Boxing great Muhammad Ali honoured by sports stars and celebrities.
- 12 years ago
For many, including himself, he was the greatest of all time.
Muhammad Ali was the guest of honour at a London charity gala on Thursday beginning the Olympics party season.
The Victoria and Albert Museum hosted stars like Lewis Hamilton.
The Forumla One driver said Ali's standing in sport is unrivalled.
SOUNDBITE: Formula One Racing Driver, Lewis Hamilton, saying (English):
"There's no one else like him, he's such a great icon. And I got to read certain things about how he approached his sport, the difficulties he came across and for another sportsman, you need other people, greats like him to lead the way and show that it can be possible."
Ali swept everything before him after winning the light heavyweight gold in the 1960 Rome Olympics.
The former heavyweight champion of the world celebrated his 70th Birthday in January.
Ali -- whose real name is Cassius Clay -- has battled the degenerative brain condition for many years, making only rare public appearances since his diagnosis.
Wladimir Klitscheko, who retained his own world heavyweight titles earlier this month, said Ali always reminded him of another famous, fictional boxer.
SOUNDBITE: World Heavyweight Champion, Vladimir Klitschko, saying (English):
"I will compare him to Rocky, that he always comes up, fights back and at the end of the day he's standing as a winner and failure is not an option to him."
Wednesday's event raised money for the educational Muhammad Ali Center and for research into Parkinson's, which Ali suffers from.
After the gala dinner, guests were asked to bid for lots in an auction.
The most expensive item sold was a driving lesson with Hamilton, worth 50,000 GBP, or some 80,000 USD.
Joel Flynn, Reuters
Muhammad Ali was the guest of honour at a London charity gala on Thursday beginning the Olympics party season.
The Victoria and Albert Museum hosted stars like Lewis Hamilton.
The Forumla One driver said Ali's standing in sport is unrivalled.
SOUNDBITE: Formula One Racing Driver, Lewis Hamilton, saying (English):
"There's no one else like him, he's such a great icon. And I got to read certain things about how he approached his sport, the difficulties he came across and for another sportsman, you need other people, greats like him to lead the way and show that it can be possible."
Ali swept everything before him after winning the light heavyweight gold in the 1960 Rome Olympics.
The former heavyweight champion of the world celebrated his 70th Birthday in January.
Ali -- whose real name is Cassius Clay -- has battled the degenerative brain condition for many years, making only rare public appearances since his diagnosis.
Wladimir Klitscheko, who retained his own world heavyweight titles earlier this month, said Ali always reminded him of another famous, fictional boxer.
SOUNDBITE: World Heavyweight Champion, Vladimir Klitschko, saying (English):
"I will compare him to Rocky, that he always comes up, fights back and at the end of the day he's standing as a winner and failure is not an option to him."
Wednesday's event raised money for the educational Muhammad Ali Center and for research into Parkinson's, which Ali suffers from.
After the gala dinner, guests were asked to bid for lots in an auction.
The most expensive item sold was a driving lesson with Hamilton, worth 50,000 GBP, or some 80,000 USD.
Joel Flynn, Reuters