AS the world gathers to mourn the passing of Muhammad Ali, one of south Essex’s finest boxers has passed on his memories of the late champion.

Basildon’s Terry Marsh, the undefeated IBF World Light-Welterweight champion, met Ali on two occasions, once in 1990 in America and once more 20 years later in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

Three-time heavyweight world champion Ali died last Friday aged 74 in a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, with doctors citing “septic shock due to unspecified natural causes” as the reason for his death.

It brought to an end Ali’s long battle with Parkinson’s disease, and world leaders, celebrities, and thousands more will flock to Louisville, in Kentucky where the man who dubbed himself “The Greatest” hailed from.

And Marsh, 58, said the world had lost a great man, and said his work outside of the ring was incredibly inspirational.

“I was privileged to be in his company on several occasions although the second time was a sad occasion,” he said. “It was at Windsor for a show jumping event but he was in the advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease at that time. We were introduced and I said a few words to him but there were so many people there that I didn’t want to crowd him.

“The first time as at Atlantic City on the East Coast when I was speaking with promoter Bob Arum and Ali was there again. That was in 1990 but it was great to meet him. What a boxer.

“But I admired him more for his actions outside of the ring. His fight with George Foreman was remarkable but for him to refuse to be drafted into the U.S. Army and lose what he had worked so for in order to stand up for what was right was incredible.”

Marsh refers to ‘The Rumble in the Jungle’ in 1974, when former champion Ali upset the undefeated Foreman and his decision not to fight in the Vietnam War in 1966, for which was stripped of his heavyweight title.

And Marsh, who retired from boxing in 1987, said today would be a sad occasion, as Ali is laid to rest in a service that is open to the public and is being broadcast on the internet from 6pm.

“I was a fan of his of course,” said Marsh. “I was 17 when he was fighting Foreman and I was concerned for his health as he was such an underdog. But what a fight it was.

“It is always sad when someone passes, especially someone who has given so much inspiration to so many, literally and metaphorically.”