Muhammad Ali has been called the greatest sportsman and athlete of the 20th century, but he was much more than "the greatest" boxer; he was also one of the most compelling figures of his time, a leader in the civil rights movement, a fiercely principled man who nearly traded in his career rather than violate his religious beliefs, and a figure of remarkable charm and charisma in a sport hardly known for producing articulate men. He was, much much more than just "the greatest" boxer of all time.