kolkata when millions of eyes welled up early on saturday morning on the news of muhammed alis death the loss reverberated amid the thud of fighting fists far beyond phoenix in a boxing ring in ekbalpore in kolkataon a cold december morning in 1990 a young man from port area had set out on foot for a star hotel five kilometres away after seeing the newspapersfor much of his career spanning over three decades mohammed mehrajuddin had idolised ali he would spend countless hours reading about him and playing in loop videos of his boutsthe boxer who the budding pugilist had till now idolised like millions of others and engaged in shadow boxing with in his dreams was putting up in a star hotel five kilometres awayhe was my hero in the ring the more i saw of him the harder my blood rushed in my veins every day i loved him more i wanted to catch a glimpse of him said mehrajuddin recalling his chance but memorable meeting with ali or cassius clayreaching the hotel mehrahjuddin almost begged at the reception for alis room number while he was rushing towards the room mir mohammed omer the then secretary of mohammedan sporting club who was instrumental in bringing the boxing legend to kolkata asked him who he waswait downstairs he will be there for his breakfast he was curtly directed by omerlittle did mehrajuddin a little dejected by now after being told to wait that he was only minutes away from a chance but memorable encounter with his iconali who in his fighting days dealt knockout blows to many formidable foes including the worlds most powerful government was in front of him with his fists clenched and ready for a boutyou say you a boxer come fight ali had challenged him in a trembling baritonei could not believe my eyes i would have considered myself lucky had i caught a glimpse from far away and here he was wanted to fight with me said mehrajuddin trying to figure out the gamut of emotion he went through even before he could react ali landed a left hand hook on his right cheek an assault that every boxer hates but not mehrajuddin i consider it as an achievement he joked mir mohammed omer the then secretary of mohammedan sporting club was instrumental in bringing the boxing legend to kolkata where he visited several mosques and the kalighat templeon the same night when i met him ali expressed his desire to go for a stroll after dinner that threw everybody in a tizzy they brought him till the bodyguard lines near bm birla heart research centre in his car accompanied by his hosts ali started walking the entire ekbalpore area came alive it felt like eid said mehrajuddinearly on sunday morning mehrajuddin who went on to become the runnerup at the national game and won the gold at indian railways game was imparting a few lessons to his students while paying homage