Advent 23

I've thought long and hard about this one - today's entry on the list could easily have been held back for Door 24 on the old calendar. The sport in which he excelled can leave me queasy but also at its best delivers a fearsome nobility. It is, of course, boxing and he, of course, is Muhammad Ali.

Olympic champion at light heavyweight, professionally he went to war with other big beasts in the heavyweight division - the list of the vanquished is compelling: Liston, Cooper, Patterson, Frasier, Norton and, most memorably of all, George Foreman. Ali was the most famous man on the planet. GOAT.

Who will it be tomorrow?