Muhammad Ali's last fight: Boxing legend's final year captured in photos by loving wife

   

The boxing icon , who died on Friday, had endured a 32-year battle with Parkinson's Disease but did not shy away from the limelight as he was pictured by his wife Lonnie on Twitter.Pictures shared on the account, show the ailing boxing legend as he is surrounded by friends and family while his health declined.

Muhammad Ali
Ali showed his support for the Louisville Cardinals (

Image:

Twitter)

In one photo, the legendary three-time heavyweight boxing champion poses with his fists up in an iconic stance while he rests in a leather chair, with a faint smile on his face.

Along with the picture, the tweet read: "Once a Louisville Cardinal,always a Louisville Cardinal. Keep Fighting- I've got your back! #IveGotYourBack @gocards"

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Muhammad Ali
This photo was captioned: "Total knock out" (

Image:

Twitter)

Another taken in November last year, as part of 'no shave today' movement with Carson Daly and Matt Lauer, shows Ali rocking a 'Muhammad Ali' grey sweatshirt while sporting an impressive beard.

The caption read: "Total knock out", as he challenged the others to the 'no shave day'.

Go Matt Go! @TheTodayShow #RedNoseDay

Showing he still had a great sense of fun and charity, in another snap Ali sported a red nose for Red Nose Day with a huge smile on his face.

But more recent photos show a sharp decline in the boxing legend's health and looking frail but supported by his adoring family.

In January this year, the boxing legend showed signs of ailing health at his birthday celebrations as he sported a thinner frame and could barely keep his eyes open.

Ali, who bragged that he was "the greatest" and then backed up the claim in the ring, died Friday in Phoenix, Arizona. He was 74.

A family spokesman, Bob Gunnell, issued a statement saying that Ali died late Friday.

"After a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74. The three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer died this evening," Gunnell said.

Ali poses with some of his seven daughters and two sons at his most recent birthday party in January of this year
Ali with his daughter's Laila (left) and Hana (right) at his birthday party in January

A statement from the spokesman said the Ali family "would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and support" and asked for privacy.

Tributes have flooded in from around the world, with friends and fellow fighters paying Ali, who was voted Sports Personality of the Century, the highest accolades.

George Foreman, Ali's friend and rival from the famous Rumble in the Jungle fight, said: "We were like one guy - part of me is gone."

He said he wanted Ali to be remembered as a "brave" humanitarian and not just a boxer, telling the BBC: "Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest human beings I have ever met. No doubt he was one of the best people to have lived in this day and age.

"To put him as a boxer is an injustice."

He also spoke of Ali's love for the UK and the way he was treated in the country.

"He loved London. If he had been born and raised in London he never would have changed his name," he said.

Ali, widely considered to be the greatest in boxing history - as well as a key figure in America's civil rights movement - is survived by his fourth wife Lonnie, whom he married in 1986, and nine children, many of whom were reported to have flown to their father's bedside on Thursday and Friday.

At his last public appearances he looked increasingly frail, including on April 9 when he wore sunglasses and was hunched over at the annual Celebrity Fight Night dinner in Phoenix, which raises funds for Parkinson's treatment.

The boxing great's funeral will be held in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

Ali, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's syndrome in 1984, the result of taking too many punches during his years in the ring, particularly at the end of his career, was hospitalized on June 2 in Phoenix for a respiratory ailment.