Mohamed Ali is honoured at The World Economic Forum , this time for his efforts to promote dialogue and understanding between the Muslim and Western world.
Muhammad Ali born as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. is considered by many to be the greatest boxer of all time, as well as one of the world's most famous individuals, renowned the world over for his boxing and political activism. In 1999, he was crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and is considered by many to be one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century.
At the peak of his carrier, he was called up to serve his country in the Vietnam war. He refused to do so, citing he so no reason fight Vietnam. For this, the government prosecuted him for draft dodging, and the boxing commissions took away his license. He was idle for 3 1/2 years at the peak of his career. In 1971 the Supreme Court ruled that the government had acted improperly. He bore no ill-will against the governement, instead reclaimed his championship in the ring.
Britain's former archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, who is on the Council of 100 religious leaders who honoured Ali, recalled Ali's boxing career and his public acknowledgment of having Parkinson's Disease.
"Who among us was not stirred and moved ... as he lit the flame at the start of the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta?" he asked.
Indeed, Mohamed Ali has made an indelible mark which go down as one of the greatest sporstsman and a unique human being.
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