Muhammad Ali, right, lifts himself off both feet during a sparring session on October 21, 1974 with Roy Williams at the N’ Sele training center near Kinshasa, Zaire.

Muhammad Ali / Larry Holmes

Joe Frazier, pictured in his dressing room after defeating Muhammad Ali on March 8, 1971

A Muhammad Ali (as Cassius Clay) fight poster from 1959 - (amateur event from Oct 28 at Louisville, Kentucky.)

"He was the greatest fighter in the world," Holmes said at his postfight news conference. "He's one hell of an athlete, one hell of a man. Even trying to win a fourth title is one hell of an achievement. He had a two-year layoff and then tried to fight the baddest heavyweight in the world."

When Mick Leahy won the British middleweight title against George Aldridge with a first round ko....Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) and Randy Turpin all jumped into the ring to hug Leahy.