THE death of boxer and civil rights activist, Muhammad Ali, on Saturday sent shockwaves through the world. Ali, who had long suffered from Parkinson’s syndrome which impaired his speech, died a day after he was admitted to a Phoenix-area hospital with a respiratory ailment. Ali’s proclamation of himself as “the greatest” rang true until the end for the millions of people worldwide paid tribute to the 74-year-old.
Many admired him for his courage both inside and outside the ring. It was no different in Redhill, where one resident, Rheem Ghanie, who met the former world heavyweight champion when she was 12-year’s old. Ganie, along with her sister, were lucky enough to have met Ali when he travelled to South Africa in 1995 at a mosque in KwaMashu.
“I’ll never forget the day. There was loads of security around him and people were calling out his name when he came over to me and my younger sister. I thought he was a movie star, but my dad explained that he was a famous boxer. He bent down and hugged us, spoke to us and asked us what our names meant. I told him my was a shortening of an Arabic word which meant merciful. He was just so down to earth, he never made you feel small, he treated everyone with the same respect,” she said.
Few could argue with his athletic prowess at his peak in the 1960s. With his dancing feet and quick fists, he coined the phrase, “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee”. However, Ganie, said it was his personality that defined how people saw him.
“He was a great boxer, but he lived his life outside the ring like he lived inside it. He was always respectful and stood up for others. It’s hard to imagine a world without Mohammad Ali. He was such an iconic man, not only in sports, but also politically and socially. He loved everyone and everyone who met him loved him,” she said.
