LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Muhammad Ali gave young black kids hope and strength, says former British heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, who will act as a pallbearer at a massive memorial Friday.
“He gave a lot of young kids hope,” Lewis told CTV News. “He told them that they were beautiful. He told them to never be afraid; don’t be afraid to speak out against injustice. And don’t be afraid to speak your mind. He gave young black kids strength, as well.”
Ali watched Lewis fight at the Pan American Games in 1987 and gave the young fighter encouragement after he lost to a Cuban fighter in a split decision.
Lewis said he can’t put into words his feelings about being asked to be a pallbearer at his hero’s memorial.
“I’m helping the greatest to his final resting spot and it’s just an honour for me. Words can’t really describe how I feel.”
Ali died Friday at the age of 74, sending the world into mourning for an athlete known more for his words and actions outside the ring than his exploits inside. Ali was honoured in a traditional Muslim prayer service at the Louisville arena Thursday. His memorial, which he planned himself, will be Friday.
Long-time friend Arty Elahi remembered Ali as a quick-witted prankster sent to unite the world.
Elahi met the former heavyweight champion at a mosque in San Diego in 1967 when Ali was just 15. The two remained friends for years. Elahi said Ali, who died Friday at the age of 74, was a generous, funny man who loved people of any race, religion or station in life.
“It’s almost like he was sent by God as an angel to unite people of all races, colours, religion. I mean, he had time for everyone,” Elahi told CTV News.
Elahi says he was just an ordinary man but Ali always treated him with kindness.
“That’s what makes him the people’s champ. Because every ordinary person, just ordinary, common people he had time for and he would give of himself.”
After Ali retired from the ring, Elahi met him for breakfast in a San Diego hotel. Elahi phoned his boss at a car dealership to tell him he would miss the sales meeting because he was having breakfast with Ali.
“OK, Arty, I’ve heard it all now. You can come up with a better excuse,” Elahi says his boss said before hanging up.
Ali insisted they go to the dealership. The pair showed up in the boxer’s Rolls Royce convertible.
“It made me feel great because Ali went up to him and said, ‘I hear you’re giving my man Arty here a hard time. You don’t mess with my man.’”
Then he put his arm around the boss and took over the meeting.
“He drew people like a magnet.”
Elahi says Ali’s enduring message of love and acceptance is crucial in this time of racial, religious and political divide.
“I think that we should take a lesson from Muhammad Ali as a people in America and the world. Take a lesson that we are all basically the same. If you want to know what I want, ask yourself what you want. We all want the same thing. We all want peace; we all want to get along with each other in harmony. We all want progress and to give our kids a better future.”
