On June 3, 2016, the world lost a legend in Muhammad Ali. Without a doubt, Ali was the greatest boxer of all time. Full of braggadocio and steadfast in his principles, he grew to eclipse his role as merely a sports superstar, taking a vocal stance on hot-button issues of his time like the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam War. To honor his passing, RealClearLife has put together a gallery of images that capture Ali’s larger-than-life personality.
Cassius Clay, 20 year old heavyweight contender from Louisville, Kentucky poses for the camera on May 17, 1962 in Long Island, New York. (Stanley Weston/Getty Images)
The winners of the 1960 Olympic medals for light heavyweight boxing on the winners’ podium at Rome: Cassius Clay (now Muhammad Ali) (C), gold; Zbigniew Pietrzykowski of Poland (R), silver; and Giulio Saraudi (Italy) and Anthony Madigan (Australia), joint bronze. (Central Press/Getty Images)
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January 24, 1963 – Pittsburgh: Boxing heavyweight contender Cassius Clay (now Muhammad Ali) combing hair in mirror in hotel room before going outside on day of bout with opponent Charlie Powell. (Photo by Marvin Lichtner/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)
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American boxer Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali) points at the camera from an open car door as he takes part in a pre-football game parade, Miami, Florida, December 14, 1963. He was Miami to train for his title fight against Sonny Liston. (Underwood Archives/Getty Images)
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Cassius Clay flies around the ring after beating Sonny Liston in the seventh round of the World Heavyweight Title bout in Miami Beach in February 1964. It was during these scenes that Clay claimed, “I am the Greatest” and “I shook up the World”. (Allsport Hulton/Archive)
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Supremely confident American boxer Cassius Clay holds up five fingers in a prediction of how many rounds it will take him to knock out British boxer Henry Cooper. (Kent Gavin/Keystone/Getty Images)
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Cleveland Williams is spreadeagled on the canvas as referee Harry Kessler sends Muhammad Ali to a neutral corner during their heavyweight bout at Houston’s Astrodome in 1966. (AP Photo)
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Ever confident, Muhammad Ali was the king of trash talk. In a famous rant, he once said, I done “handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail.” (Photo by Harry Benson/Getty Images)
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American heavyweight boxer Cassius Clay poses in the ring in mock victory over British pop group The Beatles, meeting the press in New York during an American tour. (Keystone/Getty Images)
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Muhammad Ali trains in Zurich for his fight against the West German Jurgen Blin, with his twin daughters Jamillah and Rasheda, in 1971. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
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