A Tribute To Muhammed Ali

by Yahaya Balogun

Life is not real. I conquered the world and it did not give me satisfaction. God gave me this illness to remind me that I am not number one. He is.” – Muhammad Ali

I will float like butterfly and sting like a bee“. – Muhammed Ali.

Muhammed Ali epitomized the protest of the 60s and the forgiveness of the 90s and beyond. A larger than life man with his characters in his heart; an iconic man with legendary postures. His name was like the air the world breathed in his reigning

Muhammed Ali (Pixabay.com)

Muhammed Ali (Pixabay.com)

days. He invented a character for himself and became a cultural hero; a giant of history, a true legend. He was a vintage warrior, an unprecedented philanthropist that change the world of boxing. A beautiful boxing machine who used the game of boxing to transcend everything he came across in the world. Muhammed Ali transcended everything in sport and etched his beautiful name and footprints in the sand of time.

Ali, a man who had the courage of his convictions and unapologetic for his beliefs. He believed in the fallibility of man. The great Ali was able to retract his avowed “Ali the Greatest” before his demise. He rediscovered God as the only infallible and the greatest of all. A man who was once described as a romanticized figure. A rumble tumble in the troubled jungle. An individual who was crowned the king of kings in the world of pugilism. Ali will forever remain the world sport  ambassador and the greatest sport gymnast of all time.

Ali’s sense of witticism and humor will continue to adore the library of Congress in the United States and around the world. A day spent with Muhammed Ali during his lifetime was a thousand days in one’s lucky and unfettered memory. A cocky and braggadocio man with self-assertive persona.

Ali was an idolized figure who transformed the mindset of his adversaries and fans. Muhammed Ali was a true symbol of inspiration whose courage was unmatched with a swaggering attitude and candor. He would be remembered for his wisdom, pseudo-pomposity, grace, beliefs, pretty voice, beautiful arrogance and all the pugility of what the man stood for.

Ali was a man who personified the collective shred of humanism in all of us. He used his beliefs as a tool of firmness, fairness and consistency to bring unity and justice to the troubled world. Boxing and justice were his life. He used the two as his potential weapons to liberate his people. Any encounter with Ali in his glorious days was a blissful and a rewarding experience in our memory.

The ordinariness in man’s penchant for void and nothingness was aptly captured in the life and time of Muhammed Ali. His death in the late hour of Friday, June 3, 2016 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA was very instructive. He championed the inner colorless of mankind with unblemished care and universal love.

Unpretentious Ali would rather die than to deceive human beings. To him, he had demystified and conquered death long time ago. He knew in his mind that death was a coward; that he would rather face death than indulge in human deceit. The loud and lucidity of his actions were terrific to the authority who dispensed injustices. A man who when he lost a fight would go to prepare to fight and win another day. Ali would be remembered as a man who liked to build trust in God rather than himself.

Ali’s death should stir or prod the conscience and the consciousness of the world; his demise should expose the existential threats the ephemerals and injustices of this world pose to mankind. This enigmatic and giant of our time will be remembered for some decades, if not some centuries to come as a man who redefined the love and peaceful coexistence of mankind. His wound was collectively carried by all his fans and admirers throughout his travails. His spirit will ebb in the hearts of those who love to hate, and those who love not to hate.

Muhammed Ali succumbed to supreme death on June 3, 2016 in a hospital here in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. He died at the age of 74.

Muhammed Ali’s undying soul did not belong only to his family, his soul belongs to the world.

May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace. Amin.

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