BOXING

NATIONAL BOXER Michael Alexander was eliminated from Olympic contention after losing at the AIBA Olympic Qualification Event in Baku, Azerbaijan, yesterday.

Muhammad Ali was not someone to argue with, in the ring or out, so when he told the world he was "The Greatest", we believed him, because he surely was. Perhaps not the greatest boxer - Ali himself always acknowledged that Sugar Ray Robinson held that title - but certainly the greatest world heavyweight champion, and, as every opinion poll has ever indicated, the greatest sports figure in history.

The Trinidad and Tobago Boxing contingent departed for Baku, Azerbaijan on Monday 13th June to compete at the AOB World Olympic Qualification Event with the hopes of joining Super heavyweight boxer Nigel Paul at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

With Muhammad Ali, it was always the people.

Olympian Ato Boldon has lauded the late Muhammad Ali for being a pioneer for black athletes in an era when that was not the norm.

How’s this for a spot of name-dropping? Forty-five years ago last week I was in the gents at Madison Square Garden having a pee when a man in a trilby standing next to me turned his head and nodded: ”Howya doing pal?”