Muhammad Ali

Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) was born on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky.

In 1964, He won the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston.

In 1974, he defeated George Foreman in the "Thrilla in Manila".

In 1981 Muhammad Ali retired from boxing.

In 1996 Ali opened the Atlanta Olympics.

There once was a man that was very bold and talented on and off the ring. His name was Cassius Clay (later he changed it to Muhammad Ali). He was born January 17, 1942. Cassius was soon going to be an unbelievable man and a huge superstar.

Cassius eventually became a very good boxer. In 1960, Clay won the gold medal in the Rome Olympics but experts did not think much of him. The public and the experts just didn't like him. In 1964, he changed his name because he became a Muslim and from then on he was known as Muhammad Ali. That year he also won the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston and was living the high life.

In 1966, Ali refused to fight in Vietnam. He was stripped of winning the heavyweight title and had his boxing license suspended. Ali said, "I'm giving up my title, my wealth, maybe my future. Many great men have been tested for their religious beliefs. If I pass this test, I'll come out stronger than ever." His case went to court, and he won. If he'd lost, he would have had to serve up to five years in jail.

Later, in 1974 people noticed him more. But it wasn't just because of how much better he was getting at boxing. Some people noticed Jungle him because they didn't like his "personal behavior." He was a combination of sass, attitude, poetry and sweetness. He later defeated George Foreman in the "Rumble in the Jungle" which was fought in Zaire. Boxing Gloves

Some people thought his personal behavior was still sort of rough later in his career, but as time went on more and more people liked what he had to say. This is one of his good quotes went like this, "Hating people because of their color is wrong, And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong." Ali also came out with a popular little song that goes like this... "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee! No one is as beautiful as Muhammad Ali!"

Ali's success was still alive when he defeated Joe Frazier in the the "Thrilla in Manila" which was a very rough match fought in the Philippines. Then some people believed he was "the greatest". And of course he did too! "I'm not only the greatest; I'm the double greatest. Not only do I knock 'em out, I pick the round."

Torch Lighter Sadly one of the greatest boxers of all time retired in 1981. It was sad for many people including his fans but everyone was ecstatic to see him light the torch and open the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

(The photograph of Muhammad Ali is copyrighted and used with permission of the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel. See citations page for details.)