Jan. 17, 1942
Overview:
Born Cassius Clay, this great fighter changed his name to Muhammad Ali after joining the nation of Islam. The only boxer in history to win the heavyweight crown three times, Ali is respected not only for his boxing prowess but for being a civil rights activist and humanitarian as well.
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Muhammad Ali
The only boxer in history to win the heavyweight crown three times.
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Country:
United States of America
Type
of hero: Civil and Political Rights
Attributes:
Boxer, Courage
Biography:
Reflecting on Muhammad Ali’s childhood, it is hard to fathom that behind such a great man lies such a humble beginning. Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. to Cassius Marcellus and Odessa Grady Clay in Louisville, Kentucky. Growing up in an impoverished family, his father was a sign painter by trade and his mother worked as a domestic.
Ali’s first contact with boxing came when he was twelve. He went to the gym to report the theft of his bicycle to a police officer and was overwhelmed by the sight of boxing. The police officer on duty, Joe Martin, happened to be the boxing trainer at the Columbia gym. Martin became Ali’s first boxing trainer. Soon Ali crossed paths with a man named Frank Stoner, he trained young boxers at the Grace Community Centre and taught Ali the fundamentals of the sport. Ali graduated from DuValle Junior High School and then Central High School. Ali admits that his commitment to boxing hindered his academic performance.
Success came quickly for young Ali, his six hours a day, six days a week workout regime payed off. Throughout the 1950’s he was featured on a weekly boxing program called "Tomorrow’s Champions." He won six Golden Glove tournaments in Kentucky in three weight classes, including heavy. In 1959 and 1960 he won the Light heavyweight National Golden Gloves and the National Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) tournaments respectively. Furthermore he won the gold medal in the 1960 Olympic games. Ali’s first professional fight came on October 29, 1960, he won the two-thousand dollar purse by defeating Tunney Hunsaker. Over the course of the next four years Ali fought in another nineteen professional fights, and won them all.
In 1964, Ali announced his conversion to the Islamic faith, and changed his name from Cassius Clay to the Islamic name of Muhammad Ali. Muhammad means "worthy of all praises," and Ali means "most high." That same year Ali defeated Sonny Liston to become the heavyweight champion. As champion Ali’s boisterous and flamboyant personality came to life as he coined such phrases as "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." Talking about himself he used statements like "I’m pretty" and "I’m the greatest fighter of all time." Ali realized that the more public attention he received for each fight the higher the ticket sales in the box office. Nicknamed "the Louisville Lip" Ali had his title stripped from him in 1967 when he refused to enter the army during the Vietnam war. Fighting in the war would be against everything that Ali believed in and he refused to enter on religious grounds. Reactions varied but his actions opened the gates for a new era of black athletes who challenged the system. Joe Frazier was named the champion instead and Ali was banned from fighting, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for draft evasion, and fined ten thousand dollars.
Although Ali was forbidden to box, for the next three and a half years he made a living by speaking on college campuses about civil rights and justice. Worldwide Ali had a large following ranging from civil rights activists to the Third World.
In 1970 Ali won what he says was the biggest victory of his life. The U.S. Supreme court reversed the draft-dodging case on a technicality. In September of that year Ali regained his boxing license.
In 1974 Ali defeated Joe Frazier and then George Foreman to once again become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Ali lost the title later in 1978 to Leon Spinks whom he later defeated that year to regain the title for a third time. On June 26, 1979 Ali retired as champion with an outstanding fifty-nine and three win-loss record. In 1980 he returned to the ring in need of money and fought Larry Holmes. Although Ali lost in eleven rounds he still was rewarded an eight million dollar purse. Ali’s final match of his career was against Trevor Berbick, resulting in the fifth loss of his professional career.
In 1977 Ali was advised to walk away from boxing while he still could. His reflexes were slowing down and doctors were worried for his health. In 1984 Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Ali admits that boxing was the cause of this disease, slurring his speech and causing him to be lethargic and tired, with tremors in his legs and hands. Despite this obstacle Ali remains involved in family, religion, politics and social activities. In fact few people know that Ali enjoyed painting, loves to watch horror movies and performs amateur magic tricks.
Ali was sent by President Jimmy Carter to Africa to gain support for the U.S. boycott of the 1980 games in Moscow. In 1985 he was sent on a diplomatic mission to Lebanon, where his goal was the release of four kidnapped Americans. In November 1990 he went to Baghdad, Iraq where he met the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to secure the release of fifteen American hostages.
Living an amazingly fruitful life, Ali has been honoured with countless awards for his efforts as a civil rights activist, humanitarian and for being a boxing legend. At the Atlanta Centennial Olympics in 1996, Ali lit the Olympic Caldron marking a timeless moment as he lit the flame with his right hand as his left trembled from Parkinson’s syndrome.
Receiving a number of lifetime achievement awards, during the 1997 Essence Awards, Bryant Gumbel summarized Ali’s life best while presenting Ali with the first Essence Living Legend Award. He said, "More than Just a great boxer, Muhammad Ali is a great human being, an icon of black pride, a global ambassador of peace, and today as he battles Parkinson’s syndrome, a symbol of courage."
Citations
& References:
References
McDaniel, Karen Cotton. "Black Heroes of the 20th Century" Muhammad Ali. Ed. Jessie Carney Smith. Detroit, Visible Ink,1998, pp.18-23
Budman, Matthew and Jay Stevenson, Ph.D. The Complete Idiot's Guide to American Heroes. New York: Alpha Books, 1999.
"Time 100 The Most Important People of the 20th Century." Time.com http://www.time.com/time/time100/ (June 2000)
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