The day I came face to face with Muhammad Ali!

September 14, 2000 and the iconic Rosehill Gardens racecourse in Sydney will forever be etched in my memory. For it was on that day there that I came face to face with my greatest sporting idol – Muhammad Ali.

Ali made an appearance at the official press party, a day before the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games. Having landed in Sydney the same morning after almost a 40-hour journey, it took a Herculean effort for me to get there. But it was certainly worth it.

"You have all heard how pretty I am. Now you can see for yourself," he told us as dozens of reporters and photographers scrambled to get closer. I was among the luckier ones.

"Hello this is me. The greatest of all time," he said with a smile.

Muhammad Ali at the official press party for the Summer 2000 Olympics at Sydney's Rosehill Gardens Ruckemann UPI

Ali was certainly in his element. His hands trembled but the smile never left his face. That’s how I will always remember the greatest sportsman of all time.

There were plans for a proper press conference but Ali didn’t stay long enough. There was too much of a frenzy.

‘Don’t be a fool, stay cool’

Just before leaving, he told the journos-turned-fans: "God bless you all and stay out of trouble, and then a final parting shot: "Don't be a fool, stay cool!”

Today, the world celebrates the 83^rd birth anniversary of a black boxer, who transcended the sport and, in the process, changed what was then regarded as the greatest nation on the planet: The United States of America.

As somebody who grew up in the eighties, I unfortunately missed the rise and rise of Muhammad Ali.

The Rumble in the Jungle and Thrilla in Manila – regarded as the greatest boxing fight in history -- took place when I wasn’t even old enough to be called a toddler. But somehow, if anybody asked me who my favorite sportsman was, even as a child, I would not say Imran Khan or Diego Maradona, then the sporting icons for kids my age. It was always Muhammad Ali.

It still is. It will always be.

For the world will never see such flair, such magic again.

Ali’s was more than a fairytale.

He was born Cassius Clay in Jim Crow-era Louisville, Kentucky. The son of a sign painter and a house cleaner, Ali was a skinny kid who took to boxing as a 12-year-old to avenge the loss of a stolen bicycle.

Just six years later, he won an Olympic gold medal, against all odds, in Rome and then went on to become the heavyweight champion of the world.

Soon, he was the most famous man on the face of the planet. He was different things to different people. The best fighter the world has ever seen, a draft resister, a symbol of racial pride, a joker, a preacher, a separatist, an integrationist, a comedian, an actor, the alpha and the omega.

Much has been written about Ali and much more will continue to be written about him perhaps till the last days of humanity.

Much that has been written about him was about his boxing prowess. But for somebody who didn’t see Ali fights in his prime, at least not on live TV, to me his greatness stems from the fact that he transcended sport with the sheer weight of his personality. In doing that he changed the world around him.

And in my lifetime, no man has changed the world the way he did.

‘Because of Muhammad Ali’

Ali inspired millions around the world and Pakistan was no exception. During my stint as a young reporter, boxing was one of my major beats. Back then when I asked Abrar Hussain Shah, then an Asian Games gold medalist as to why he chose boxing, he said "It was because of Muhammad Ali".

Abrar Hussain was a world class boxer and even came close to winning an Olympic medal for Pakistan. His life was tragically cut short by an assassin’s bullet in Quetta. The reason why he was killed: Abrar belonged to the ill-fated Hazara community.

Pakistani Olympian Abrar Hussain Shah, an Asian Games gold medalist, with his hero Muhammad Ali in QuettaVintage Pakistan

It was against such hate and violence that Ali stood up. He stood up against many other wrongs of the society. He taught us how even one man can change the world and change it for the better. He fought Parkinson’s disease for more than three decades and fought it bravely.

Nobody will ever float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. Nobody will be the greatest. Nobody will ever be Muhammad Ali.