Muhammad Ali to be recognized with Liberty Humanitarian Award
Retired boxing great Muhammad Ali will visit Philadelphia to receive the Liberty Medal, an award recognizing his longtime role as a fighter outside the ring for humanitarian causes, civil rights and religious freedom.
President Jimmy Carter greets Mohammed Ali at a White House 1977 photo/Library of Congress
The honor will be presented on Thursday during a ceremony at the National Constitution Center by the boxing champion’s daughter, Laila, who is also a boxer, and two U.S. Olympic athletes: Claressa Shields and Susan Francia.
The event, which serves as the centerpiece of the nationwide celebration of the U.S. Constitution’s 225th anniversary, will be held in Philadelphia.
“Ali embodies the spirit of the Liberty Medal by embracing the ideals of the Constitution…freedom, self-governance, equality and empowerment and helping to spread them across the globe,” former President Bill Clinton, the center’s chairman, said in a statement.
Since hanging up his gloves in 1981, Ali has traveled extensively on international charitable missions and devoted his time to philanthropy and social causes.
His wife Lonnie is slated to speak on his behalf at the ceremony. A 30-year battle with Parkinson’s disease has devastated the once-chiseled physique that made Ali an Olympic champion and three-time heavyweight title holder.
It comes with a $100,000 cash prize.
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