In sports we have athletes and then we have what we call superstars.

My focus is on the superstars of this world. As you know, there are so many sporting bodies around the world today, many of which have some extremely talented athletes, both men and women.

This week I focus solely on the men, followed by the women in next week's article. Basically what I will present to you is my top five Best Male Athletes of all time

This is a very exciting and talented group of superstars. Choosing between them without being biased to any particular sport was difficult, but in order to give my true evaluation I had to leave politics out and these are my top five.

Before I reveal them, however, let me clarify how I came to my final decision. First, I looked at their ability, followed by the impact they have made in their sport and lastly, by their popularity worldwide.

In fifth place we have Lance Armstrong, world renowned for his cycle riding. Lance won the World Cycling Championships in 1993 at the age of 21. He then went on to claim stage wins on Tour de France and multiple wins at Tour de Pont as he quickly made his way to number one in world cycling. Armstrong entered 1996 as the world's number one cyclist before finding out by doctors that he had cancer and from there his whole life would change.

Having to try chemotherapy to try to overcome his illness, which he did, allowed him to eventually pursue his career. Upon returning to the cycle world Armstrong would do the unthinkable and break the record by winning the toughest cycle race there is worldwide, the Tour de France, seven consecutive times from 1999-2005. He went on to open his own foundation in support of cancer patients, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Fourth is Michael Jordan. First he took the North Carolina Tarheels to the championship and from there he entered professional basketball and would take basketball to another level. Jordan joined the Chicago Bulls in 1984.

He would emerge as a crowd pleaser as he won the slam dunk contest with his miraculous dunk from the free throw line, earning him the nickname Air Jordan.

Jordan would go onto win six NBA rings with the Bulls. Overall he was voted finals MVP six times, League MVP five times and three All-Star MVPs. On top of that, he was the 10 time scoring champion in the league. Michael Jordan took marketing to another level in basketball. Everybody wanted to be like Mike.

Today's basketball stars Kobe Bryant and Lebron James have Jordan to thank for their million dollar contracts and endorsements because it was he who started the trend.

Sitting in third place we have Pele. Pele from Brazil was, and still is, rated as the best footballer ever to play the game.

He won three World Cups in three different decades, his first when he was only 17 years old when he scored two goals in the finals against Sweden, a game which Brazil won 5-2.

During his career he would score 1,280 goals in 1,360 games, a feat that is astonishing. At the club level in Brazil he shattered the goalscoring record by scoring 127 goals, for Santos FC in 1959.

What made Pele special was his skill, agility and balance. They were impeccable as was his ability to kick with both feet. Pele made the number 10 jersey famous.

Upon his retirement in 1974 he went to the USA to play with the Cosmos on a three year contract worth millions of dollars. His final match would be an exhibition between Santos and Cosmos, which was sold out six weeks before the game. In 1993 Pele was inducted into the Soccer Hall of Fame and in 2000 he was voted second only to Muhammad Ali, for the Sportsman of the Century award.

Second place goes to Tiger Woods. He learned to play golf at an early age where his skills were so spectacular that they showed him on Good Morning America. He went on to Stanford University where he won a number of US Amateur Championships before turning professional in 1996.

In 1997 he won the US Masters in Augusta with a record score of 270 at the age of 21. Woods is the youngest to reach 50 Tour wins and holds the record for the most consecutive weeks as number one. Tiger has 14 major wins, second to Jack Nicklaus and 71 PGA Tour wins, third overall with still several years to play.

Woods was the highest paid professional athlete in 2008 having earned an estimate 110 million dollars from winning and endorsements. He is the reason why millions around the world watch golf today.

There is no athlete around who has the focus and the killer instinct that he has. There are athletes and then there is Tiger Woods. He is so dominant in his sport that the only reason he is not number one is because he has so much more to fulfill in his career. Guarantee you by the time Woods finishes playing golf he will have surpassed all before him.

Last but not least is my namesake Muhammad Ali, formerly known as Cassius Clay.

By far the best of the best! Anybody that knows sports or knows anything about sports knows Muhammad Ali. No other sportsman compares to him.

He fought in an era when heavyweight boxing was at its best. Ali used to boast and his famous quote was, "Float like a butterfly sting like a bee".

His signature fight that made him great was when he fought champion Sonny Liston. Such a favourite was Liston bookies had him at 7-1 favourite to beat Ali. Ali outboxed the champ and Liston failed to come out of his corner for the seventh round.

If that wasn't enough a rematch took place and Ali would knock Liston out in the first round with what many called, "The Phantom Punch".

Ali would go on and start predicting the rounds he would knock a fighter out and then go and execute it. This drove some fans mad while others loved him for it.

Ali would go on and fight Joe Frazier and George Foreman in some of the most exciting, exhilarating, physically demanding fights ever.

It was these fights that marked his true greatness. Ali was named Fighter of the Year by Ring Magazine more times than any other fighter and appeared in the Fight of the Year more times than any other fighter.

Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's syndrome in 1984. At the 1996 Olympics Ali lit the torch a feat that caused Bill Clinton (USA president at the time) to cry. Need I say anymore? Then in 1999 Ali was voted Sports Personality of the Century, thus confirming his greatness.

As sportsmen, to be the best you have to go over and beyond the call of duty. If you ever want to be the best I suggest you read up on any one of these top athletes and see the dedication and commitment that it takes to be a world class champion.

Quote: I am the greatest; I said that even before I knew I was – Muhammad Ali