Jack Nicklaus on Muhammad Ali: 'He was the champ, always will be'
It's rare that we get two of the greatest of all time
By
Kyle Porter
•
2 min read
That photo, man, I cannot get enough. Muhammad Ali passed away on Friday night. The best ever. The greatest of all time. The GOAT. Another man familiar with the upper crust of sport weighed in on Ali's life and death on Saturday in his own words.
"My first meeting with Ali was [at the] PGA Championship in 1996," Jack Niclaus told Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo on Saturday on CBS during the Memorial Tournament, which he hosts."We saw each other quite a bit at different events. I respected him greatly. He was a great champion. He did an awful lot for mankind."
What came next though put a little lump in my throat. There's a chilling thing about seeing the best ever in their respective sports talk about each other.
"When he got his Parkinson's, there wasn't anything from a fighting standpoint he could do," added Nicklaus. "But his life didn't end there. He did a lot of good for a lot of people. He was the champ. Always will be."
Damn.
He was the champ. Always will be.
Nicklaus also wrote a sweet homage to Ali on his Facebook page.
"It is an understatement to say that today the hearts of the sports world are heavy with the loss of Muhammad Ali. He transcended not only the sport of boxing, but sports in general. He long ago established a legacy that crossed any boundaries of competition or the borders of just our country. He was a global icon.
"I was incredibly honored and humbled to receive an award in December bearing his name. That night I told a story about how the walls in my home are not for plaques and trophies, but rather for photos of my kids and grandkids. Yet there is one special photo in my office, and that is of Muhammad and me playfully sparring at the PGA Championship in 1996 at Valhalla in his hometown of Louisville. I have always been a great fan of Muhammad, because I admired the champion he was in the ring and the champion he became out of the ring for so many causes.
"I hope on a day when we mourn the loss of the Champ--the 'greatest of all time'--we can reflect and appreciate his many contributions past and present, and ensure that generations going forward will admire and be inspired by all that Muhammad Ali accomplished."
Don't worry about me. Just a little dust rolling around in here.
