Story behind the greatest picture featuring Muhammad Ali

"Great" is a moniker reserved for a few, but here was a man who in every measure, was much beyond that. "I am the greatest," said Muhammad Ali, and he couldn't have been more correct.

A man, born Cassius Clay, who learnt to box at the tender age of 12 to avenge the theft of his favourite bicycle, a man who decided to give up his "slave name", declaring his allegiance to Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam, refused to fight in the Vietnam War even at the cost of being stripped of his world heavyweight title, Ali was a symbol of political defiance, of black pride, in a racially segregated, and often violent, America in the 1960s and 1970s: a true legend.

His death on Friday (June 3) was, therefore, an irreparable loss. It always is when a star of such distinction passes away. He had been battling Parkinsons Disease for the last 35 years.

Ali's life was a story of sheer grit, determination and courage in the face of terrible odds. He was a champion, but never quite so for white America. In fact, even when he returned home with Olympic gold medal from Rome, the Chamber of Commerce told him that it didn't have time to co-sponsor a dinner. He was refused service at all-white restaurants.

His boxing bouts were as intense as they could ever get. His fights with Joe Frazier and George Foreman were epic. And his inimitable showmanship, digs at opponents added colour to the fights.

Words are never enough, and never will be, to completely describe the aura of Muhammad Ali.

As we mourn the death of "The Greatest" one, this image of Ali with his arms raised in celebration as his opponent Cleveland Williams lies on his back, defeated, vanquished transports you to that era in the 1960s - the bad, dark era; you are overcome by a sense of nostalgia, of respect for a man who lived life on his own terms when you were hardly allowed to as a black American.

In 2003, this image was voted as the greatest sports photo ever by the Observer, and it is our choice for the image of the day, and a tribute to a genius, the likes of whom are not born too often.