John Cena (Getty Images for JCPenney/AFP/Jamie McCarthy)
By Rafael Bandayrel
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar John will be honored as the recipient of this year’s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award at Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year Awards.
SI announced that they decided to bestow the award on Cena “in honor of his leadership as a philanthropist.”
“I am truly thrilled to receive Sports Illustrated’s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award,” Cena said, per WWE.com. “Ali’s commitment to helping others, his dedication to the sport and his generous spirit are incomparable and he was a role model to us all. To be linked with him in any way is an honor that means so much to me.”
The 16-time WWE world champion is an active member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, having granted nearly 600 wishes for children with life threatening illnesses. Cena has the record for the most wishes granted for the organization.
“From his unparalleled work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to his support for a wide range of causes ranging from activism for military families to cancer research, John has made personal outreach and generosity of time and spirit his calling cards,” stated Stephen Cannella, Sports Illustrated Executive Editor. “He might just be the most charitable person in sports, and his dedication to philanthropy richly reflects the spirit of the Ali Legacy Award.”
The Legacy Award was created in 2008 and renamed after Ali in 2015 in recognition of his decades of contribution as a boxing icon and civil rights activist.
Previous recipients include NFL stars Colin Kaepernick and Jim Brown, golfer Jack Nicklaus, and NBA legends Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
Tags: Earvin Magic Johnson , John Cena , Make-A-Wish Foundation , Muhammad Ali , Muhammad Ali Legacy Award , Sports Illustrated , WWE world champion