Muhammad Ali forever stamp the ultimate reversal of government’s view of him

Louisville — Postal officials unveiled a commemorative stamp of boxing legend Muhammad Ali in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, on Thursday, featuring a photo of the champ in his fighting prime.

The Postal Service printed 22 million of the Ali stamps, which feature an Associated Press photo from 1974 showing the fighter holding up his gloves in a fighting stance. His last name, in bold black and red all-cap lettering, accents the stamp.

“We honor Muhammad Ali here in his hometown, a city that shaped him and that he reshaped forever,” said longtime broadcaster Bob Costas, who hosted the unveiling event.

The champ’s friends and family gathered to celebrate the issuance of the stamp, which went on sale Thursday.

“This stamp will travel millions of miles, it will pass through countless hands, but it will quietly remind the world of a man who dared to believe that kindness could be powerful and that being in service to others could be heroic,” said his widow, Lonnie Ali.

The stamp amounts to a full-circle moment for a man once rejected by the U.S. government after he refused military induction during the Vietnam War, a decision that cost Ali his heavyweight title, led to a boxing suspension and threatened him with prison time, CBS Louisville affiliate WLKY points out.

“He paid the consequences, but rose again,” former Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer observed.  

The outspoken three-time heavyweight champ mesmerized the world with his brash poetry and personality. He stayed in the spotlight in his post-fighting days by continuing his philanthropy and support of human rights issues. In his boxing days, Ali once quipped that he should be on a postage stamp because “that’s the only way I’ll ever get licked.”

The Forever Stamps come with a stamp sheet that also features a photo of Ali posing in a pinstripe suit, a recognition of his work as an activist and humanitarian.

Born Cassius Clay Jr., Ali, who changed his name after converting to Islam, died in 2016 at the age of 74 after living with Parkinson’s disease for more than three decades. He is buried in Louisville.

During his lifetime and posthumously, the man known as The Greatest has received numerous awards, including an Olympic gold medal in 1960, the United Nations Messenger of Peace award in 1998, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.