LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – A newborn arrived on a cold Louisville day in January 1942. His parents named him Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.
“Imagine that day,” Mayor Greg Fischer marveled on Saturday. “That little boy, eyes wide open, looking up, looking around the room at the old Louisville General Hospital, not knowing the life that awaited him, the life he would make, the world he would shake up, and the people he would inspire.”
As the world mourned Muhammad Ali, his death held special meaning in his hometown, where the boxing great was the city’s favorite son.
A makeshift memorial grew outside the Muhammad Ali Center, a museum built in tribute to Ali’s core values: respect, confidence, conviction, dedication, charity, spirituality. A candle burned. Flowers piled up. Fans left hand-written signs: “Rest in Power, Champ,” one read.
“Muhammad Ali belongs to the world,” the mayor said at a memorial. “But he only has one hometown.”