Rep. John YarmuthVerified account

The word "champion" has never fit a man better. Muhammad Ali was a champion. A champion for peace. For justice. For equality.

He was a man who gained fame in a violent game, but immortality as a gentle and caring soul.

In the ring, there was no one better. But his contributions to humanity managed to eclipse his boxing prowess.

I remember watching every one of his championship fights.

I remember waiting for him at Standiford Field when he returned after beating Liston, thinking I had never seen a more perfect human being.

A loud-mouthed speedster by the name of Cassius Marcellus Clay, whose fights in and out of the ring would one day make him Muhammad Ali.