Muhammad Ali
Former world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali died at the age of 74 Reuters/Andreas Meier

Piers Morgan is being ridiculed on social media for his controversial tweet about Muhammad Ali in the wake of the boxing legend's recent death. In a flurry of comments, tweets and counter-tweets fans of the late boxer have slammed the journalist for his jarring message after Ali's death.

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Morgan took to Twitter on 5 June and shared: "Muhammad Ali said far more inflammatory/racist things about white people than Donald Trump ever has about Muslims. #fact," he wrote. Surprisingly, this tweet from the 51-year-old journalist comes following his detailed column about the late boxer, where he does not seem to make any such accusations.

Clearly, such criticism after the death of the legendary boxer did not go down well with followers as they lashed out at Morgan.

"Oh there's the Piers Morgan we all know...back at it again with the egregious commentary," a user tweeted. While another said, "Piers Morgan has been & remains a racist troll masquerading as a thoughtful, hard hitting, pseudo-journalist. #fact"

Despite the severe backlash and criticism on Twitter, Morgan did not back down from his earlier comment, and he further supported it with another round of tweets. "I hope people don't make me sound too perfect when I die. No coats of sugar please." Although the television personality did not name anyone in the tweet, it seemed to be backing his previous one where he compared Ali with the GOP candidate.

Singer John Legend also took to the micro-blogging site to respond to Morgan's "when I die..." tweet. Legend shared, "@piersmorgan you could test us by announcing your retirement."

The British journalist followed up his earlier stand on Ali with some more posts explaining the reason behind the comparison and why his tweets were not "controversial". "Why would stating that Muhammad Ali made a lot of inflammatory, race-charged statements in his life be remotely controversial? He did," Morgan wrote.

"Lots of people were hammering Trump over Ali so I pointed out that Ali said many more inflammatory/racist things," he shared.