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Name:Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. "Muhammad Ali"
Life Span: January 17, 1942 - Present
Country: United States of America
Occupation: Boxer
Best known for: Boxing / Civil Rights
Influenced By:
Malcom X

Timeline:
1942-1950
Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) was born in Louisville, Kentucky on January 17th. Ali had hsi bike stlen when he was 12, and swore he would "whup whoever stole it". The policeman that he reported it to, took him in under his wing and directed him towards a boxing trainer Fred Stoner. He then won Six Kentucky Golden Gloves championships, two national Golden Glove titles, and two AAU crowns.

1951-1960
Clay wins the light-heavyweight gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Rome. When he came back to Louisville, he see's the racism and he is refused to be waited on at a "whites-only" resturant, and then he fought a white gang. After that he threw his gold medal into the Ohio River. He then turns professional and wins the first two fights of his career. He then turned his name into Muhammad Ali after he became a Black Muslim. Ali refuses induction into the U.S. Army because of his religios conflictions.

1961-1970
Then in june he is banned from boxing, but then in 1970, he is allowed to fight and knocks out Jerry Quarry in three rounds. In March, he fights the champ, Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden. Ali gets knocked down in the 15th round, and Frazier wins by unanimous decision. Then 3 years later.
Regains the heavyweight title in the "Rumble in the Jungle" on Oct. 30 in Kinshasa, Zaire after knocking out champion George Foreman in the eighth round.

1971- Present
Ali retired and in 1980 Ali came out of retirement to fight Larry Holmes which Ali ended up losing.
He then Loses a unanimous decision to Trevor Berbick, and finally hangs up the gloves for good.
In 1984, Ali is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a neurological disorder whose symptoms include muscle tremors and slowness of speech.
Ali lit the Olympic flame in Atlanta in 1996

 
 

Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. “Muhammad Ali“

Muhammad Ali was born on January 17, 1942.He was born in Louisville, Kentucky being named after his father Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. He changed his name after he joined the Nation of Islam in 1964. He then converted to being Islamic in 1975.

Ali was a high school drop out. They are not really sure why, but they think it had to deal with his bad grades.

In 1964, he was going to join the military but Muhammad failed the military test because his spelling wasn’t so great, but in 1966 they changed the test but he refused to take it because when he converted to Sunni Islamic, it went against the teachings in the Holy Qur’an. At his induction into the U.S. Armed Forces, he refused to come forward when they called his name. He was warned that it was a felony, and would be prison time and a fine. He still chose not to step forward.

He had to go to court and Ali was found guilty. But Ali took it to the supreme courts. He wasn’t allowed to box because he got his boxing license denied but in Georgia, it was different. So he beat Jerry Quan and after that, the Supreme Court came to a decision that it was unfair to take his boxing license away. He was now able to fight in New York. He then fought Oscar Bonavena as the Madison Square Garden and beat him in 14 rounds, and then, the biggest fight for the title, Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier.

On March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden, they both met in the ring. Many people know this fight as “The Fight of the Century”. Frazier beat Ali in an unominous decision and took away Ali’s undefeated record.

In 1976, later on in his career, he faced, Jimmy Young, who later on beat George Foreman, seemed to have made Ali, a little bit slower and badly affected him.

In 1984, he found out that he had Parkinson’s disease, like the actor Michael J. Fox. It affected his muscles and speech plus his motor functions. It was really bad and then soon changed to Pugilistic Parkinson’s syndrome.

Ali stood up for his belief's and sacrificed a lot for them.Great men are considered great, not only because of what they do, but also because of what they had to do to get to their final destination. Muhammad Ali had a rough journey and is a big impact in both to civil rights and to boxing. Rather than what he is like now with Parkinson's Disease, we should remember the memory of Ali as a warrior and as icon of America.

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DID YOU KNOW?

-Muhammad Ali ha became the first man to win the heavyweight title three times.
-Ali was stripped of his title in 1967 for refusing to join the US Army because of his religious beliefs.
-Became a Muslim and changed his name to Muhammad Ali because he believed that Cassius Clay was his "slave name."