Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Worldwide, has given an insight into his love for boxing and for the legend of the gloves, Mohammed Ali.

Speaking on the theme GOD BLESS YOU (Part 2) at the February 2021 Holy Ghost Service monitored by Political Economist, the popular pastor famed for his humility said that only God has no beginning and therefore has no ending. He described God as always a reigning champion.

According to him, human champions reign and fade away but God remains the only champion that reigns forever. He cited the case of Mohammed Ali whom he described as his boxing hero in his younger days (Adeboye used to be a boxer in his younger days), stressing that at a time, Ali was the undisputed champion of boxing but like all champions besides God, he faded away and ceased to be a champion.

“The day I saw Mohammed Ali, a former champion, shaking and weak, I cried,” he recalled. Adeboye said seeing the great Ali shaking made him realise that only God reigns forever.

“I could not believe that the man who used to fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee would shaking such that he was finding it difficult to hold anything firmly,” he said.

Ali died on June 3, 2016, in Phoenix, Arizona, after being hospitalized for what was reportedly a respiratory issue. He was 74 years old. The boxing legend had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease and spinal stenosis which made him unable to walk at a time.

Adeboye said a corollary to the ephemeral reign of all human champions was that anything that has a beginning has an ending, and this, he said, included sicknesses, problems of diverse kinds including marital challenges.

He assured the global audience that all crises bedevilling nations including terrorism have a beginning and therefore have an ending.