Muhammed Ali passed away this past Friday at the age of 74. I can’t write anything here that hasn’t been said or written before, but I can say that I idolized him during his career.

There was a time when I loved boxing just as much as I loved baseball. I couldn’t get enough of it. I watched the Friday night fights and I had my mother wake me up to tell me who won the Floyd Patterson-Ingemar Johansson fights or Patterson vs. Sonny Liston fights.

So I loved boxing before Muhammed Ali came along, but I was crazy about the sport during his career. I nervously listed to his bouts on the radio and danced around the kitchen the first time he beat Liston.

After Ali I was still somewhat interested, but it was quickly fading. Yea I was interested in Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler Mike Tyson and others, but for me it ended when Ali stepped down.

Long Live The Champ….”The Greatest of All-Time!”