Ali was already one of America's greatest heavyweights ever. He'd won an Olympic gold medal for the United States in Rome when he was just 18 and four years later, against all odds, defeated Sonny ...

Ali said of the grueling fight, "It was like death. Closest thing to dyin' that I know of." 'Most of Them [Other Boxers] … Can Fight Almost as Good as I Can. I'm Just Saying You Never Heard of Them.

Muhammad Ali ‘s public conversion to Islam, in 1964, was among the most defining moments of his remarkable life. The decision enraged his critics — his hometown newspaper continued to refer to ...

As thousands of people mourn Muhammad Ali at his funeral in Louisville, Ky., NPR remembers his 1963 poem, "I Am The Greatest." Thousands of people lined the streets of Louisville, Ky., today to ...

5. "Don't count the days. Make the days count." Why we love it: Ali's Parkinson's diagnosis was not only his loss, but it also robbed us of one of the world's most colorful characters.

Ali was trying to be something completely different than that, and his primary concern was how he appealed to people of his own race. And I think that's the big difference.