Every so often a human being is born who makes such an impact on the world's population that he is immortalised by a legacy that lives on far after their body fades away. In no case has this been so relevant as in the case of the great Muhammad Ali who has sadly passed away aged 74.

Ali was a boxing icon who shocked the boxing world to defeat the intimidating Sonny Liston in 1964 going on to defy the critics and prove himself as the greatest fighter of his generation and for many the greatest of all time.

 A style underpinned by speed, ring savvy and the ability to think on his feet, he was an innovator in the ring and an inspiration out of it.

A record of 56-5 with three reigns as heavyweight champion having defeated the likes of Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, George Foreman and too many others to mention is a remarkable achievement but it is credit to the man that such a description does little justice to him.

 What has to be realised is that Ali was no ordinary boxer. He was a political figure who stood up for what he believed in and inspired a whole generation of people to protest for what they believed in and to never give in.

Ali refused to participate in the Vietnam war due equality issues best described by the man himself when saying, 'Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?'

As a consequence of his refusal Ali was banned from the sport of boxing and spent what should have been the peak years of his career out of the ring. He was condemned by many at the time for opposing the war but later hailed as a man thinking before his time.

He was a charismatic, confident man who backed up his talk out of the ring and transcended the sport of boxing. A civil rights campaigner who was crucial in the battle for equality and later in life a key player in the charity world having revealed his battle with Parkinson's Disease.

Ali became a world star in every sense of the word. He commanded attention and became adored by people across the world who just wanted to be near a man who had achieved God-like status.

A witty man with a gift of the gab, there are countless quotes attributed to Ali that will live on forever with the likes of 'Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee' and my personal favourite, '"I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalised a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick."

Whilst today is a horrifically sad day as a man I idolised has passed away it is important to celebrate the life of the great man and realise that he lived the lives of a thousand men in his time.

I end this short tribute with a mixture of emotion as the death of Muhammad Ali begins to sink in. A man who inspired millions of people across the world. Every person who has put on a pair of boxing gloves has imagined themselves as Ali doing his famous shuffle and taunting opponents.

He is a man whose legacy will never fade and who will continue to serve as example to others of what can be achieved declaring that, “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”

Today I shed a tear as an iconic person in the history of the world leaves us but more importantly he leaves with him a philosophy of life that has made the world a better place to be in. I salute Muhammad Ali as a fantastic boxer and a great man who inspired me and so many others like me.

RIP champ, you will be sorely missed.