Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century and is often cited as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time.

## Overview

Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on January 17, 1942, was a professional boxer and social activist from the United States. Known as "The Greatest," he is widely regarded as one of the most important sports figures of the 20th century and considered by many to be the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. Sports Illustrated named him Sportsman of the Century in 1999, and the BBC named him Sports Personality of the Century.

Ali grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and began training as an amateur boxer at the age of 12. He won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics at the age of 18 and turned professional later that year. After converting to Islam in 1961, he won the world heavyweight championship in 1964 by defeating Sonny Liston in a major upset at the age of 22. That year, he changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali, denouncing his birth name as a "slave name."

In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military due to his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War, resulting in his conviction for draft evasion and the stripping of his boxing titles. He appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, which overturned his conviction in 1971, but he did not fight for nearly four years and lost a period of peak performance as an athlete. Ali's stance as a conscientious objector and his activism against the Vietnam War made him a symbol of the larger counterculture movement of the 1960s and an icon of racial pride for African Americans during the civil rights movement and beyond. He was initially affiliated with the Nation of Islam but later disavowed the group, adhering to Sunni Islam.

Ali fought in many historic boxing matches, including his highly publicized fights with Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier (including the Fight of the Century, the biggest boxing event up until that time), the Thrilla in Manila, and the Rumble in the Jungle with George Foreman. He was known for his provocative and outlandish persona, trash-talking, and free-styled rhyming incorporating elements of hip hop. He retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy, and activism. He was also a successful spoken word artist, actor, and writer, releasing two studio albums and two autobiographies.

In 1984, Ali announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's syndrome, which some attributed to his boxing-related injuries, although he and his doctors disputed this. He remained an active public figure globally but made fewer public appearances in his later years as his condition worsened, and he was cared for by his family. Ali passed away on June 3, 2016.

## Early Life

In his early life, Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. He had one brother and was named after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. who was named after a 19th-century Republican politician and abolitionist from Kentucky. Clay's ancestors were slaves of the antebellum South, and he was predominantly of African descent, with Irish and English heritage. Ali's maternal great-grandfather, Abe Grady, emigrated from Ireland. In 2018, DNA testing revealed that through his paternal grandmother, Ali was a descendant of a former slave named Archer Alexander, who was the model for a freed man in the Emancipation Memorial and fought for his freedom like Ali.

Ali's father was a sign painter, and his mother was a domestic helper. Although his father was Methodist, he allowed his mother, who was Baptist, to raise both Cassius Jr. and his younger brother, Rudy, as Baptists. Ali attended Central High School in Louisville, where he struggled with dyslexia.

Ali grew up during a time of racial segregation and experienced discrimination firsthand. One incident that particularly affected him was being denied a drink of water at a store due to his skin color. He was also deeply affected by the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, and even vandalized a rail yard with a friend in frustration. Ali once told his daughter Hana that nothing would ever shake him up more than the story of Emmett Till.

### Amateur Career

In 1954, a 12-year-old Cassius Clay was fuming after a thief stole his bicycle. He told a police officer and boxing coach, Joe E. Martin, that he was going to "whup" the thief. Martin told Clay he should learn how to box first, and after watching amateur boxers on a local TV program, Tomorrow's Champions, Clay became interested in fighting. He began working with trainer Fred Stoner and eventually with Chuck Bodak for the last four years of his amateur career.

Clay won six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union national title, and the light heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, where he defeated veteran Pole Zbigniew Pietrzykowski. He had a 100-5 record as an amateur boxer.

In his 1975 autobiography, Ali claimed to have thrown his gold medal into the Ohio River after he and a friend were refused service at a "whites-only" restaurant and fought with a white gang. However, the story was later disputed, and several of Ali's friends, including Bundini Brown and photographer Howard Bingham, denied it. According to Thomas Hauser's biography of Ali, he was refused service at the diner but lost his medal a year after he won it. Ali received a replacement medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he lit the torch to start the Games.

## Professional career

On October 29, 1960, Clay made his professional boxing debut and won a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. By the end of 1963, he had amassed a record of 19–0, with 15 wins by knockout, defeating notable boxers like Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, LaMar Clark, Doug Jones, and Henry Cooper. In a 1962 match, he even defeated his former trainer and veteran boxer Archie Moore.

Despite his impressive record, Clay faced some trials during these early fights. He was knocked down by both Sonny Banks and Cooper. In the Cooper fight, Clay was floored by a left hook at the end of round four and was saved by the bell, going on to win in the predicted fifth round due to Cooper's severely cut eye. His toughest fight during this period was against Doug Jones on March 13, 1963. The fight, held at New York's Madison Square Garden, saw Jones stagger Clay in the first round, and the unanimous decision for Clay was met with boos and a rain of debris thrown into the ring. Even heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay, he might get locked up for murder, while watching on closed-circuit TV. The fight was later named "Fight of the Year" by The Ring magazine.

In each of these fights, Clay made a point of belittling his opponents and boasting about his own abilities. He called Jones "an ugly little man" and Cooper a "bum". He even claimed to be embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff and declared that Madison Square Garden was "too small for me." Ali's trash talk was inspired by professional wrestler "Gorgeous George" Wagner, whose talking ability attracted huge crowds to events. Ali once stated in a 1969 interview that he met with George in Las Vegas in 1961, and George told him that talking a big game would earn paying fans who either wanted to see him win or wanted to see him lose, thus Ali transformed himself into a self-described "big-mouth and a bragger".

In 1960, Clay left Moore's camp, partially due to his refusal to do chores such as washing dishes and sweeping. He replaced Moore with Angelo Dundee as his trainer. Clay had met Dundee in February 1957 during his amateur career. Around this time, he sought longtime idol Sugar Ray Robinson to be his manager, but was rebuffed.