Boxing icon Muhammad Ali dead at age 74

Dubbed “The Greatest” for both his boxing prowess and his outsized personality, heavyweight great Muhammad Ali leaves behind an almost unparalleled legacy.

Modern boxers like Floyd Mayweather can cite all kinds of records and financial achievements to make their claim to be the best the sport has ever seen, but none of them will ever match the overall contribution to the sport and culture at large like Muhammad Ali.

Thought of by most observers of the sweet science as one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time, Ali died Friday at a hospital near Phoenix, Arizona. Though early reports were uncertain after Ali had been admitted several days earlier for respiratory complications, his passing was confirmed by family members to NBC News via a spokesman.

The later stages of the boxer’s life saw him in constantly declining health as a result of Parkinson’s syndrome, a disease with which he was diagnosed in the mid-80s. Despite his condition, Ali remained a much-loved and fairly active public figure into the first part of the 21st century.

His accomplishments in the ring are almost too numerous to recap. Born Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, he won his first heavyweight title in 1964 at the age of 22, stopping Sonny Liston in seven rounds. He proved that was no fluke by winning the rematch the next year, knocking out Liston in the first round.

Ali missed several years during what would have been the prime of his career after his refusal to report to service after being drafted into the military for the Vietnam War led to him being stripped of his belts and denied a license to fight in any jurisdiction in the U.S. — and led to his criminal case over the rejection of his conscientious objector status going all the way to the Supreme Court, where his conviction was overturned.

He resumed his career in 1970, suffering his first loss to Joe Frazier in 1971 in a bout dubbed “The Fight of the Century.” Ali would defeat Frazier the next two times they fought, including a dramatic 14th-round TKO in the rubber match known as the “Thrilla in Manilla.” Another highlight was his knockout of George Foreman in “The Rumble in the Jungle” in Zaire in 1974.

Perhaps it was only fitting that several of Ali’s biggest fights had their own names, as he was almost as legendary for his gift of gab as he was for his boxing prowess. Well-known for trash-talking opponents before and during fights, he was also outspoken on race and religion throughout his career.

It’s quite possible that career went on too long, with Ali continuing to fight until he was nearly 40, finally hanging up the gloves after a loss to Trevor Berbick in 1981. His Parkinson’s diagnosis has been heavily linked to his large number of rounds fought against big-punching heavyweights, and it’s easy to imagine he might still be alive if he had called it quits a few years sooner.

Yet that’s merely speculation. What’s absolutely certain is that Ali’s death will leave a void in both boxing and the wider world of sports as a whole, and the weeks ahead are sure to be filled with tributes to an incomparable champion and person.

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