saw in muhammad ali was really who he was. and i loved him for it. loved him for it. >> reporter: and ali never stopped loving the ring. >> only last week i murdered a rock. anglo stone. a brick. i'm so mean i make medicine sick. >> reporter: a few years later, a new controversy. the year was 1967. the u.s. was deep in the vietnam world when ali got his draft

notice. he refused to serve arguing it violated his muslim believes. >> no, i will not go 10,000 miles from here to help murder and kill another poor people simply to continue the domination of white slave masters over the darker people of the earth. >> reporter: ali was convicted of draft evasion, stripped of his title and manned from the sport. >> he lost the heart of his athletic career because he refused to fight in vietnam. now, that doesn't make him nelson mandela, but it was something, and it was striking to many americans that he not only had beliefs but stood up for him. >> reporter: it took almost three years for him to win his appeal and get back in the ring. he returned with a vengeance

taking on the seemingly invincible george foreman. he won the hearts of the african crowd. >> an eighth round knockout. ali recaptured the championship of the world. >> so many people doubted him and thought this bigger man was going to beat him. he won the fight with his smarts. >> reporter: and with his whit outside the ring, he met his match in howard cosel. they were an irresistible comedy in the wide world of sports? . >> i'm not sure there's anybody left for you to fight. >> you. >> that may come about someday. thank you for coming by. >> just stay in shape. >> reporter: ali's triumphs like this one made for some of boxing's greatest fights and made ali one of the most popular figures of his type. he graced the cover of sports

illustrated 35 times from 1963 to 1998. it was the golden age of heavy weight boxing and ali was king. years of punishment in the ring took its toll. >> i can't talk no more. i'm all messed up. >> ali retired for good in 1981. three years later at the age of 4 2 he was diagnosed with parkinson's. this time he would have someone else in his corner. he married loni who he met in 1963. little loni didn't even know who he was. together they have faced the toughest face of ali's life. while ali grew physically weaker over the years, he could still inspire, lighting the olympic flag and raising millions for charity and speaking out for peace and solidarity in the wake

of september 11th. and his life was in the silver screen by will smith. >> absolutely did not want to be the dude that messed up the muhammad ali story. >> reporter: smith said his transformation will have a lasting impact in his life. >> improfoundly changed. there's a bittersweet emotion i feel from playing this role that i'll never be that great. >> the united states honors muhammad ali. >> reporter: in 2005 he was awarded the metal of freedom for his struggle for equally. >> reporter: it was a fight that ali saw come to fruition when the nation elected the first black president. ali, a guest of honor at obama's inauguration. a global am bass sor for whom parkinson's could silence his speech but not presence. in the ring he had few peers, often compared to the great joe lewis. it's been said lewis forced the american to see and admire a

black men. it was ali who made them listen. >> he was a credit to his race. the human race. i think of the final analysis, muhammad ali did us all a great service. >> reporter: ali tweeted i set out on a journey of love, of seeking truth, peace and understanding. i am still learning. >> a lightning rod both inside and outside of that boxing ring. coming up next, diane sawyer's visit with the boxing legend at his childhood home. ♪ your heart loves omega-3s. but there's a difference between the omega-3s in fish oil and those in megared krill oil. unlike fish oil, megared is easily absorbed by your body... ...which makes your heart, well, mega-happy. happier still, megared is proven to increase

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rare time with muhammad ali and his wife in his childhood home now turned museum. >> a couple of hometown kids. louisville kids. went out to see the world, we did. >> reporter: a museum not so much about history as the spirit of a kid from louisville who could somehow see himself astride the whole world and who is still daring, laughing. how about this guy? it's the i'm pretty guy. the story is all here, including the beginning. it was a red bike he got for christmas. someone stole it and he went to tell the policeman there that someone had stolen his bike and he was going to beat them up. >> so smart, joe mart martin

said, learn to fight first. then he got into the boxing at the gym, and the rest is history. >> reporter: he was a child of segregation. even though he won his first olympic gold medal, he came back to hear these words at a restaurant counter. >> hey, you. no what you doing in here? you know i can't serve you. now, leave. >> those are harsh words. especially for a young person to hear. >> reporter: we sit together in the theater watch a movie of his gigantic life. based on the poem, "if", one of his favorites. if it says you can dream and not make dreams your master, walk with kings, for lose the common touch. >> do you think it makes the parkinson's harder for him to see those days? >> you know, muhammad not only looks that film but any film. i don't know if he thinks about parkinson's. he doesn't think about what his limitations are now or what it

may keep him in doing. he always thinks about what he's going to do tomorrow. i think hen he looks back at the films, it inspires him as well. >> reporter: she told us he can still speak with her some in the morning but the medication he takes for the parkinson's makes it difficult by noon. there's such conversation going on between the two of you all the time now. >> well, yeah. muhammad -- i understand muhammad's signals. some of it is a silent conversation. i can tell what he wants or what he's thinking. >> reporter: also, a photo of the day she met him in the museum. is this the famous picture? >> that's it. as you see, i haven't changed much, diane. >> reporter: then 22-year-old, cassius clay teased his awe struck little neighbor. did he remember saying to you i'm going to marry you when you grow up? >> yes, but i found out he said that to a lot of little girls. he didn't say it to just me.

>> reporter: he had just been diagnosed with parkinson's when they met. you never feel robbed? >> no. our life is so full and rich. we have nothing to be sorry for, nothing to regret, and nothing to pout about. >> reporter: back in the museum, a visitor can put their hand in a mold of muhammad ali's to hear about gratitude, giving back. >> children touch his heart in a way i don't think anyone else can, and he calls them refugees from heaven. they're little angels. he believes all children should have a bright future. he'd do anything he could to help them. >> what's up? >> reporter: this is lay la. >> in in the pavilion, his daughter gives boxing lessons to people like me. i'm sorry you had to see that. back at the elevator, an always mischiefous ali says he's sure i'm younger than i say.

and in another pavilion, a tribute to a moment no one will forget. the olympic games, 1996. >> it was a big decision but such an honor. but when he tried to light it and it didn't light, i was thinking it's not lighting. what's wrong? it's not lighting. he's holding it there, but once it lit, the swell of emotion that went through that crowd, through that arena, it was amazing. there were tears and shouts of joy. >> reporter: like the words of the poem. if you can force your heart and nerve to serve your turn long after they're gone. >> what do you think he's saying in this moment to these athletes going forward? >> i think he would say do as much as you can. that's how you'll be remembered. god gives us special gifts. the more god gives you, the more he expects. >> reporter: do as much as you can. as we remember muhammad ali, he passed away this evening,

joining me now is a producer and long time friend of ali. thank you for being with us tonight. >> pleasure to be here. >> you have known him since 1993, you spent considerable time together. how will he be remembered and what's his legacy? >> he was my hero as a kid. my first memories of him are somewhere around 1966 or 1965 watching him on abc with howard cosell. he will be remembered as a man of courage, the courage to fight the toughest guy in the ring, fight them all. the courage to stand up on his religious beliefs and change his name and to take the slings and arrows that came with that. the courage to stand up to the united states courage when he felt there was an unjust war and he didn't want to be a part of it, and the courage to lose his career and his livelihood for that stand and to tough it out and be proven correct and to win a supreme court decision and continue his career again, and

in the end, to have the courage to face parkinson's for 30 years. he was diagnosed in 1984, and continue to the years and battle it and still be seen in public and not be ashamed in how people perceived you, that took immense courage. he's a man of principal that stood on his beliefs always. >> as his wife said, he didn't think about his limitations. thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate it and sorry for your loss. >> thank you. >> reporter: coming up, a classic exchange with ali with barbara walters. eporter: comingc exchange with ali with barbara walters. porter: coming up, a cl exchange with ali with barbara walters. orter: coming up, a cla exchange with ali with barbara walters. rter: coming up, a clas exchange with ali with barbara walters. ter: coming up, a class exchange with ali with barbara walters. er: coming up, a classi exchange with ali with barbara walters. r: coming up, a classic exchange with ali with barbara walters. : coming up, a classic exchange with ali with barbara walters. coming up, a classic exchange with ali with barbara walters. coming up, a classic exe with ali with barbara walters.

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again tonight we are remembering a boxing legend. in 1978 muhammad ali had just been defeated by spinks for the title, but he was plotting our return match when barbara walters asked him to predict what was going to happen. it was vintage ali. >> give me the next fight.

what happens? what do you say? close your eyes and tell me the fantasy. >> ali comes out to meet spinks. but spinks retreats. ali swings to the left and swings to the right. look at ali carry the fight. spinks keeps bagging but there's not enough room. there ali goes the boom. what a beautiful swing and the punch lays spinks out of the ring. now spinks disappears from view. the crowd is frantic, but the radar stations picked him up. he's somewhere over the atlantic. who would have dreamed that the winners the legend of a black satellite. >> who would dream that you had the whole answer prepared when i asked the question? >> you're