AFP, LOS ANGELES: The death of Muhammad Ali was a sharp reminder of a glittering era of heavyweight boxing that contrasts starkly with the anemic state of the sport's marquee division today.
Ali, who died of septic shock on Friday at the age of 74 after decades of battling Parkinson's disease, was the cornerstone of a heavyweight triumvirate that also included Joe Frazier and George Foreman, whose flair and ferocity kept boxing at the forefront of the cultural conversation.
They were themselves the heirs of Joe Louis and Max Schmeling, Rocky Marciano and Sonny Liston.
And amid the social turmoil of their age they made the heavyweight world crown relevant worldwide.
Even the names of the bouts still resonate: Ali-Frazier 1, known as "The Fight of the Century" pitted the two undefeated heavyweight champions in famed Madison Square Garden with seemingly the whole world watching and taking sides.
Frazier absorbed tremendous punishment but relentlessly out-worked Ali and dropped him in the 15th round to win by unanimous decision and launch an epic trilogy capped by the "Thrilla in Manila".
In between there was the "Rumble in the Jungle" in Kinshasa, where underdog Ali's now famous "rope a dope" strategy saw Foreman punch out his energy and Ali pounce for an eighth-round knockout of his previously unbeaten foe.
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Ending all speculations, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) finally decided in principle to split the selection panel in order to make the selection process smooth and transparent. While the existing… 
Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.
Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.
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