Get you up to speed: ‘Service is the rent we pay’: Muhammad Ali remembered 10 years on
Muhammad Ali is being honoured with a global “Day of Compassion” to mark the tenth anniversary of his death, which took place on June 3, 2016, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. The Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville is encouraging acts of service and care worldwide in commemoration of the event.
The Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville is hosting a global “Day of Compassion” this week, encouraging acts of service in honour of the late boxing champion. The initiative aims to evolve into an annual event celebrating volunteerism and represents a call for compassion and community engagement amid increasing societal polarisation.
The Muhammad Ali Center is encouraging global acts of service in honour of the “Day of Compassion,” a new initiative marking the tenth anniversary of Ali’s death. Lonnie Ali has called for political leaders to “lead with compassion,” challenging them on issues such as the Voting Rights Act, as the Centre aims to establish this observance as an annual event to promote volunteerism and community engagement.
What remains unclear — It is not specified whether the “Day of Compassion” will be held annually beyond this year.
Muhammad Ali remembered as Louisville marks 10 years since his death
By APPublished On 3 Jun 20263 Jun 2026
Muhammad Ali’s legacy extends far beyond his world titles and Olympic gold, his widow has said, as his hometown prepares to mark 10 years since the boxing icon’s death with a global “Day of Compassion”.
Ali, who died on June 3, 2016, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease, is being honored this week at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, which is encouraging people worldwide to mark Wednesday’s anniversary with acts of service and care.
“He transcended boxing into every space you can imagine,” Lonnie Ali said in an interview at the centre. “Muhammad lived by this mantra: Service to others is the rent we pay for our room here on Earth.
“He showed up every day with kindness and empathy in his heart for people who are in need.”
Known in his hometown as the “Louisville Lip”, Ali rose from a modest background to become a three-time heavyweight champion and 1960 Olympic gold medallist.
As his fame grew in the 1960s, he became an outspoken voice on civil rights and the Vietnam War, cementing his status as one of the most influential athletes of all time.
The Ali Center, where Lonnie Ali serves as lifetime director, hopes the “Day of Compassion” will grow into an annual event highlighting volunteerism and service.
“The day will focus on one of the core values that made up Muhammad Ali,” she said, warning that the United States is “losing touch with our humanity and with each other”.
“We’re becoming increasingly polarised and separated, and sort of retreating to people who think like us, look like us – and not really reaching out,” she added.
Lonnie Ali also challenged political leaders to “lead with compassion”, criticising moves that have weakened the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act. “We should always be thinking about how we can uplift a community, not how we can make it harder for them.
“You can’t have equal representation when you’re denying people voting rights,” she said.
She said she still draws hope from how Louisville came together during a weeklong celebration of Ali’s life in 2016, when thousands lined the streets as his funeral procession passed his childhood home and millions watched the service online.
A decade later, Ali’s face now appears on a US postage stamp – another sign, she said, that his message of courage, faith, and service still resonates “from kings and princes to ordinary fans who never met him, but felt they knew his heart”.
Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, right, launches an attack on Joe Bugner, British and European heavyweight champion, during their 12-round Heavyweight fight in Los Vegas, Nevada, on February 14, 1973. [AP Photo]
Muhammad Ali chops at a tree with an axe at his training camp in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania, on August 23, 1973, as he prepares for his rematch against Ken Norton. The rustic camp, now restored, opened to the public in 2019 as a shrine to his life and career. [Rusty Kennedy/AP]
Muhammad Ali is greeted by fans in downtown Kinshasa, Zaire, on September 17, 1974, before his “Rumble in the Jungle” heavyweight title fight against George Foreman. [AP]
US President George W Bush presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali in the East Room of the White House in November 2005. [Evan Vucci/AP]
Former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, centre, is crowned “King of Boxing” during the 50th convention of the World Boxing Council in Cancun, Mexico, on, December 3, 2012, alongside his wife, Lonnie, right, and Argentinian boxer Sergio Martinez. [Israel Leal/AP]
Muhammad Ali’s funeral procession passes as onlookers line the street in Louisville, Kentucky, on June 10, 2016. [Jeff Roberson/AP] Advertisement 
The hearse carrying Muhammad Ali’s body passes in front of his boyhood home, seen at top centre, during his funeral procession in Louisville, Kentucky, on June 10, 2016. [Mark Humphrey/AP]
Lonnie Ali, widow of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, speaks about a 1975 painting of him at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 8, 2026. [Dylan Lovan/AP]
Commemorative stamps honouring boxing legend Muhammad Ali are sold after their unveiling by the US Postal Service in Louisville, Kentucky, on, January 15, 2026. [Dylan Lovan/AP]
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