MUHAMMAD ALI CENTER GRAND OPENING TICKETS ARE ON SALE!
By Ron Brashear
Inside Boxing Writer/Columnist

(IB – June 2, 2005) – Tickets are now on sale for the Grand Opening for the Muhammad Ali Center. Please mark this date on your calendars – Saturday November 19th 2005! This will be a star-studded international event and will be historic in nature. Your presence will be greatly appreciated. Here is some additional information pertaining to the center.

Information from the Ali Center website:
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, the city where Muhammad Ali's story began, the Muhammad Ali Center will serve as a place to celebrate the deeply rooted values and worldwide influence of Ali. Essentially, it will be a place that redeems and esteems the core values behind Ali himself - peace, social responsibility, respect and personal growth.
The Muhammad Ali Center will become one of America's most exciting places to visit. Not only will the Center explore Ali's life and what makes him such an enduring hero, it will also touch its visitors' lives and inspire them to emulate his discipline, perseverance and willingness to stand up for one's beliefs.
Upon entering the Ali Center, guests will be welcomed by a warm and receptive environment - a place that truly resembles what it might feel like to spend time with Muhammad Ali himself. Visitors will begin to understand ways to develop the kinds of inner resources that gave Muhammad the strength to take a stand no matter what the consequences. Ali's dream is that when visitors leave the Muhammad Ali Center, they will be inspired to live their own dreams, and to be the best they can be.
Our Purpose
The mission of the Muhammad Ali Center is to preserve and share the legacy and ideals of Muhammad Ali, to promote respect, hope, and understanding, and to inspire adults and children everywhere to be as great as they can be.

Dear Friends,

Over this past year, Muhammad has been the beneficiary of a great outpouring of love, both nationally and internationally, for his athletic career and humanitarian efforts. While all eyes are turned on Muhammad for what he has done in the past, our thoughts are turned toward a spectacular vision for the future: the Muhammad Ali Center.

Some may wonder how a feisty, over-confident kid from Louisville could have become the Athlete of the Century and a United Nations Messenger of Peace. It is a story unlike any other. But the Ali Center is not intended to glorify the story or the man. Its purpose is to illustrate the how. How he found the courage, the dedication and the discipline to become great. How he found the conviction to stand up for what he believed. And how he turned his passion for excellence into a passion for peace. This is Muhammad's legacy and it is our dream to build a world-class Center in his hometown, where these lessons can be brought to life and embraced by people of all ages.

We feel certain that this is the right time and right place. We have assembled the best minds in the country to help us: architects, designers, educators and many more. We are heartened by the tremendous support of Kentucky state and local legislators and by individuals all across the nation. At the same time, people and institutions throughout the world are responding enthusiastically to our plans and ideas.

We look forward to the day when the Center is open, and is at the heart of our day to day life. State-of-the-art exhibits will combine learning and fun while appealing to the mind, body and spirit. Muhammad will have a presence there, greeting children and welcoming their families from all over the world. If we were building a museum just to honor Muhammad, we would not be asking for your support. But we believe the Center is the most vital way to carry out his life's mission of capturing the magic inside each of us and passing it on to generations to come. Given this, we humbly ask you to join with us in making our dream a reality.

From the heart,

Lonnie Ali
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Please show your support for Muhammad Ali and his vision by visiting www.alicenter.org and purchasing your tickets. I hope to see you in Louisville, Kentucky on November 19th.

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Ron Brashear can be contacted at brashear@insideboxing.com, ron@brasheargear.com