The contractors and curators are hurrying to complete the restoration of the small wooden house in Louisville where Muhammad Ali grew up.
The driven ambition is to stage the grand launch of No 3302 Grand Avenue as a museum on May 1.
There was a sense of urgency, also, about this month’s opening of the large-scale Ali exhibition I Am The Greatest at London’s O2 Arena.
Muhammad Ali, pictured with Sportsmail's Jeff Powell at his 70th birthday, is now rarely seen in public
Ali, pictured carrying the Olympic torch in 1996, is the most recognisable human being on the planet
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That has been hastily followed by the Proud Camden collection of previously unseen photographs of Ali going on display in that artsy corner of north London.
As things stand, there are no plans for the man himself to visit any of these tributes to his extraordinary life and his heavyweight legend.
Our concerns are growing. Inevitably.
Ali loves nothing more than being centre stage, the focus of attention.
With his name going back up in lights in so many locations, the sense of his absence is acute.
Ali was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 32 years ago.
Miraculously he is still with us, thanks to the unquenchable fighting spirit which made him not only the most compelling boxer of all time but the most recognisable human being on the planet.
His wife Lonnie represents her man with great dignity and affection, but the sense of his absence is acute
Contractors are hurrying to complete the restoration of the small wooden house in Louisville where Ali grew up
Through the recent years of declining health and descent into silence his devoted wife Lonnie has worked tirelessly to keep him in the public eye, where she knows he belongs.
Now she has to consult his physicians before allowing him to travel and of late they have withheld such approval.
Often, as with the O2 exhibition, Lonnie represents her man. With great dignity and affection.
Worryingly, public sightings of Ali have become increasingly rare. Even personal photographic glimpses.
Unlike on the occasion of his 73rd birthday last year, no pictures were released on this January 17 of the family celebrating at home as he turned 74, although a tweet was posted on his Twitter account to mark the event.
Lonnie has welcomed the project to turn his first home into a shrine but there is no suggestion that he will be well enough to make the journey from his sunshine residence in Arizona to see it for himself.
Ali celebrates his win over Sonny Liston in 1964, and he loves nothing more than being centre stage
Ali, pictured in 2014, is miraculously still with us, thanks to his unquenchable fighting spirit
The renovations are nearing completion. The frontage has been repainted in the bright pink which made it stand out in the inauspicious environs of Grand Avenue while the Clay family were in residence between the late 40s and early 60s.
The two-bedroom, one bathroom structure will be exactly as it was the day the young Cassius left for the 1960 Rome Olympics to begin making his fame and glory.
The house went on the market six years ago and was bought by Las Vegas estate agent Jared Weiss for $70,000 (£48,600).
The boxing legend receives the Medal of Freedom from George W Bush - if Downing Street and Buckingham Palace intend to bestow a similar office, they should do so without delay
Now life-long Ali fan George Bochetto, a Philadelphia lawyer, is spending $300,000 (£208,000) on the reconstruction and the purchase of the house next door, which will be a welcome centre and gift shop.
With the history of Ali’s epic world heavyweight championship career and his humanitarian work for Civil Rights and under-privileged children impressively displayed already at the Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Lousiville, the exhibits at No 3302 will concentrate solely on his early life.
The admission charge, initially from Thursdays to Sundays, will be $8 (£5.50).
Meanwhile may I suggest that if Downing Street and Buckingham Palace intend to respond positively to David Haye’s appeal for The Greatest to be made an honorary knight, they do so without delay.
Chris Eubank Jnr argues that his British middleweight championship challenge to Nick Blackwell will be bigger than a world title fight.
The TV ratings this coming Saturday night will provide a partial litmus test for the validity of that claim.
Eubank took the Blackwell fight at Wembley Arena in preference to a re-match with Billy Joe Saunders, who went on from beating him to take a middleweight belt from Andy Lee.
Chris Eubank Jnr claims his fight against Nick Blackwell will be bigger than a world title bout
This Mick Hennessy promotion will air live on Channel 5, while Sky Sports are screening Kell Brook’s world welterweight title defence in Sheffield against mandatory Canadian challenger Kevin Bizier.
The element of free-to-air broadcasting against subscription channel could skew the figures but that can be factored into the equation.
Eubank and Brook are odds-on favourites to win.
But Bizier is vowing to bring competitive North American aggression to the ring. And George Groves, who is in preparation for a comeback of his own, reports himself impressed after his sparring sessions with Blackwell, who says: ‘There’s no way Eubank hits as hard or has the strength of (super-middleweight) George.’
Kell Brook, who is also odds on to win his fight, will take on Kevin Bizier on the same night as Eubank's fight
Both Hennessy and Eddie Hearn, Brook’s promoter, are lining up bigger, world title, fights for their men, assuming they win.
Either way, this should be another Saturday night worth watching in its own right on the booming British boxing scene.
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