TORONTO -- Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, the former American boxer who became a global champion for the wrongfully convicted after spending almost 20 years in prison for a triple murder he didnt commit, died at his home in Toronto on Sunday. He was 76. His long-time friend and co-accused, John Artis, said Carter died in his sleep after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer. "Its a big loss to those who are in institutions that have been wrongfully convicted," Artis told The Canadian Press. "He dedicated the remainder of his life, once we were released from prison, to fighting for the cause." Artis quit his job stateside and moved to Toronto to act as Carters caregiver after his friend was diagnosed with cancer nearly three years ago. During the final few months, as Carters health took a turn for the worse, Artis said the man who was immortalized in a Bob Dylan song and a Hollywood film came to grips with the fact that he was dying. "He tried to accomplish as much as he possibly could prior to his passing," Artis said, noting Carters efforts earlier this year to bring about the release of a New York City man incarcerated since 1985 -- the year Carter was freed. "He didnt express very much about his legacy. Thatll be established for itself through the results of his work. Thats primarily what he was concerned about -- his work," Artis said. Born on May 6, 1937, into a family of seven children, Carter 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. Carter then committed a series of muggings after returning home, spending four years in various state prisons. He began his pro boxing career in 1961. He was fairly short for a middleweight, but his aggression and high punch volume made him effective. Carters life changed forever one summer night in 1966, when two white men and a white woman were gunned down in a New Jersey Bar. Police were searching for what witnesses described as two black men in a white car, and pulled over Carter and Artis a half-hour after the shootings. Though there was no physical evidence linking them to the crime and eyewitnesses at the time of the slayings couldnt identify them as the killers, Carter was convicted along with Artis. Their convictions were overturned in 1975, but both were found guilty a second time in a retrial a year later. After 19 years behind bars, Carter was finally freed in 1985 when a federal judge overturned the second set of convictions, citing a racially biased prosecution. Artis was also exonerated after being earlier paroled in 1981. Carter later moved to Toronto and became the founding executive director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, which has secured the release of 18 people since 1993. Win Wahrer, a director with the association, remembers Carter as the "voice and the face" of the group. "I think its because of him that we got the credibility that we did get, largely due to him -- he was already a celebrity, people knew who he was," she said. "He suffered along with those who were suffering." Though Carter left the organization in 2005, the phone never stopped ringing with requests for him, Wahrer said. "He was an eloquent speaker, a passionate speaker. I remember the first time I ever heard him I knew I was in the presence of a man that could move mountains just by his presence and his words and his passion for what he believed in," she said. Carter went on to found another advocacy group, Innocence International. "He wanted to bring people together. That was his real purpose in life -- to get people to understand one another and to work together to make changes," said Wahrer. "It was so important for him to make a difference. And I think he did. I think he accomplished what he set out to do." Association lawyer James Lockyer, who has known Carter since they were involved in the wrongful conviction case of Guy Paul Morin, remembered how Carter called him just before sitting down with then-president Bill Clinton for a screening of his 1999 biopic "The Hurricane." The call was to ask for advice on how to bring the U.S. leaders attention to the case of a Canadian woman facing execution in Vietnam. "Even though this was sort of a pinnacle moment of Rubins life -- to sit at the White House with the president and his wife on either side of him watching a film about him -- he wasnt really thinking about himself," said Lockyer. "He was thinking about this poor woman who was sitting on death row in Vietnam that we were trying to save from the firing squad." The film about Carters life starred Denzel Washington, who received an Academy Award nomination for playing the boxer turned prisoner. On Sunday, when told of Carters death, Washington said in a statement: "God bless Rubin Carter and his tireless fight to ensure justice for all." Carters fight continued to the very end. Never letting up even as his body was wracked with cancer, Carter penned an impassioned letter to a New York paper in February calling for the conviction of a man jailed in 1985 to be reviewed -- and reflected on his own mortality in the process. "If I find a heaven after this life, Ill be quite surprised. In my own years on this planet, though, I lived in hell for the first 49 years, and have been in heaven for the past 28 years," he wrote. "To live in a world where truth matters and justice, however late, really happens, that world would be heaven enough for us all." Cheap Jerseys . Following the Ford Womens World Curling Championship gold medal match that attracted record-breaking audiences to TSN, the networks exclusive live coverage of the tournament begins Saturday at 7am et/4am pt with Canadas opening draw against Denmark. Cheap Jerseys China . After losing a shutout bid in the dying seconds of Sundays win over the Colorado Avalanche, Luongo would not be denied against the punchless Oilers and is now just one back of Patrick Roy for 14th on the all-time list. http://www.cheapjerseysbychina.com/. -- C.J. Cron hit an RBI single on the first pitch he saw in the major leagues, doubled his second time up and hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the sixth inning to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night. Cheap NFL Jerseys . Juventus announced details of the deal Saturday, saying that Morata signed a five-year contract with the club. The deal also includes an option for Madrid to buy Morata back for up to (euro)30 million ($40. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . - Novak Djokovic beat John Isner 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-1 on Saturday to reach the final of the BNP Paribas Open, where hell resume his longtime rivalry with Roger Federer.HOUSTON -- James Shields kept the Houston Astros off-balance all night. Then late in Thursdays 5-1 win, the Kansas City ace really heated up. He struck out the side in the sixth and did the same in the seventh before striking out the first batter in the eighth to make it seven in a row. Astro after Astro simply watched the pitches zip past them -- five players in that span struck out looking. Shields finished with 12 strikeouts in eight innings as the Royals completed a three-game sweep of the Astros. "He moved it around very effectively," manager Ned Yost said. "He was locking guys in, was locking up guys down and away, just had it all going." Shields (1-2) gave up one run and four hits, all singles. "We were pounding the strike zone and getting strike one and getting ahead of the hitters and thats an aggressive team over there and when you get ahead in the count and make your pitches youre successful," he said. His 12 strikeouts were his most as a Royal and the most by a Kansas City pitcher since Zack Greinke also struck out 12 on June 13, 2010, against Cincinnati. The seven straight Ks by Shields were one shy of the franchise record of eight in a row set by Blake Stein in 2001. The right-hander got back to his winning ways after seeing his nine-game road victory streak snapped in his last start at Minnesota when sloppy defence led to six unearned runs in a 7-1 loss. Scott Feldman (2-1) yielded four earned runs and nine hits in six innings. It was the first tough outing for the Astros newcomer after he had allowed just one run and seven hits combined in his first three starts. "It seems like they found a lot of holes," Feldman said. "Theyre a tough lineup, for sure." The Royals were up by two when Alcides Escobar hit a two-run double in the fourth to make it 4-0. Salvador Perez added an RBI double in the fifth. Kansas City scored 15 runs in this series after managing just five runs combined last weekend while getting swept by the Twins. The Royals got to Feldman early, with Nori Aoki hitting a leadoff double and later scoring on a groundout by Eric Hosmer. Alex Gordon, Billy Butler and Mike Moustakas hit consecutive singles to start the second to push the lead too 2-0.dddddddddddd There were runners at second and third with one out in the fourth when Escobar sent them both home with a double to centre field. Aoki singled to begin the fifth before a one-out single by Hosmer. Perez hit a ball that diving centre fielder Dexter Fowler missed for a double that scored Aoki and pushed the lead to 5-0. Hosmer was out at home on the play. Shields allowed a pair of singles in the first inning before retiring the next 10 Astros. Houston didnt have another baserunner until Chris Carter drew a leadoff walk in the fifth. Carter advanced to third on a single by Matt Dominguez, but Dominguez was out trying to stretch it into a double. Manager Bo Porter was clearly frustrated when asked if he wishes Dominguez would have been more cautious on the play, pausing 18 seconds before answering the question. "Its just not smart, obviously," Porter said. "And sorry for taking so long to answer the question. I went and asked Matt Dominguez: Do you think youre invisible? You are down 5-0 and the ball is right in front of you. So, to answer your question, no, I dont like it. There was nothing smart about it, and next question." Carter scored on a sacrifice fly by Alex Presley to cut the lead to 5-1 later in that inning. Presleys out was the first of nine straight Astros retired by Shields, including the seven strikeouts in a row. A single by Presley came with one out in the eighth and Jonathan Villar drew a walk, but Shields ended the threat by striking out Fowler before a fly out by George Springer. NOTES: The Royals challenged a call after Presley was called safe on a grounder in the second inning. The play was overturned for the third out of the inning. ... Royals LHP Bruce Chen, who was scratched from Thursdays start a day before with a sore back, said he was feeling better on Thursday and expects to be ready to start on Saturday. ... Kansas City OF Lorenzo Cain was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left groin strain and LHP Justin Marks was recalled from Triple-A Omaha to take his place on the roster. ... Houston selected the contract of LHP Raul Valdes from Triple-A Oklahoma City and optioned LHP Kevin Chapman there before Thursdays game. ' ' '