Loved the documantary the other night on BBC 1....what a LEGEND !

He wasn't quick enough to avoid ' Enry's hammer '

But yes , the greatest

Interesting that Benn, Eubank, Bellew, Nelson, Watt............... have all been rolled out to offer what Ali gave to them and boxing but nothing from the current world heavyweight champion

A superb sportsman who saved boxing.

Was he the most famous man on the planet at the height of his fame?

If you want to see the way Ali moved in the days before his ban go to that well known video sharing site and enter Ali v Cleveland Williams full fight. A few Ali shuffles in there whilst actually fighting seriously. In about 7 minutes of boxing landed 100 punches against 3. Although Williams was in his thirties by then it was a world title fight and Williams was considered one of the best heavyweights never to win the world title.

I'm far from a boxing expert, so I can't make any reliable statements about being the greatest HW of all time; but if ever there was an athlete who transcended his sport to become a worldwide cultural icon - it's Ali. There's no doubt he said some questionable things about race and religion, but in the context of the times he lived in, they are less inflammatory than they appear.

It's very sad that he's gone, but I would imagine it's also a relief to those people who knew him.