Rubin Carter holds up the writ of habeas corpus that freed him from prison[AP]Now I'm looking death straight in the eye. He's got me on the ropes, but I won't back down.
Carter was held up as a global symbol of racial injustice, with the perceived unfairness of his two trials in 1967 and 1976 highlighted in the Bob Dylan song "Hurricane" and several books.
He was freed in November 1985 when his convictions were set aside after years of appeals and public pressure.
But after being stricken by a bout of prostate cancer, Carter died today at his home in Toronto, Canada, according to his friend and co-defendant John Artis.
"I wouldn't give up," Carter said during a TV interview in 2011. "No matter that they sentenced me to three life terms in prison.
"I wouldn't give up. Just because a jury of 12 misinformed people ... found me guilty did not make me guilty. And because I was not guilty, I refused to act like a guilty person."
Denzel Washington won the Oscar for best actor after starring as Carter in 1999 it film "Hurricane".
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and Italian boxer Fabio Bettini pose after their 1965 fight [AP]"This man right here is love," the actor said while onstage with Carter at the Golden Globes ceremony in early 2000, "He's all love. He lost about 7,300 days of his life, and he's love. He's all love."
Carter's weight is said to have dropped dammatcially during his final months, but he continued to advocate for prisoners he believed had been wrongfully convicted.
Carter wrote an opinion essay for the New York Daily News in February, arguing vehemently for the release of a murder convict.
At the time he said he was "quite literally on my deathbed", adding: "Now I'm looking death straight in the eye.
"He's got me on the ropes, but I won't back down."
In June 1966, three people were shot dead by two black men at the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson.
Carter and Artis were convicted by an all-white jury largely on the testimony of two thieves who later recanted their stories.
Carter is escorted into a Newark federal court [AP]Dylan became aware of Carter's plight after reading the boxer's autobiography. He met the ex-boxer and co-wrote "Hurricane," which he performed on his Rolling Thunder Revue tour in 1975.
Muhammad Ali also spoke out on Carter's behalf, while advertising art director George Lois and other celebrities also worked toward Carter's release.
Carter eventually won his freedom from US District Judge H. Lee Sarokin, who wrote that Carter's prosecution had been "predicated upon an appeal to racism rather than reason, and concealment rather than disclosure".
Born in May, 1937, into a family of seven children, the New Jersey-native struggled with a hereditary speech impediment and was sent to a juvenile reform centre at 12 after an assault.
He escaped and joined the Army in 1954, experiencing racial segregation and learning to box while in West Germany.
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter knocked out Italian boxer Fabio Bettini in 1965 [AP]At 5ft 8in he was quite short for a middleweight but his aggression and high volume of punches brought him success.
Although never a world champion, Carter had a strong record with 27 wins - 19 by knockout - 12 losses and one draw.
He memorably stopped two-division champion Emile Griffith in the first round in 1963. He also fought for a middleweight title in December 1964, losing a unanimous decision to Joey Giardello.
Carter boxed regularly at Madison Square Garden and overseas in London, Paris and Johannesburg.
Although his career appeared to be waning when he was arrested for the murders, Carter was hoping for a second middleweight title shot.
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