I was 7 years old in 1971 when he came back from his exile and took on Frazier in Madison Square Garden for the Heavyweight Championship. I remember watching the fight on a tiny black & white tv with my brothers and an uncle. Ali it his butt royally kicked in that fight. I believe he suffered a broken jaw. He eventually got knocked down in the 15th round by one of the many incredibly vicious left hooks from Frazier. How he got up I'll never know... And the right side of his face was hugely swollen - looked like he had stuck a grapefruit in his mouth!
I fell in love with boxing at that moment and Ali became my lifelong hero. What a man...
I love so many of his famous quotes, but for me, this one resonates the most:
If you are the same person at 50 years old that you were when you were 20, you wasted 30 years!
R.I.P. Champ!!