Mr. T: Muhammad Ali Was A Hood Superman ... Stopped Real Crime

Forget Iron Man and Captain America ... Mr. T says there's a real life superhero among us ... Muhammad Ali ... 'cause T claims he witnessed Ali actually stop crimes in rough neighborhoods.

Mr T. was out in NYC when we asked about his old bodyguarding days with Ali ... yes, the greatest heavyweight in history had a bodyguard ... who rocked gold chains and a mohawk.

That's when T started an awesome reminiscing sesh ... telling our camera guy about how he personally watched The Greatest stop a violent crime from going down in the hood back in the day.