Muere el legendario boxeador Muhammad Ali (Documental/ Galería)

Muhammad Ali era considerado uno de los mejores boxeadores de todos los tiempos y fue tres veces campeón del mundo en la categoría de pesos pesados. Ha fallecido a los 74 años de edad.

Ali prays at a mosque in Cairo in October 1986. Two years prior, he revealed that he had Parkinson's syndrome, a disorder of the central nervous system. El legendario boxeador Muhammad Ali fue hospitalizado este jueves para ser tratado por problemas respiratorios. El excampeón se encontraba en estado grave y, según una fuente cercana al expúgil, no podía respirar sin ayuda médica y apenas presentaba signos vitales.

Los médicos consideraron la posibilidad de trasladar a Muhammad Ali a otra área del hospital donde se encontraba internado. La transferencia fue cancelada por temores de que “pudiera ser potencialmente mortal”.

Ali nació el 17 de enero de 1942 en Louisville, Kentucky (Estados Unidos), y durante su carrera fue tres veces campeón del mundo en la categoría de pesos pesados. Considerado por muchos como el boxeador de peso completo más grande de todos los tiempos, fue un personaje que no bajó nunca la guardia.

En los Juegos Olímpicos de Roma 1960 se colgó un oro olímpico. Ali recuperó los títulos de la WBA y el WBC al vencer en el octavo asalto a George Foreman. Aquel mítico combate, conocido como ‘Rumble in the Jungle’, dejó una gran huella en este deporte. En 1984 a la edad de 42 años fue diagnosticado con la enfermedad de Parkinson.

Ali poses for a picture with The Beatles in Miami, during the run-up to his heavyweight title fight against Sonny Liston in 1964. Ali rose to prominence at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, where he claimed a gold medal in the light-heavyweight division. Ali boldly predicted it would take him five rounds to knock out British boxer Henry Cooper ahead of their bout in London in 1963. The fight was stopped in the fifth round as Cooper was bleeding heavily from a cut around his eye. Ali celebrates after defeating Liston in Miami on February 25, 1964. Upon becoming world heavyweight champion for the first time, Ali proclaimed, "I am the greatest!" Civil rights activist Malcolm X, left, takes a picture of a tuxedo-clad Ali surrounded by jubilant fans in March 1964. Shortly after the Liston fight, Ali announced that he had joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name from Cassius Clay. Ali stands over Liston during their rematch in Lewiston, Maine, on May 25, 1965. Ali visits a children's home in London in May 1966. As a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, Ali refused induction into the U.S. Army in April 1967. Here, top athletes from various sports gather to support Ali as he gives his reasons for rejecting the draft. Seated in the front row, from left to right, are Bill Russell, Ali, Jim Brown and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Known as the "Fight of the Century," Ali and Joe Frazier split a $5 million purse to fight for Frazier's title on March 8, 1971, in New York. Frazier won by unanimous decision, handing Ali his first professional loss. Ali toys with the finely combed hair of television sports commentator Howard Cosell before the start of the Olympic boxing trials in August 1972. Ali and Frazier appear on "The Dick Cavett Show" in January 1974. The two got into a brawl in ABC's New York studio and were fined $5,000 each. Ali and Foreman fight October 30, 1974, in what was billed as <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/30/worldsport/gallery/rumble-in-the-jungle-40-years/index.html" target="_blank">"The Rumble in the Jungle."</a> Ali, a huge underdog, knocked out Foreman in the eighth round to regain the title that was stripped from him in 1967. Ali offers advice to future opponent Richard Dunn in March 1976. Ali defeated Dunn in the fifth round two months later. It was his last knockout win. Ali and his third wife, Veronica, second from right, visit the Kremlin in Moscow in June 1978. The two were married from 1977 to 1986. Ali has been married four times. Ali sits with his daughters Laila and Hana at the Grosvenor House in London in December 1978. He briefly retired from professional boxing the following year. Since winning a gold medal in the 1960 Olympics, Muhammad Ali has never been far from the public eye. Take a look at the life and career of Ali, the three-time heavyweight boxing champion who called himself "The Greatest." Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger raises Ali's hand during the Celebrity Fight Night charity event in Phoenix in March 2002. Schwarzenegger was presented with the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award for his work with the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Research Foundation, the Inner-City Games Foundation and the Special Olympics. The award was presented by former CNN host Larry King, left.