Photo: Getty Images Europe
Muhammad Ali, widely regarded as the most famous and influential boxer of all time, will be honored for the first time with a commemorative U.S. postage stamp.
According to NBC News, the U.S. Postal Service announced that the three-time heavyweight champion will be immortalized with a Muhammad Ali Forever Stamp nearly a decade after his death. The tribute fulfills a joke Ali once made about becoming a stamp because “that’s the only way I’ll ever get licked.”
“As sort of the guardian of his legacy, I’m thrilled. I’m excited. I’m ecstatic,” Lonnie Ali, his wife of nearly 30 years, said. “Because people, every time they look at that stamp, they will remember him.”
The stamp features a black-and-white Associated Press photograph from 1974 showing Ali in his iconic boxing stance. Each sheet of 20 stamps also includes an image of Ali wearing a pinstripe suit, reflecting his life beyond the ring as an activist and humanitarian. The USPS has printed 22 million stamps, which will not be reissued once sold out.
A first-day-of-issue ceremony is scheduled for Thursday (January 15) in Louisville, Kentucky, Ali’s hometown and the site of the Muhammad Ali Center. As Forever Stamps, they will remain valid for First-Class Mail regardless of future postage increases.
Ali, who died in 2016 at age 74 after living with Parkinson’s disease for more than 30 years, earned global recognition not only for his boxing achievements, including an Olympic gold medal and three heavyweight titles, but also for his outspoken views on race, religion, and war. Ali's refusal to be drafted into the Vietnam War cost him his title and years of his career before his conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971.
Lisa Bobb-Semple, the USPS director of stamp services, said the idea for an Ali stamp emerged shortly after his death, though USPS rules require most honorees to be deceased for at least three years. Public support grew through the #GetTheChampAStamp campaign, helping bring the project to fruition.
“Postage stamps are miniature works of art designed to reflect the American experience,” stamp designer Antonio Alcalá said in a statement. “The Muhammad Ali stamp is a great example of that.”
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