Saturday 4 June 2016 16:57, UK
Muhammad Ali's business manager Gene Kilroy has spoken of his sadness after learning of the death of the man he called his best friend.
The three-time world heavyweight champion, who suffered with Parkinson's disease for 32 years, died aged 74 in Phoenix, Arizona after being admitted to hospital earlier in the week with a respiratory condition.
Kilroy had long retained a close friendship with Ali, and is the sole survivor of the inner circle that once included trainer Angelo Dundee, cornerman Drew "Bundini" Brown and assistant Walter Youngblood, later known as Wali Muhammad.
Having first met him at the 1960 Olympics in Rome where Ali, then Cassius Clay, won his gold medal, Kilroy, - once known as the Facilitator - later became responsible for overseeing and organising his training camps.
He is also credited with being the first man in the ring when Ali stopped George Foreman in 1974's Rumble in the Jungle.
"His daughter May May (Maryum) sent me a text and said 'My dad's at peace, no more pain'," Kilroy, who also carried the coffin for Ali's mother Odessa Clay, said, "It's sad when you lose your best friend. We were so close for so many years.
"His mother told me one time, 'We're born to leave the world better than we found it', so he contributed a lot more by making this a better place with his charitable work. He put everybody above himself.
"So many people looked up to him, not only for boxing but the story of (his) life. Deep down he was a shy, sensitive, humble guy, all that other stuff was for the cameras.
"It's one of the biggest blessings of my life, to be together (with him). I remember one time in a training camp, a little boy said, 'Do you know how lucky you are? I have to go home and you can stay here'. That about summed it up: being there with him."
Ali fought Foreman in Zaire to reclaim the heavyweight title having had it stripped from him seven years earlier for refusing to join the US army's war effort in Vietnam. He was also rebuilding his career having lost his boxing license for close to four years.
While that fight is incredibly well known, Kilroy insists there are numerous other stories and few have been told that demonstrate much about the man he knew.
"When he was fighting in Zaire, right before the fight, we were discussing that there was maybe 5,000 people outside the stadium who couldn't get in: they didn't have the money," he said.
"They were just hanging around. He asked me to go and get the assistant to (President) Mobutu, and I brought him back into the dressing room.
"They were taping Ali's hands to get the gloves on, and he told the guy, 'You can't sell any more tickets, the fight's going to be starting in 15 minutes. Let those people in, or I'm not fighting'. The guy looked at him, said, 'We'll let them in', and all those people came in to see the fight."
Ali's condition gradually declined following his diagnosis with Parkinson's, which came shortly after his retirement in 1981, and Kilroy revealed what an honour it was to grow so close to the fighter widely considered the greatest heavyweight in history.
"No more pain," said Kilroy. "He's at peace, and he's with God. It's a good feeling, but we're going to miss him.
"There's an old Chinese proverb that said, 'You're never dead, as long as you're remembered'. He'll be remembered years and years from now. I'm honoured that he allowed me to be his friend. Him being my friend: it's a great honour."
