On this night, when America celebrates sport and spectacle, a great American athlete and entertainer is possibly in his last days. Muhammad Ali is near death, his brother reports. Ali, who was stripped of his title after refusing to fight in the Vietnam War (only to win it back), has been suffering from Parkinson's Disease since 1984.

Asked if he would fight (with guns, that is) for the United States, Ali replied, "Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Vietcong."

An ambassador of peace during and after his career, he has focused his energies in recent years towards working with the United Nations and opening the Muhammad Ali Center in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

Update: Ali's family is disputing the report in the Mail and the Sun, calling the idea that Ali is near death a "rumor" that "happens every year."