WWE legend John Cena to receive Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for charity

WWE legend John Cena is expected to receive this year's Muhammad Ali Legacy Award from Sports Illustrated magazine.

The award is presented each year to "an athlete or athlete who embodies the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy, while using sport as a platform".

Sports Illustrated said the 41-year-old from West Newbury, Mbad., Would be honored for his leadership as a philanthropist.

Cena works closely with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and has made nearly 600 wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses – a record for the organization.

Commenting on this award to the Associated Press, 16-time WWE World Champion, he said, "It's great to be awarded a legacy of any kind.

"To be in the company of people who have received this and to receive an honor named Muhammad Ali is an honor that matters a lot to me."

Cena, currently taking a break from the ring to focus on her acting career, is also advocating for bad cancer awareness and early detection,

"It's really a wonderful match, I'm never trying to downplay that experience, because a family has been granted a wish and it's to meet you or to spend an afternoon." noon, "he said.

Cena's younger brother is a survivor of brain cancer, which he says has prompted him to contact WWE to do more to raise funds for cancer research and treatment.

"I saw baseball do the pink bats, football with the pink studded shoes and asked why we were not doing anything.

"I pretty much established the connection and years later, we made donations and helped a lot of people."

Sports Illustrated editor Stephen Cannella, who helped select the Cena Award alongside other IS editors, said the wrestler was selected for his commitment to philanthropy.

He said: "From his unprecedented work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to support a wide range of causes ranging from activism for military families to cancer research, John has made his business cards a personal touch, the generosity of time and the spirit.

"He is perhaps the most charitable person in the world of sport and his dedication to philanthropy perfectly mirrors the spirit of the Ali Legacy Award."

The Legacy Award was established in 2008 and renamed Ali in 2015 in recognition of his decades as a boxing legend, civil rights activist and icon.

Colin Kaepernick, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are among the former winners of this award.

The award ceremony will take place at SI's Sportsperson of the Year event at the Beverly Hills Hilton in Los Angeles on December 11th.