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This One Video Proves Ali Was Beloved Worldwide

by Lindsay Mannering

Early Saturday morning, June 3, the AP reported that professional boxer Muhammad Ali was dead. The sports icon was 74 years old, and died Friday night at a Phoenix, Arizona, hospital, after having been admitted on Thursday. The BBC reports that he had been suffering from a respiratory illness, which was made worse by his Parkinson's disease. His funeral will reportedly take place Thursday in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, and fans worldwide, to be sure, will be mourning the legendary athlete. After watching this one video below, it's apparent how universal his appeal was.

At the Epson Derby horse race Saturday in the U.K., a crowd of over 100,000 people rose to their feet and applauded for one minute after learning the sad news that Ali had died. The announcer explains:

Shortly after her Majesty's arrival here on Epson Downs, there was a one-minute applause to celebrate the life of Muhammad Ali, which so sadly ended last night. One of the most inspirational sportsmen, indeed, inspirational post-war figures, and he was warmly appreciated by the entire crowd here on the Downs.

In this short, 34-second clip, you can sense the love and respect the fans feel for Ali:

One hundred thousand people, in a crowd thousands of miles away from Ali's hometown, rose to their feet to cheer and honor a septuagenarian former boxer because, well, because he was Muhammad Ali.