Young boxers still inspired by Ali 34 years after last fight

It's been more than 30 years since Muhammad Ali last fought in the ring, but for young boxers in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky the legacy of the boxer dubbed, "the greatest" still looms large.

James Dixon learned how to box in nearby Fort Knox, Kentucky and says he was inspired by the Louisville Lip to open his own gym, TKO Louisville, about four miles from Ali's childhood home.

Ali's presence is felt all over the gym; there is a mural on the side of the building showing Ali after he knocked out Sonny Liston to win his first heavyweight belt. Dixon says he uses Ali's legacy to empower youth, transform lives and build a positive future through boxing.

"Mr. Ali just grew up streets from here and he's been an ambassador to the world," Dixon said. "You know what he done in the ring and more so out of the ring, so on the side of our building it says 'Home of the greatest and return of greatness' so you know we take a great deal of pride to bringing boxing back to Louisville."

For his boxers, who were not even alive when Ali last stepped into the ring, his impact is still felt.

"Muhammad Ali is an icon. To ask these kids or anybody, 'Do you know Muhammad Ali?', that's like asking, 'Do you know Abraham Lincoln or John F Kennedy?'. He's an icon." Dixon said.

Stephanie Malone, who was a captain of her basketball team at Mid-Continent University, said Ali made her life as an athlete possible. The 24-year old has been coming to TKO Louisville for only three months and has already won her first two fights.

"If you don't appreciate Ali, then the only thing I would say, as a boxer, as an athlete he made the way for athletes. Ali laid the pavement and we all heard him walk the pavement," Malone said.

When Ali was king, the streets of Louisville were the capital of the boxing world. It is the only city to be home to four heavyweight champions of the world with Marvin Hart, Greg Page, Jimmy Ellis and Ali all calling the Kentucky Derby city home.

It is that boxing legacy that 23 year old Tre Harbin thinks of and wants to bring back.

"Just to be from the same city as him it kind of gives you that pride. If you were to go out and box and you're from Louisville, you're almost representing, I wouldn't say you're representing Ali completely but to a certain extent you're representing where he is from and just proving that we still have great fighters here," he said.

But Dixon wants kids to know about more than the fighter Ali was. He wants them to know the man.

"He was so much more than boxing. He was civil rights. He stood for so many things. He stood for all people. He stood right. And if everybody took a little bit of what he done and applied it in their life the world would be a better place," Dixon said.

Stripped of his world boxing crown for refusing to join the US Army and fight in Vietnam, Ali returned in triumph by recapturing the title and starring in some of the sport's most unforgettable bouts.

Ali had long suffered from Parkinson's syndrome; he died last Friday at the age of 74. — Reuters