Muhammad Ali

Rest in peace eternal champion. 

This is a tough day for all of us. Muhammad Ali, warts and all, will always be one of my heroes. His arrogance was never based in cruelty. It was based in the simple fact that he really was the greatest. It's hard to be humble when you are the greatest. Believe me, I know. 

He crossed generations. My Pepere was a huge boxing fan and my father was a fan as well. They'd tell me stories about the style of Muhammad Ali. He was the first heavyweight who had the agility to dance around the ring like a flyweight but he had the strength of a heavyweight. 

Defensively he was brilliant. He created the "rope-a-dope" defense. Where you leaned against the ropes and got the stuffing beaten out of you-then hoped/waited until your opponent got tired and proceeded to then knock him out. It's still used today and Ali invented it. 

We all know that Ali had trouble outside the ring. In the Vietnam era he stood up against the war, and it cost him several years in his prime. The true fight of the century will never be Mayweather-Pacquiao, it will always be Ali-Fraiser I. 

And Ali lost fights. He lost to Ken Norton, Leon Spinks, Joe Fraiser, Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick. Even the greatest of all time lost sometimes. 

The world lost the first modern sports icon today. 

RIP.