Prakash Mehra wished to make film with Muhammad Ali, Big B

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has mourned the death of legendary former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali by calling him the "greatest ever". He said that late filmmaker Prakash Mehra wished to make a film with them.

Ali, who was hospitalised for a respiratory problem on June 2, passed away at the age of 74 on Friday.

"Mohammed Ali the greatest ever! A gentleman and learned mind! He not just fought in the ring but outside it as well! And won," Amitabh posted on Twitter on Saturday.

The "Piku" star later posted a black-and-white photograph of himself with Ali.

"With the 'greatest' Muhammed Ali at his home in Los Angeles. Prakash Mehra had wished to make film with him and me," he wrote alongside the image.

One of the greatest boxers in history, Ali retired in 1981 and soon found signs of sluggishness and neurological damage. He thereafter received treatment for Parkinson's disease.

Ali, known as Cassius Clay before he converted to Islam, began boxing training at the age of 12 years.

He won the World heavyweight championship at the age of 22 in 1964. He won the title again in 1974 and 1978.

--IANS

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