Boxing: Heavyweight appeal

New York has brought out its biggest hitter so far in the campaign for the 2012 Olympics.

Boxing great Muhammad Ali will be part of the US delegation in Singapore when the International Olympic Committee picks the 2012 host city on July 6, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced yesterday.

The former world heavyweight champion won a gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Ali, 63, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, also provided one of the Olympics' most memorable moments when he lit the torch at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

New York is competing against Paris, Madrid, London and Moscow.

London has already announced that England soccer captain David Beckham will be in Singapore. Madrid will have Real Madrid soccer star Raul, five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain and NBA player Pau Gasol.