BOXING

Olympian Ato Boldon has lauded the late Muhammad Ali for being a pioneer for black athletes in an era when that was not the norm.

Muhammad Ali was not someone to argue with, in the ring or out, so when he told the world he was "The Greatest", we believed him, because he surely was. Perhaps not the greatest boxer - Ali himself always acknowledged that Sugar Ray Robinson held that title - but certainly the greatest world heavyweight champion, and, as every opinion poll has ever indicated, the greatest sports figure in history.

With Muhammad Ali, it was always the people.

How’s this for a spot of name-dropping? Forty-five years ago last week I was in the gents at Madison Square Garden having a pee when a man in a trilby standing next to me turned his head and nodded: ”Howya doing pal?”

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali has died at the age of 74, a family spokesman has said.

FIVE appointments have been made to the Trinidad and Tobago Boxing Board of Control, Sport Minister Darryl Smith announced yesterday.