Muhammad Ali is dead

Muhammad Ali, regarded by many as the greatest boxer of all time, and even the greatest sports figure of all time, has died.

Ali, named Cassius Clay at birth before converting to Islam and changing his name, died on Friday night at the age of 74.

The former world heavyweight boxing champion died at a hospital in the US city of Phoenix, Arizona, after being admitted on Thursday.

He was suffering from a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by Parkinson's disease.

Mohammad Ali was not just known for his boxing exploits, as legendary as those were, but almost equally for his championing of civil rights, his conscientious objection to fighting in the Vietnam War, for which he was banned from boxing for three years and sentenced to five years in prison (but avoided jail time because of the appeal), and the larger-than-life personality which he brought to everything he did.