Boxing icon Muhammad Ali died as a result of septic shock, according to a family spokesman. Ali, who passed away late Friday aged 74, will be laid to rest in Kentucky next week.
Image: picture alliance/abaca/L. Hahn
Advertisement
Former boxing champion Muhammad Ali died of "septic shock due to unspecified natural causes," family spokesman Bob Gunnell said at a press conference on Saturday.
Ali had been admitted to an Arizona hospital earlier in the week, but his condition quickly deteriorated.
"We still had a lot of hope it was going to turn around," Gunnell said. "His final hours were spent with just immediate family," he added. "He did not suffer."
The three-time world heavyweight champion and outspoken civil rights activist died Friday night at the age of 74. He had long suffered from Parkinson's disease, and had been hospitalized a number of times in recent years.
"He'll be remembered as a man of the world who spoke his mind and wasn't afraid to take a chance and went out of his way to be a kind, benevolent individual that really changed the world," Gunnell said.
Tributes flow in
Tributes have been pouring in from around the world for Ali, who is being hailed as one of the greatest sports stars of the 20th century.
"Muhammad Ali was The Greatest. Period," US President Barack Obama said, praising the boxer's integrity and saying he "stood up when it was hard; spoke out when others wouldn't."
Ali's hometown of Louisville, in the US state of Kentucky, lowered flags to half-mast in his honor on Saturday, while fans flocked to his childhood home, now a museum, to pay their respects. The boxer's body was to be taken there in the next two days.
Funeral in Louisville
A public funeral and memorial is planned to take place in Louisville on Friday, following a private service for family members, Gunnell said.
"A rather large funeral procession will take Muhammad Ali through the streets of Louisville to allow anyone that is there from the world to say goodbye," Gunnell said. He noted also that the service would be conducted in the presence of an imam and in accordance with "Muslim tradition."
Former US president Bill Clinton, comedian Billy Crystal and sports journalist Bryant Gumbel will offer eulogies for the boxing great.
Ali was born in Louisville on Jan. 17, 1942, as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr - a name shared with a 19th century slavery abolitionist. He changed it to Muhammad Ali after converting to Islam in 1964.
Ali had been living in the Phoenix area with his fourth wife, Lonnie, who knew him when she was a child in Louisville. He is also survived by his nine children.
Muhammad Ali: Portraits of a master
Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74. In 2015, a Berlin gallery hosted an exhibition featuring photos of the boxing legend. The portraits capture a superstar at the height of his prowess.
Image: Thomas Hoepker
Larger than life
From August 15 to October 10, 2015, the Camera Work gallery in Berlin exhibited some of the most arresting images of a man who deserved the title superhero. This picture of Muhammad Ali was taken in Chicago in 1966 by German Thomas Hoepker, one of Ali's favorite photographers.
Image: Thomas Hoepker
The martyrdom of Muhammad
Carl Fischer created this image of Ali in 1967 for the cover of "Esquire" magazine. It's based on the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian motif from Italian renaissance painting. In 1967, with the Vietnam war raging, Ali refused to be drafted into the US Army, saying "No Viet Cong ever called me nigger." For that, he was chastised by parts of mainstream white America.
Image: Carl Fischer
Pop punch
In 1964, Harry Benson photographed Cassius Clay, as Ali was still known, meeting The Beatles in Miami. Even early on it was clear that the boxer's stardom would transcend sports. Ali arguably became boxing's first pop icon. Here he is taking out all of the Fab Four with one playful blow.
Image: Harry Benson
In the ring
This is arguably the most famous image of Ali ever taken in the ring, showing him just after knocking out Sonny Liston in Lewiston, Maine in 1965 in the second bout between the two fighters. Neil Leifer was the photographer in the right place at the right time, and captured Ali's ferocious side.
Image: Neil Leifer
Power of prayer
Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali upon coverting to Islam in 1965. In the late 1960s, he was associated with civil rights leaders such as Malcolm X and was always very public about his faith. Thomas Hoepker took this picture of Ali praying in the ring in London in 1966.
Image: Thomas Hoepker
The show must go on
Ali never missed an opportunity to play to a crowd, and even his training sessions were public events attracting adoring spectators. Peter Angelo Simon snapped this image of Ali skipping rope in 1974. That year, Ali defeated George Foreman to regain the heavyweight title in one of the greatest fights ever, known as "the Rumble in the Jungle."
Image: Peter Angelo Simon
Picture perfect
After "greatest," one of Ali's favorite adjectives to describe himself was"pretty." He never tired of pointing out that his face did not bear the signs of damage that those of lesser boxers did. Much of his vanity was play-acted, but his appearance was undeniably important to Ali. Thomas Hoepker took this shot of him in a Chicago barber shop.
Image: Thomas Hoepker
Blood, sweat and tears
Especially early in his career, Ali made things look easy in the ring, but his remarkable skills were the result of long hours put in at the gym. This Image, shot by Thomas Hoepker in Chicago in 1966, not only conveys some of the history of the sport but also suggest the solitary hours Ali put in to become the best in his game.
Image: Thomas Hoepker
Master at work
The exhibition "Muhammad Ali" made clear that the boxer was very much in control during photo shoots, and realized how photography could augment his fame. Photographers said working with Ali was incredibly easy because he understood the medium so well. The subject of this Thomas Hoepker image is not just Ali, but Ali and photography.
