Doing It Right: Muhammad Ali

The Good Men Project Sports’ Tuesday weekly feature, Doing It Right, highlights athletes who give back and make a difference in our society. This week we will be looking at Muhammad Ali, whose legacy still lives on not in the ring but outside it.

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“I’ve always wanted to be more than just a boxer. More than just the three-time heavyweight champion. I wanted to use my fame, and this face that everyone knows so well, to help uplift and inspire people around the world.”

– Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.) is considered one of the greatest athletes in boxing history. He dominated n the ring, winning both the coveted Golden Gloves title and an Olympic gold medal, among a few other honors and medals.

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Even though Muhammad Ali has long since retired from the boxing scene, his legacy still lives on not as a boxer but as a philanthropist and social activist.

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Muhammad Ali has been involved in raising funds for Muhammad Ali Parkinson Centre in Phoenix, Arionza after he announced that he has Parkinson’s disease in 1984. Ali has also supported the Special Olympics and the Make a Wish Foundation and has donated to numerous charities and also research centers as well.

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Muhammad Ali, a former United Nations Messengers of Peace, has also devoted his life to helping promote world peace, civil rights, cross-cultural understanding, interfaith relationship, humanitarianism, hunger relief, and also the basic human values.

“Unless you have a very good reason to kill, war is wrong.” – Muhammad Ali

The Muhammad Ali Center (an education center and museum) located in Louisville, Kentucky, was dedicated to the life of Muhammad Ali. The museum through their programs serves to inspire youth and adult to pursue greatness in their lives, communities and countries.

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With all the philanthropy and civil rights works that Muhammad Ali has done, he was awarded with the Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush in 2005, and was a guest at the presidential inauguration of President Barack Obama .

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Muhammad Ali was and still is the symbol of what expressing your beliefs can do as an individual or as a group. His accomplishments has back him up to say he is indeed “the Greatest”.

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Photo:Flickr/Kris Krug