muhammad ali biography

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali was a three-time heavyweight boxing champion with an impressive 56-win record. He was also known for his public stance against the Vietnam War.

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Muhammad Ali was a boxer, philanthropist, and social activist who is universally regarded as one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century. Ali became an Olympic gold medalist in 1960 and the world heavyweight boxing champion in 1964. Following his suspension for refusing military service in the Vietnam War, Ali reclaimed the heavyweight title two more times during the 1970s, winning famed bouts against Joe Frazier and George Foreman along the way. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and devoted much of his time after to philanthropy. He earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.

FULL NAME: Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. BORN: January 17, 1942 DIED: June 3, 2016 BIRTHPLACE: Louisville, Kentucky SPOUSES: Sonji Roi (1964-1965), Belinda Boyd (1967-1977), Veronica Porché (1977-1986), and Yolanda Williams (1986-2016) CHILDREN: Maryum, Jamillah, Rasheda, Muhammad Jr., Miya, Khaliah, Hana, Laila Ali , and Asaad ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Capricorn

Muhammad Ali was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. His birth name was Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.

At an early age, young Clay showed that he wasn’t afraid of any bout—inside or outside of the ring. Growing up in the segregated South, he experienced racial prejudice and discrimination firsthand.

At the age of 12, Clay discovered his talent for boxing through an odd twist of fate. After his bike was stolen, Clay told police officer Joe Martin that he wanted to beat up the thief. “Well, you better learn how to fight before you start challenging people,” Martin reportedly told him at the time. In addition to being a police officer, Martin also trained young boxers at a local gym.

Clay started working with Martin to learn how to spar and soon began his boxing career. In his first amateur bout in 1954, he won the fight by split decision. Clay went on to win the 1956 Golden Gloves tournament for novices in the light heavyweight class. Three years later, he won the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, as well as the Amateur Athletic Union’s national title for the light heavyweight division.

Clay attended mostly Black public schools, including Central High School in Louisville from 1956 to 1960. Clay often daydreamed in class and shadowboxed in the halls—he was training for the 1960 Olympics at the time—and his grades were so bad that some of his teachers wanted to hold him back from graduation. However, the school’s principal Atwood Wilson could see Clay’s potential and opposed this, sarcastically asking the staff, “Do you think I’m going to be the principal of a school that Cassius Clay didn’t finish?”

In 1960, Clay won a spot on the U.S. Olympic boxing team and traveled to Rome to compete. At 6 feet, 3 inches tall, Clay was an imposing figure in the ring, but he also became known for his lightning speed and fancy footwork. After winning his first three bouts, Clay defeated Zbigniew Pietrzkowski of Poland to win the light heavyweight Olympic gold medal.

After his Olympic victory, Clay was heralded as an American hero. He soon turned professional with the backing of the Louisville Sponsoring Group and continued overwhelming all opponents in the ring.

Clay met charismatic Nation of Islam minister Malcolm X at a rally in Detroit in June 1962. Floored by Malcolm X’s fearlessness as an orator, the two developed a friendship and Clay became more involved in the Black Muslim group. Malcolm X even assigned an associate to help manage Clay’s day-to-day affairs.

In 1964, Malcolm X brought his family to visit Clay while he trained in Florida for his February 25 title fight against Sonny Liston . Clay’s victory over Liston earned him his first world heavyweight boxing championship. Following the win, the two held an evening of reflection in a hotel room with Jim Brown and Sam Cooke that became the inspiration for the One Night in Miami stage play and 2020 drama film.

The next morning, on February 26, Clay announced his affiliation with the Nation of Islam. At first, he called himself Cassius X before settling on the name Muhammad Ali. Surprisingly, his allegiances were with supreme leader Elijah Muhammad and not the exiled Malcolm X. Ali and Malcolm’s friendship quickly fractured, and the two went their separate ways by that spring.

Ali showed little remorse upon Malcolm X’s murder on February 21, 1965, but admitted in his 2005 memoir Soul of a Butterfly : “Turning my back on Malcolm was one of the mistakes that I regret most in my life.”

The boxer eventually converted to orthodox Islam during the 1970s.

Ali started a different kind of fight with his outspoken views against the Vietnam War. Drafted into the military in April 1967, he refused to serve on the grounds that he was a practicing Muslim minister with religious beliefs that prevented him from fighting. He was arrested for committing a felony and almost immediately stripped of his world title and boxing license.

The U.S. Justice Department pursued a legal case against Ali and denied his claim for conscientious objector status. He was found guilty of violating Selective Service laws and sentenced to five years in prison in June 1967 but remained free while appealing his conviction.

Unable to compete professionally in the meantime, Ali missed more than three prime years of his athletic career. Following his suspension, Ali found refuge on Chicago’s South Side, where he lived from the mid-1960s through the late 1970s. He continued training, formed amateur boxing leagues, and fought whomever he could in local gyms.

Finally granted a license to fight in 1970 in Georgia, which did not have a statewide athletic commission, Ali returned to the ring at Atlanta’s City Auditorium on October 26 with a win over Jerry Quarry. A few months later, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction in June 1971, allowing Ali to fight on a regular basis.

Ali had a career record of 56 wins, five losses, and 37 knockouts before his retirement in 1981 at the age of 39.

Often referring to himself as “The Greatest,” Ali was not afraid to sing his own praises. He was known for boasting about his skills before a fight and for his colorful descriptions and phrases. In one of his more famously quoted descriptions, Ali told reporters that he could “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” in the boxing ring.

A few of his more well-known bouts include the following:

Sonny Liston

After winning gold at the 1960 Olympics, Ali took out British heavyweight champion Henry Cooper in 1963. He then knocked out Sonny Liston on February 25, 1964, to become the heavyweight champion of the world.

Joe Frazier

On March 8, 1971, Ali took on Joe Frazier in what has been called the “Fight of the Century.” Frazier and Ali went toe-to-toe for 14 rounds before Frazier dropped Ali with a vicious left hook in the 15th. Ali recovered quickly, but the judges awarded the decision to Frazier, handing Ali his first professional loss after 31 wins.

After suffering a loss to Ken Norton, Ali beat Frazier in a rematch on January 28, 1974.

In 1975, Ali and Frazier locked horns again for their grudge match on October 1 in Quezon City, Philippines. Dubbed the “Thrilla in Manila,” the bout nearly went the distance, with both men delivering and absorbing tremendous punishment. However, Frazier’s trainer threw in the towel after the 14th round, giving the hard-fought victory to Ali.

George Foreman

Another legendary Ali fight took place on October 30, 1974, against undefeated heavyweight champion George Foreman . Billed as the “Rumble in the Jungle,” the bout was organized by promoter Don King and held in Kinshasa, Zaire.

For once, Ali was seen as the underdog to the younger, massive Foreman, but he silenced his critics with a masterful performance. He baited Foreman into throwing wild punches with his “rope-a-dope” technique, before stunning his opponent with an eighth-round knockout to reclaim the heavyweight title.

Leon Spinks

After losing his title to Leon Spinks on February 15, 1978, Ali defeated him months later in a rematch on September 15. Ali became the first boxer to win the heavyweight championship three times.

Larry Holmes

Following a brief retirement, Ali returned to the ring to face Larry Holmes on October 2, 1980, but was overmatched against the younger champion.

Following one final loss in 1981, to Trevor Berbick, the boxing great retired from the sport at age 39.

Ali was married four times and had nine children, including two children—daughters Miya and Khaliah—he fathered outside of marriage.

Ali married his first wife, Sonji Roi, in 1964. They divorced a little more than one year later when she refused to adopt the Nation of Islam dress and customs.

Ali married his second wife, 17-year-old Belinda Boyd, in 1967. Boyd and Ali had four children together: Maryum, born in 1969; Jamillah and Rasheda, both born in 1970; and Muhammad Ali Jr., born in 1972. Boyd and Ali’s divorce was finalized in 1977.

At the same time Ali was married to Boyd, he traveled openly with Veronica Porché, who became his third wife in 1977. The pair had two daughters together, Hana and Laila Ali . The latter followed in Ali’s footsteps by becoming a champion boxer. Porché and Ali divorced in 1986.

Ali married his fourth and final wife Yolanda, who went by Lonnie, in 1986. The pair had known each other since Lonnie was just 6 and Ali was 21; their mothers were best friends and raised their families on the same street. Ali and Lonnie had one son together, Asaad, and remained married until Ali’s death.

Grandchildren

Rasheda’s son Nico Walsh Ali became a boxer like his grandfather and aunt. In 2021, he signed a deal with legendary Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who promoted 27 of Muhammad Ali’s bouts. He won his first eight professional fights, according to database BoxRec.

Nico’s brother, Biaggio Ali Walsh, was a star football running back, helping lead national powerhouse Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas to the top of the USA Today rankings from 2014 through 2016. He played collegiately at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas before becoming an amateur mixed martial artist.

The brothers have drawn the attention of social media celebrity Jake Paul, a novice boxer who has said he’d like to fight both and “erase” them.

One of Ali’s other grandsons, Jacob Ali-Wertheimer, competed in NCAA track and field at Harvard University and graduated in 2021.

In 1984, Ali announced that he had Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative neurological condition. Despite the progression of Parkinson’s and the onset of spinal stenosis, he remained active in public life.

Ali raised funds for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center in Phoenix, Arizona. And he was on hand to celebrate the inauguration of the first Black president in January 2009, when Barack Obama was sworn into office.

In his retirement, Ali devoted much of his time to philanthropy. Over the years, Ali supported the Special Olympics and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, among other organizations. In 1996, he lit the Olympic cauldron at the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, an emotional moment in sports history.

Ali traveled to numerous countries, including Mexico and Morocco, to help out those in need. In 1998, he was chosen to be a United Nations Messenger of Peace because of his work in developing nations.

In 2005, Ali received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush .

Ali also received the President’s Award from the NAACP in 2009 for his public service efforts. Other recipients of the award have included include Ella Fitzgerald , Venus and Serena Williams , Kerry Washington , Spike Lee , John Legend , Rihanna , and LeBron James .

Ali opened the Muhammad Ali Center , a multicultural center with a museum dedicated to his life and legacy, in his hometown of Louisville in 2005.

“I am an ordinary man who worked hard to develop the talent I was given,” he said. “Many fans wanted to build a museum to acknowledge my achievements. I wanted more than a building to house my memorabilia. I wanted a place that would inspire people to be the best that they could be at whatever they chose to do, and to encourage them to be respectful of one another.”

Ali lived the final decade of his live in the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley, Arizona.

A few years before his death, Ali underwent surgery for spinal stenosis, a condition causing the narrowing of the spine, which limited his mobility and ability to communicate. In early 2015, he battled pneumonia and was hospitalized for a severe urinary tract infection.

Ali died on June 3, 2016, in Scottsdale, Arizona, after being hospitalized for what was reportedly a respiratory issue. He was 74 years old.

Years before his passing, Ali had planned his own memorial services, saying he wanted to be “inclusive of everyone, where we give as many people an opportunity that want to pay their respects to me,” according to a family spokesman.

The three-day event, which took place in Ali’s hometown of Louisville, included an “I Am Ali” public arts festival, entertainment and educational offerings sponsored by the city, an Islamic prayer program, and a memorial service.

Prior to the memorial service, a funeral procession traveled 20 miles through Louisville, past Ali’s childhood home, his high school, the first boxing gym where he trained, and along Ali Boulevard as tens of thousands of fans tossed flowers on his hearse and cheered his name.

The champ’s memorial service was held at the KFC Yum Center arena with close to 20,000 people in attendance. Speakers included religious leaders from various faiths: Attallah Shabazz, Malcolm X’s eldest daughter; broadcaster Bryant Gumbel; former President Bill Clinton ; comedian Billy Crystal; Ali’s daughters Maryum and Rasheda; and his widow, Lonnie.

“Muhammad indicated that when the end came for him, he wanted us to use his life and his death as a teaching moment for young people, for his country, and for the world,” Lonnie said. “In effect, he wanted us to remind people who are suffering that he had seen the face of injustice—that he grew up during segregation and that during his early life he was not free to be who he wanted to be. But he never became embittered enough to quit or to engage in violence.”

Clinton spoke about how Ali found self-empowerment: “I think he decided, before he could possibly have worked it all out, and before fate and time could work their will on him, he decided he would not ever be disempowered. He decided that not his race, nor his place, the expectations of others—positive, negative, or otherwise—would strip from him the power to write his own story.”

Crystal, who was a struggling comedian when he became friends with Ali, said of the boxing legend: “Ultimately, he became a silent messenger for peace, who taught us that life is best when you build bridges between people, not walls.”

Pallbearers included Will Smith , who once portrayed Ali on film, and former heavyweight champions Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. Ali is buried at the Cave Hill National Cemetery in Louisville.

Ali’s stature as a legend continues to grow even after his death. He is celebrated not only for his remarkable athletic skills but for his willingness to speak his mind and his courage to challenge the status quo.

Ali played himself in the 1977 film The Greatest , which explored parts of his life such as his rise to boxing fame, conversion to Islam, and refusal to serve in Vietnam.

The 1996 documentary When We Were Kings explores Ali’s training process for his 1974 fight against George Foreman and the African political climate at the time. Directed by Leon Gast, the film won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Actor Will Smith played Ali in the biopic film Ali, released in 2001. For the performance, Smith received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Ali’s relationship with Malcolm X is explored in the fictionalized 2020 drama One Night in Miami and the 2021 documentary Blood Brothers: Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali .

• The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.
• It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.
• I’m gonna float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can’t hit what the eyes can’t see.
• I am an ordinary man who worked hard to develop the talent I was given.
• I’m the champion of the world. I’m the greatest thing that ever lived. I’m so great I don’t have a mark on my face. I shook up the world! I shook up the world!
• If Clay says a mosquito can pull a plow, don’t ask how—Hitch him up!
• You get the impression while watching him fight that he plays cat and mouse, then turns out the light.
• The real enemy of my people is here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people, or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom, and equality.
• Religions all have different names, but they all contain the same truths. I think the people of our religion should be tolerant and understand people believe different things.
• It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.
• I set out on a journey of love, seeking truth, peace, and understanding. l am still learning.
• Truly great people in history never wanted to be great for themselves.
• At night when I go to bed, I ask myself, “If I don’t wake up tomorrow, would I be proud of how I lived today?”
• This is the story about a man with iron fists and a beautiful tan.

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Muhammad Ali

By: History.com Editors

Updated: February 27, 2024 | Original: December 16, 2009

Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) was an American former heavyweight champion boxer and one of the greatest sporting figures of the 20th century. An Olympic gold medalist and the first fighter to capture the heavyweight title three times, Ali won 56 times in his 21-year professional career. Ali’s outspokenness on issues of race, religion and politics made him a controversial figure during his career, and the heavyweight’s quips and taunts were as quick as his fists.

Born Cassius Clay Jr., Ali changed his name in 1964 after joining the Nation of Islam. Citing his religious beliefs, he refused military induction and was stripped of his heavyweight championship and banned from boxing for three years during the prime of his career. Parkinson’s syndrome severely impaired Ali’s motor skills and speech, but he remained active as a humanitarian and goodwill ambassador.

Muhammad Ali’s Early Years and Amateur Career

Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., the elder son of Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. (1912-1990) and Odessa Grady Clay (1917-1994), was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky . It was a red-and-white Schwinn that steered the future heavyweight champion to the sport of boxing. When his beloved bicycle was stolen, a tearful 12-year-old Clay reported the theft to Louisville police officer Joe Martin (1916-1996) and vowed to pummel the culprit. Martin, who was also a boxing trainer, suggested that the upset youngster first learn how to fight, and he took Clay under his wing. Six weeks later, Clay won his first bout in a split decision.

Did you know? Muhammad Ali has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated 38 times, second only to basketball great Michael Jordan.

By age 18 Clay had captured two national Golden Gloves titles, two Amateur Athletic Union national titles and 100 victories against eight losses. After graduating high school, he traveled to Rome and won the light heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics.

Clay won his professional boxing debut on October 29, 1960, in a six-round decision. From the start of his pro career, the 6-foot-3-inch heavyweight overwhelmed his opponents with a combination of quick, powerful jabs and foot speed, and his constant braggadocio and self-promotion earned him the nickname “Louisville Lip.”

Muhammad Ali: Heavyweight Champion of the World

After winning his first 19 fights, including 15 knockouts, Clay received his first title shot on February 25, 1964, against reigning heavyweight champion Sonny Liston (1932-1970). Although he arrived in Miami Beach, Florida, a 7-1 underdog, the 22-year-old Clay relentlessly taunted Liston before the fight, promising to “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” and predicting a knockout. When Liston failed to answer the bell at the start of the seventh round, Clay was indeed crowned heavyweight champion of the world. In the ring after the fight, the new champ roared, “I am the greatest!”

At a press conference the next morning, Clay, who had been seen around Miami with controversial Nation of Islam member Malcolm X (1925-1965), confirmed the rumors of his conversion to Islam. On March 6, 1964, Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975) bestowed on Clay the name of Muhammad Ali.

Ali solidified his hold on the heavyweight championship by knocking out Liston in the first round of their rematch on May 25, 1965, and he defended his title eight more times. Then, with the Vietnam War raging, Ali showed up for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces on April 28, 1967. Citing his religious beliefs, he refused to serve. Ali was arrested, and the New York State Athletic Commission immediately suspended his boxing license and revoked his heavyweight belt.

Convicted of draft evasion, Ali was sentenced to the maximum of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, but he remained free while the conviction was appealed. Many saw Ali as a draft dodger, and his popularity plummeted. Banned from boxing for three years, Ali spoke out against the Vietnam War on college campuses. As public attitudes turned against the war, support for Ali grew. In 1970 the New York State Supreme Court ordered his boxing license reinstated, and the following year the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction in a unanimous decision.

Muhammad Ali’s Return to the Ring

After 43 months in exile, Ali returned to the ring on October 26, 1970, and knocked out Jerry Quarry (1945-1999) in the third round. On March 8, 1971, Ali got his chance to regain his heavyweight crown against reigning champ Joe Frazier (1944-2011) in what was billed as the “Fight of the Century.” The undefeated Frazier floored Ali with a hard left hook in the final round. Ali got up but lost in a unanimous decision, experiencing his first defeat as a pro.

Ali won his next 10 bouts before being defeated by Ken Norton (1943-). He won the rematch six months later in a split decision and gained further revenge in a unanimous decision over Frazier in a non-title rematch. The victory gave the 32-year-old Ali a title shot against 25-year-old champion George Foreman (1949-). The October 30, 1974, fight in Kinshasa, Zaire, was dubbed the “Rumble in the Jungle.” Ali, the decided underdog, employed his “rope-a-dope” strategy, leaning on the ring ropes and absorbing a barrage of blows from Foreman while waiting for his opponent to tire. The strategy worked, and Ali won in an eighth-round knockout to regain the title stripped from him seven years prior.

Ali successfully defended his title in 10 fights, including the memorable “Thrilla in Manila” on October 1, 1975, in which his bitter rival Frazier, his eyes swollen shut, was unable to answer the bell for the final round. Ali also defeated Norton in their third meeting in a unanimous 15-round decision.

On February 15, 1978, an aging Ali lost his title to Leon Spinks (1953-) in a 15-round split decision. Seven months later, Ali defeated Spinks in a unanimous 15-round decision to reclaim the heavyweight crown and become the first fighter to win the world heavyweight boxing title three times.

After announcing his retirement in 1979, Ali launched a brief, unsuccessful comeback. However, he was overwhelmed in a technical knockout loss to Larry Holmes (1949-) in 1980, and he dropped a unanimous 10-round decision to Trevor Berbick (1954-2006) on December 11, 1981. After the fight, the 39-year-old Ali retired for good with a career record of 56 wins, five losses and 37 knockouts.

Muhammad Ali’s Later Years and Legacy

In 1984 Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome, possibly connected to the severe head trauma suffered during his boxing career. The former champion’s motor skills slowly declined, and his movement and speech were limited. In spite of the Parkinson’s, Ali remained in the public spotlight, traveling the world to make humanitarian, goodwill and charitable appearances. He met with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (1937-2006) in 1990 to negotiate the release of American hostages, and in 2002 he traveled to Afghanistan as a United Nations Messenger of Peace.

Ali had the honor of lighting the cauldron during the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. In 1999 Ali was voted the BBC’s “Sporting Personality of the Century,” and Sports Illustrated named him “Sportsman of the Century.” Ali was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a 2005 White House ceremony, and in the same year the $60 million Muhammad Ali Center, a nonprofit museum and cultural center focusing on peace and social responsibility, opened in Louisville.

Ring Magazine named Ali “Fighter of the Year” five times, more than any other boxer, and he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. Ali has been married four times and has seven daughters and two sons. He married his fourth wife, Yolanda, in 1986. Ali died at the age of 74 on June 3, 2016.

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Biography Online

Muhammad Ali Biography

“I’m not the greatest; I’m the double greatest. Not only do I knock ’em out, I pick the round. “

– Muhammad Ali

Ali was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1942. He was named after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay, Sr., (who was named after the 19th-century abolitionist and politician Cassius Clay). Ali would later change his name after joining the Nation of Islam. He subsequently converted to Sunni Islam in 1975.

Early boxing career

Standing at 6’3″ (1.91 m), Ali had a highly unorthodox style for a heavyweight boxer. Rather than the normal boxing style of carrying the hands high to defend the face, he instead relied on his quick feet and ability to avoid a punch. In Louisville, October 29, 1960, Cassius Clay won his first professional fight. He won a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker, who was the police chief of Fayetteville, West Virginia. From 1960 to 1963, the young fighter amassed a record of 19-0, with 15 knockouts. He defeated such boxers as Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, Lamar Clark (who had won his previous 40 bouts by knockout), Doug Jones, and Henry Cooper. Among Clay’s victories were versus Sonny Banks (who knocked him down during the bout), Alejandro Lavorante, and the aged Archie Moore (a boxing legend who had fought over 200 previous fights, and who had been Clay’s trainer prior to Angelo Dundee).

Despite these close calls against Doug Jones and Henry Cooper, he became the top contender for Sonny Liston’s title. In spite of Clay’s impressive record, he was not expected to beat the champion. The fight was to be held on February 25, 1964, in Miami, Florida. During the weigh-in before the fight, Ali frequently taunted Liston. Ali dubbed him “the big ugly bear”, and declared that he would “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee,” Ali was ready to dance around the ring, as he said, “Your hands can’t hit what your eyes can’t see.”

This was a typical buildup for Ali, who increasingly enjoyed playing to the crowd and creating a buzz before a fight. It was good news for fight promoters, who saw increased interest in any fight involving the bashful Ali.

Vietnam War

In 1964, Ali failed the Armed Forces qualifying test because his writing and spelling skills were inadequate. However, in early 1966, the tests were revised and Ali was reclassified 1A. He refused to serve in the United States Army during the Vietnam War as a conscientious objector, because “War is against the teachings of the Holy Koran. I’m not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger. We don’t take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers.” Ali also famously said,

Ali also famously said,

“I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong” and “no Vietcong ever called me nigger.”

Ali refused to respond to his name being read out as Cassius Clay, stating, as instructed by his mentors from the Nation of Islam, that Clay was the name given to his slave ancestors by the white man.

“Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn’t choose it and I don’t want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name – it means beloved of God – and I insist people use it when people speak to me and of me.”

By refusing to respond to this name, Ali’s personal life was filled with controversy. Ali was essentially banned from fighting in the United States and forced to accept bouts abroad for most of 1966.

From his rematch with Liston in May 1965, to his final defence against Zora Folley in March 1967, he defended his title nine times. Few other heavyweight champions in history have fought so much in such a short period.

Ali was scheduled to fight WBA champion Ernie Terrell in a unification bout in Toronto on March 29, 1966, but Terrell backed out and Ali won a 15-round decision against substitute opponent George Chuvalo. He then went to England and defeated Henry Cooper and Brian London by stoppage on cuts. Ali’s next defence was against German southpaw Karl Mildenberger, the first German to fight for the title since Max Schmeling. In one of the tougher fights of his life, Ali stopped his opponent in round 12.

Ali returned to the United States in November 1966 to fight Cleveland “Big Cat” Williams in the Houston Astrodome. A year and a half before the fight, Williams had been shot in the stomach at point-blank range by a Texas policeman. As a result, Williams went into the fight missing one kidney, 10 feet of his small intestine, and with a shrivelled left leg from nerve damage from the bullet. Ali beat Williams in three rounds.

On February 6, 1967, Ali returned to a Houston boxing ring to fight Terrell in what became one of the uglier fights in boxing. Terrell had angered Ali by calling him Clay, and the champion vowed to punish him for this insult. During the fight, Ali kept shouting at his opponent, “ What’s my name, Uncle Tom … What’s my name. ” Terrell suffered 15 rounds of brutal punishment, losing 13 of 15 rounds on two judges’ scorecards, but Ali did not knock him out. Analysts, including several who spoke to ESPN on the sports channel’s “Ali Rap” special, speculated that the fight only continued because Ali chose not to end it, choosing instead to further punish Terrell. After the fight, Tex Maule wrote, “It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty.”

Ali’s actions in refusing military service and aligning himself with the Nation of Islam made him a lightning rod for controversy, turning the outspoken but popular former champion into one of that era’s most recognisable and controversial figures. Appearing at rallies with Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad and declaring his allegiance to him at a time when mainstream America viewed them with suspicion — if not outright hostility — made Ali a target of outrage, and suspicion as well. Ali seemed at times to even provoke such reactions, with viewpoints that wavered from support for civil rights to outright support of separatism.

Near the end of 1967, Ali was stripped of his title by the professional boxing commission and would not be allowed to fight professionally for more than three years. He was also convicted for refusing induction into the army and sentenced to five years in prison. Over the course of those years in exile, Ali fought to appeal his conviction. He stayed in the public spotlight and supported himself by giving speeches primarily at rallies on college campuses that opposed the Vietnam War.

“Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs?”

– Muhammad Ali – explaining why he refused to fight in Vietnam

In 1970, Ali was allowed to fight again, and in late 1971 the Supreme Court reversed his conviction.

Muhammad Ali’s comeback

In 1970, Ali was finally able to get a boxing license. With the help of a State Senator, he was granted a license to box in Georgia because it was the only state in America without a boxing commission. In October 1970, he returned to stop Jerry Quarry on a cut after three rounds. Shortly after the Quarry fight, the New York State Supreme Court ruled that Ali was unjustly denied a boxing license. Once again able to fight in New York, he fought Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden in December 1970. After a tough 14 rounds, Ali stopped Bonavena in the 15th, paving the way for a title fight against Joe Frazier.

The Fight of the Century

Ali and Frazier fought each other on March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden. The fight, known as ‘”The Fight of the Century”, was one of the most eagerly anticipated bouts of all time and remains one of the most famous. It featured two skilled, undefeated fighters, both of whom had reasonable claims to the heavyweight crown. The fight lived up to the hype, and Frazier punctuated his victory by flooring Ali with a hard left hook in the 15th and final round and won on points. Frank Sinatra — unable to acquire a ringside seat — took photos of the match for Life Magazine. Legendary boxing announcer Don Dunphy and actor and boxing aficionado Burt Lancaster called the action for the broadcast, which reached millions of people.

Frazier eventually won the fight and retained the title with a unanimous decision, dealing Ali his first professional loss. Despite an impressive performance, Ali may have still been suffering from the effects of “ring rust” due to his long layoff.

In 1973, after a string of victories over the top Heavyweight opposition in a campaign to force a rematch with Frazier, Ali split two bouts with Ken Norton (in the bout that Ali lost to Norton, Ali suffered a broken jaw).

Rumble in the Jungle

In 1974, Ali gained a match with champion George Foreman. The fight took place in Zaire (the Congo) – Ali wanted the fight to be there to help give an economic boost to this part of Africa. The pre-match hype was as great as ever.

“Floats like a butterfly, sting like a bee, his hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see.”

– Muhammad Ali – before the 1974 fight against George Foreman

Against the odds, Ali won the rematch in the eighth round. Ali had adopted a strategy of wearing Foreman down though absorbing punches on the ropes – a strategy later termed – rope a dope.

This gave Ali another chance at the world title against Frazer

“It will be a killer, and a chiller, and a thriller, when I get the gorilla in Manila.”

– Ali before Frazer fight.

The fight lasted 14 rounds, with Ali finally proving victorious in the testing African heat.

Muhammad Ali in retirement

Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in the early 1980s, following which his motor functions began a slow decline. Although Ali’s doctors disagreed during the 1980s and 1990s about whether his symptoms were caused by boxing and whether or not his condition was degenerative, he was ultimately diagnosed with Pugilistic Parkinson’s syndrome. By late 2005 it was reported that Ali’s condition was notably worsening. According to the documentary ‘When We Were Kings’ when Ali was asked about whether he has any regrets about boxing due to his disability, he responded that if he didn’t box he would still be a painter in Louisville, Kentucky.

Speaking of his own Parkinson’s disease, Ali remarks how it has helped him to look at life in a different perspective.

“Maybe my Parkinson’s is God’s way of reminding me what is important. It slowed me down and caused me to listen rather than talk. Actually, people pay more attention to me now because I don’t talk as much.” “I always liked to chase the girls. Parkinson’s stops all that. Now I might have a chance to go to heaven.”

Muhammad Ali, BBC

Despite the disability, he remained a beloved and active public figure. Recently he was voted into Forbes Celebrity 100 coming in at number 13 behind Donald Trump. In 1985, he served as a guest referee at the inaugural WrestleMania event. In 1987 he was selected by the California Bicentennial Foundation for the U.S. Constitution to personify the vitality of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights in various high profile activities. Ali rode on a float at the 1988 Tournament of Roses Parade, launching the U.S. Constitution’s 200th birthday commemoration. He also published an oral history, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times with Thomas Hauser, in 1991. Ali received a Spirit of America Award calling him the most recognised American in the world. In 1996, he had the honour of lighting the flame at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1999, Ali received a special one-off award from the BBC at its annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award ceremony, which was the BBC Sports Personality of the Century Award. His daughter Laila Ali also became a boxer in 1999, despite her father’s earlier comments against female boxing in 1978: “Women are not made to be hit in the breast, and face like that… the body’s not made to be punched right here [patting his chest]. Get hit in the breast… hard… and all that.”

On September 13, 1999, Ali was named “Kentucky Athlete of the Century” by the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the Galt House East.

In 2001, a biographical film, entitled Ali, was made, with Will Smith starring as Ali. The film received mixed reviews, with the positives generally attributed to the acting, as Smith and supporting actor Jon Voight earned Academy Award nominations. Prior to making the Ali movie, Will Smith had continually rejected the role of Ali until Muhammad Ali personally requested that he accept the role. According to Smith, the first thing Ali said about the subject to Smith was: “You ain’t pretty enough to play me”.

He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony on November 9, 2005, and the prestigious “Otto Hahn peace medal in Gold” of the United Nations Association of Germany (DGVN) in Berlin for his work with the US civil rights movement and the United Nations (December 17, 2005).

On November 19, 2005 (Ali’s 19th wedding anniversary), the $60 million non-profit Muhammad Ali Center opened in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. In addition to displaying his boxing memorabilia, the centre focuses on core themes of peace, social responsibility, respect, and personal growth.

According to the Muhammad Ali Center website in 2012,

“Since he retired from boxing, Ali has devoted himself to humanitarian endeavours around the globe. He is a devout Sunni Muslim, and travels the world over, lending his name and presence to hunger and poverty relief, supporting education efforts of all kinds, promoting adoption and encouraging people to respect and better understand one another. It is estimated that he has helped to provide more than 22 million meals to feed the hungry. Ali travels, on average, more than 200 days per year.”

Muhammad Ali died on 3 June 2016, from a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by Parkinson’s disease.

“Will they ever have another fighter who writes poems, predicts rounds, beats everybody, makes people laugh, makes people cry and is as tall and extra pretty as me?”

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . “ Biography of Muhammad Ali ”, Oxford, UK – www.biographyonline.net . Last updated 3rd February 2018

Related pages

• Muhammad Ali Facts
• Muhammad Ali Quotes

Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero

Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero at Amazon

Muhammad Ali – The Whole Story

Muhammad Ali – The Whole Story at Amazon

External pages Pages

• www.ali.com – Official website
• www.maprc.com Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center (MAPC)

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Explore the life of Muhammad Ali: the People’s Champion.

Muhammad Ali

He championed the world..

If courage had a face, it would be the visage of a man in full, magnificently complicated yet fully evolved, both mythic but real to the touch. Courage would look like a world heavyweight champion, a conscientious objector, an activist, a diplomat, and a humanitarian. Courage would be Muhammad Ali.

In the ring, Ali possessed unparalleled power, speed, and charisma. In the world at large, his consciousness and empathy about the state of the world, equality, justice, and the fate of the marginalized reverberated louder than his athletic prowess. Quite possibly the most famous person in his time, Ali drew crowds everywhere he went — and he went everywhere. Equally at ease with heads of state and people on the street, Ali stood in the power of his faith and values. He withstood forces that threatened to cut him down to size and steal prime years of his career, only to rise again stronger and more urgent than ever.

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. on January 17, 1942, he grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, while racial segregation was the law in the American South. In a pivotal moment of his youth, a young Ali channeled outrage over the theft of his red bicycle into amateur boxing. Within a few short years, he’d won a gold medal at the 1960 Rome Summer Olympics and shook the world when he upset the world heavyweight champion. Unabashed confidence and poetic self-expression were backed up by a talent that saw him undefeated through his first 31 professional fights.

His ascendancy grew alongside the fight for civil rights in America, where he became a cultural force. A generation watched a young Black man declare his own beauty and greatness and inspired others to do the same. He announced his conversion to Islam and was given a name reflecting his faith — Muhammad Ali. His conscientious objection to the Vietnam War was a polarizing moment in American society. Stripped of the championship and banned from boxing and his ability to earn a living for three years, Ali fought for reinstatement and would reclaim the heavyweight title two more times.

His accomplishments in the ring were the stuff of legend. But there was always far more to Muhammad than what took place in a boxing ring.

To continue his legacy, Lonnie and Muhammad Ali founded the Muhammad Ali Center in their hometown of Louisville in 2005 as a place of inspiration and reflection. In later years, Muhammad lived with Parkinson’s disease and raised awareness of the need for research and a cure. Muhammad shook the world one last time when he passed away on June 3, 2016. His memorial drew hundreds of thousands of mourners from around the world — and Louisville was ready to receive these pilgrims with reverence and pride.

Muhammad’s spirit lives on through the work of the Muhammad Ali Center and those who fight for justice for all.

"If people from outer space came to Earth and we had to give them one representative of our species to show them our physical prowess, our spirituality, our decency, our warmth, our kindness, our humor, and most of all our capacity to love, it would be Ali."

The Greatest of All Time: His Life and Times

From boyhood in Louisville’s West End to becoming the planet’s most recognizable person— follow the whole journey.

Quote Like A Butterfly: Meeting Ali

"He was the greatest man I ever met. To say he was the greatest boxer is a put down. He was bigger than boxing, bigger than anything."

"You’re a very special man, with a very special meaning to all the American people. You’re exactly who you said you were, the Greatest."

"He was funny. He was beautiful. He was the most perfect athlete you ever saw... and those were his own words."

"Just think of all the young people seeing Muhammad Ali, the Greatest, embodying the greatest humanitarian role model they’’ll ever see."

"Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it. We are all better for it."

"One of the strongest and sweetest men I ever met. He elevated the sport of boxing and there will never be another!"

"I loved that man. Besides being the greatest boxer, he was a beautiful gentleman with a great sense of humour."

"Yes, he was a great boxer, the greatest of all. But as a courageous humanitarian, that is where his brilliance spoke the loudest to me."

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Muhammad ali (1942–2016).

Visit of Muhammad Ali to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of History and Technology, now the National Museum of American History, March 17, 1976. During his visit he donated a pair of gloves and a robe to the museum for the “Nations of Nations” exhibition. Featured in TORCH, April 1976/Smithsonian Institution Archives. Click photo for article. (Photo by Richard K. Hofmeister)

“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”–Muhammad Ali

Risk taker, sports figure and fearless social icon, Muhammad Ali, who died on June 4, is ever alive in the hearts of those who know him as the greatest boxer of the 20th century. His quotes and observations, like the one above, are legion. A quote by Shakespeare “To thine own self be true,” fits him well. The path he choose not only immortalized him to sports fans but endeared him to the general public. It was a path that led through the Smithsonian.

In 1976, the Smithsonian acquired Ali’s boxing gloves and robe for an exhibition on the American Bicentennial, “A Nation of Nations.” At the donation ceremony, before a crowd of reporters and cheering spectators, Ali predicted that his Everlast gloves would become “the most famous thing in this building.”

The Smithsonian’s Ali objects artifacts and portraits are a testament to Ali’s life. Muhammad Ali rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most famous men in the world. Ali’s complexity matched the spirit of the tumultuous 1960s. He was at once a boxing titan, a civil rights warrior, an anti-war protester, and a charismatic celebrity.

Over the years the National Portrait Gallery, the National Postal Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture have collected images and memorabilia of the boxer.

On the Portrait Gallery’s third-floor mezzanine is a 1981 painting of Ali from the museum’s permanent collection, “Cat’s Cradle,” by Henry C. Casselli, Jr.

As a tribute to the man on the day of his passing, the Portrait Gallery installed a likeness that makes a statement about Ali the man. The boxer’s image, taken by photographer Yousuf Karsh in 1970, can be found near the north entrance on the first floor.

The charismatic Ali appeared on television, in commercials, and in a film about his life, and he used his worldwide fame for humanitarian efforts as well. Much more than an outstanding boxer, the media star became a symbol of courage, independence, and determination.

A few of many Muhammad Ali-related images and items at the Smithsonian include:

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• - History & Culture
• - Science & Nature
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African American Heritage

Muhammad Ali (January 17, 1942 - June 6, 2016)

Born Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, Muhammad Ali is consistently ranked as one of the greatest boxers of all time. At the age of 18, Ali traveled to Rome, Italy to participate in the 1960 Olympics. He won the gold medal in light heavyweight boxing and returned to the United States to pursue his professional boxing career shortly thereafter. It was also around this time that Clay became a member of the Nation of Islam , announcing his name as Cassius X, then Muhammad Ali in 1964.

In 1967, Ali had been reigning world heavyweight champion for three years when he publicly refused to be inducted into the American military during the Vietnam War. As a result of his actions, boxing officials decided to punish Ali by stripping him of his titles and suspending him from the game of boxing. During his suspension from 1967-1970, Ali became an activist and toured around the world speaking to civil rights organizations and anti-war groups.

After 1970, Ali regained the title of heavyweight champion after defeating George Foreman in a match known as "The Rumble in the Jungle." He continued fighting until 1981, ending his career with a 56-5 professional record.

Black Power records at the National Archives related to Muhammad Ali consist of the court case ( Clay v. United States ) relating to his refusal of induction for the Vietnam War draft. There are also records of FBI surveillance of Muhammad Ali in various parts of the country and his time spent with the members of the Nation of Islam. Also, a motion picture, sound recordings and several photographs of Ali at State Dinners and meetings with sitting presidents.

Search the Catalog for records on Muhammad Ali       National Archives YouTube Videos on Muhammad Ali  

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Selected Photographs from the National Archives

Web Highlights

Record Group 21: District Courts of the United States

Criminal case files, 1908-1973 [houston division of the southern district of texas] national archives identifier 563137.

Record Group 59: Department of State

Country files, 1942-1948 national archives identifier: 2544414.

Record Group 60: Department of Justice (DOJ)

Case files and enclosures relating to cassius clay, jr. (muhammad ali) national archives identifier 22930205, subject files of the assistant attorney general, 1958-1993 national archives identifier 1489028.

Record Group 111: Office of the Chief Signal Officer

Motion picture films from the army library copy collection, 1964-1980 national archives identifier 25061.

Record Group 220: Temporary Committees, Commissions, and Boards

Newspaper clippings name files, 1978-1979 national archive identifier 559563.

Record Group 306: US Information Agency (USIA)

Sound recordings relating to “studio one” broadcasts, 1955-2003 national archives identifier 564649.

Record Group 412: Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA)

Documerica: the environmental protection agency’s program to photographically document subjects of environmental concern, 1972-1977 national archives identifier 542493.

GRF-0059 - White House Central Files Name Files (Ford)

White house central files name files, 8/1974-1/1977 national archives identifier 564463.

White House Central Files Subject Files on Recreation and Sports, 8/1974-1/1977 National Archives Identifier 564245

GRF-0126 - Sheila R. Weidenfeld Files (Ford)

Sheila weidenfeld’s general subject files, 1974-1977 national archives identifier 644396.

GRF-WHPO - White House Photographic Office (Ford)

Gerald r. ford white house photographs, 8/9/1974-1/20/1977 national archives identifier 1756311.

GWB-WHPO - Records of the White House Photo Office (George W. Bush)

Photographs related to the george w. bush administration, 1/20/2001-1/20/2009 national archives identifier 5962237.

HICK: John R. Hickman Audio Collection

Sound recordings of historical radio broadcasts, world war ii government documentaries, and popular radio shows, 1906 - 1993 national archives identifier 1487762.

HRST - Hearst Metrotone News, Inc. Collection

News of the day motion picture newsreel films, 10/1963- 12/1967 national archives identifier 95102.

JC-WHPO - Records of the White House Press Office (Carter)

Black media mass mailing files, 1977-1981 national archives identifier 6210723.

JC-WHSP - Carter White House Photographs Collection

Carter white house photographs: presidential, 1/20/1977-1/22/1981 national archives identifier 173341.

WJC-AG-PO - Vice Presidential Records of the White House Photograph Office (Clinton)

Vice presidential photographs, 1/20/1993-1/20/2001 national archives identifier 7349218.

WJC-WHPO - Photographs of the White House Photograph Office (Clinton)

Photographs relating to the clinton administration, 1/20/1993-1/20/2001 national archives identifier 594653.

Muhammad Ali Biography

Birthday: January 17 , 1942 ( Capricorn )

Born In: Louisville, Kentucky, United States

Nicknamed The Greatest, Muhammad Ali was one of the legends in the sport of professional boxing. At 6 feet 3 inches, he was an imposing figure in the ring, known for his swift footwork, and powerful jab. What distinguished him from his contemporaries were the values that he upheld througout his life. An arch believer of religious freedom and racial justice, Ali had converted to Islam and with that even changed his name from the former identity, Cassius Marcellus Clay. One of the most recognized sports figures of the past 100 years, Muhammad Ali created ripples in the arena of professional boxing at the tender age of 22, by knocking out the then heavyweight champion Sonny Liston . From then, there was no looking back for this powerful fighter who knocked off each of his opponents to bag the titles. Throughout his career, Ali recorded 56 wins of which 37 came in knockout and 5 losses. The most historic matches were against Liston, Joe Frazier, and George Foreman. He became the first and only three-time lineal World Heavyweight Champion. Interestingly, apart from being powerful and dominating, Ali was extremely vocal as well and started the ritual of throwing remarks at his opponent much before the brawl.

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Nick Name: The Greatest

Also Known As: Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., The Greatest

Died At Age: 74

Spouse/Ex-: Yolonda Williams (m. 1986), Belinda Boyd (m. 1967–1977), Sonji Roi (m. 1964–1966), Veronica Porsche Ali (m. 1977–1986)

father: Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr.

mother: Odessa Grady Clay

siblings: Rahman Ali

children: Asaad Amin, Hana Ali, Jamillah Ali, Jamillah Ali Miya Ali, Khaliah Ali, Khaliah Ali Muhammad Ali Jr., Laila Ali , Maryum Ali, Miya Ali, Muhammad Ali Jr., Rasheda Ali

Born Country: United States

Philanthropists African American Men

Height: 6'3" (190 cm ), 6'3" Males

Died on: June 3 , 2016

place of death: Scottsdale, Arizona, United States

Cause of Death: Septic Shock

Notable Alumni: Central High School

Ancestry: Irish American, Malagasy American

U.S. State: Kentucky

City: Louisville, Kentucky

Diseases & Disabilities: Parkinson's Disease

education: Central High School

awards: 2006 - CSHL Double Helix Medal Honoree

You wanted to know

What was muhammad ali's famous catchphrase, how many times did muhammad ali win the world heavyweight championship.

Muhammad Ali won the world heavyweight championship three times in his career.

What was Muhammad Ali's stance on the Vietnam War?

Muhammad Ali refused to be drafted into the Vietnam War, citing religious reasons and his opposition to the war.

Who did Muhammad Ali famously fight in the "Thrilla in Manila?"

Muhammad Ali fought Joe Frazier in the "Thrilla in Manila" match in 1975, which is regarded as one of the greatest fights in boxing history.

What was Muhammad Ali's impact on civil rights and social justice?

Muhammad Ali was a prominent civil rights activist and spoke out against racial inequality and injustice, using his platform to advocate for social justice causes.

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Muhammad Ali was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, to Cassius Marcellus Clay, Sr and Odessa O'Grady. He was the eldest of the two sons of this couple. His father earned a living by painting billboards and signs.

Interestingly, it was a Louisville police officer who changed the fate of young Clay. The latter was enraged at a thief who robbed his bicycle and told police officer, Joe Martin that he wished to whip the robber. It was then that Martin suggested him to learn boxing first.

Martin served as his early coach, teaching him the technicalities of the game. In the last four years of his amateur career, he was trained by cutman Chuck Bodak.

In his first ever fight which took place in 1954, he won by a split decision. Following this, he won the 1956 Golden Gloves tournament for novices in the light heavyweight class.

In 1959, he won the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions , as well as the Amateur Athletic Union's national title for the light-heavyweight division.

His outstanding achievements in his amateur years won him a seat in the US Olympic boxing team in 1960. He won the first three bouts to face Zbigniew Pietrzkowski from Poland. Crushing the latter, he earned his first gold at the event. The Olympic win garnered him a hero status.

His heroic wins, majority of which were through knockouts, made him the top contender for Sunny Liston’s title. As such, a fight was scheduled between the two in February 1964, in Miami.

While Liston was the reigning champion, Clay seemed to be the underdog at the event, more so because his last fights against Jones and Cooper displayed lack of skills.

Even before the fight began, the two turned the pre-fight weigh-in into a circus, demeaning and defaming each other, an incident which was the first-of-its-kind in the history of boxing. Enraged by the disparaging comments, Liston looked for a quick knockout but lost the match in the sixth round.

Defeating Liston, he became the then youngest boxer to assume the title from a reigning heavyweight champion. Meanwhile, in 1964, he changed his name from Cassius Marcellus Clay to Muhammad Ali, converting to Islam.

Following the conversion, a rematch was arranged between Muhammad Ali and Liston. However, the second match bore the same result as the first one, except for the fact that it lasted for just about two minutes.

His second title defence was against Floyd Patterson, who twice lost to Liston in first round knockouts. The match continued for 12 rounds post which he was declared the winner.

In the following years, Muhammad Ali won a match each against George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, Brian London, and Karl Mildenberger. His match against Cleveland Williams in the Houston Astrodome received much limelight, which he won convincingly in the third round via technical knockout (TKO).

In 1967, he stood against Terrell, who was the unbeaten heavyweight champion for five years. The fight prolonged for 15 rounds, in which both the players displayed tremendous skill and prowess. Muhammad Ali however won the fight in a unanimous decision.

Muhammad Ali was stripped of his title as he refused to render his services to the army during the Vietnam War. Not only was his boxing license suspended, he was also sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison along with a fine.

After his period of imprisonment, he made a comeback with a fight against Jerry Quarry on October 26, 1970.

Muhammad Ali was chosen as the top contender against heavyweight champion Joe Frazier . Nicknamed the Fight of the Century , it created a stir as the two undefeated opponents were against each other. The fight took place on March 8, 1971. Though the initial rounds were neck to neck, in the latter Frazier took an advantageous lead and eventually won the contest. This was Ali’s first ever loss since his professional debut.

In 1973, Ali lost the second fight of his career to Ken Norton , who broke his jaw. In their second bout, Ali won a controversial decision against Norton, thereby earning the right to fight against Joe Frazier, who had recently lost his title to George Foreman.

The Ali-Frazier rematch took place on January 28, 1974, and Ali won the bout.

Frazier’s defeat led to a title fight between Ali and heavyweight champion George Foreman. The bout took place on October 30, 1974, and Ali was considered an underdog. However, the result of the match turned in Muhammad Ali’s favor as Foreman failed to make it to the count at the end of the eighth round.

Year 1975 witnessed one of the toughest fights as Ali fought against Frazier in a match that was titled Thrilla in Manila. Lasting for 14 rounds, the former was declared the winner.

Post the fight against Frazier, Ali’s career graph observed a decline as he was defeated by Leon Spinks and knocked out by Larry Holmes. After losing his heavyweight title to Trevor Berbick, he retired from boxing in 1979.

Muhammad Ali was honored with a number of titles including, The Greatest, Fighter of the Year, Sportsman of the Year, Sportsman of the Century, and Sports Personality of the Century.

He was the proud recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he received in 2005, from the then President George W. Bush.

He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He is even honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard.

Muhammad Ali married four times in his lifetime. His partners were Sonji Roi, Belinda Boyd, Veronica Porsche, and Yolanda. Overall, he had seven daughters and two sons from his alliances. Nico Ali Walsh, Ali’s grandson, is also a boxer.

He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1984. The disease was mainly a result of the head injuries that he sustained during his boxing career.

He died of respiratory complications on June 3, 2016, in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, at the age of 74.

Muhammad Ali's birth name was Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., but he changed it to Muhammad Ali after converting to Islam.

Ali was known for his quick wit and sharp tongue, often delivering memorable one-liners and poems before and after his fights.

In addition to being a legendary boxer, Ali was also a passionate advocate for civil rights and social justice, using his platform to speak out against racism and inequality.

Ali had a unique fighting style that emphasized speed and agility over brute force, earning him the nickname "The Greatest" in the boxing world.

See the events in life of Muhammad Ali in Chronological Order

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Muhammad Ali Biography

Born: January 17, 1942 Louisville, Kentucky African American boxer

Muhammad Ali was the only professional boxer to win the heavy-weight championship three times. He provided leadership and an example for African American men and women around the world with his political and religious views.

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, the first of Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. and Odessa Grady Clay's two sons. His father was a sign painter who also loved to act, sing, and dance; his mother worked as a cleaning lady when money was tight. Ali began boxing at the age of twelve. His bicycle had been stolen, and he reported the theft to a policeman named Joe Martin, who gave boxing lessons in a local youth center. Martin invited Ali to try boxing and soon saw that he had talent.

Martin began to feature Ali on his local television show, "Tomorrow's Champions," and he started Ali working out at Louisville's Columbia Gym. An African American trainer named Fred Stoner taught Ali the science of boxing. Among the many things Ali learned was how to move with the grace and ease of a dancer. Although his schoolwork suffered, Ali devoted all of his time to boxing and improved steadily.

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee"

As a teenager Ali won both the national Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and Golden Gloves championships. At the age of eighteen he competed in the 1960 Olympic games held in Rome, Italy, winning the gold medal in the lightheavyweight division. This led to a contract with a group of millionaires called the Louisville Sponsors Group. It was the biggest contract ever signed by a professional boxer. Ali worked his way through a series of professional victories, using a style that combined speed with great punching power. He was described by one of his handlers as having the ability to "float like a butterfly, and sting like a bee."

Ali's unique style of boasting, rhyming, and expressing confidence brought him considerable media attention as he moved toward a chance to fight for the world heavyweight boxing championship. When he began to write poems predicting his victories in different fights he became known as "The Louisville Lip." Both the attention and his skill as a fighter paid off. In February 1964, when he was only twenty-two years old, he fought and defeated Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship of the world.

Religious change

Inspired by Muslim spokesman Malcolm X (1925–1965), Ali began to follow the Black Muslim faith (a group that supports a separate black nation) and announced that he had changed his name to Cassius X. This was at a time when the struggle for civil rights was at a peak and the Muslims had emerged as a controversial (causing disputes) but important force in the African American community. Later the Muslim leader Elijah Muhammad (1897–1975) gave him the name Muhammad Ali, which means "beloved of Allah." (Allah is the god worshipped by Muslims.) In his first title defense in May 1965 Ali defeated Sonny Liston with a first-round knockout. (Many called it a phantom punch because it was so fast and powerful that few watching the fight even saw it.) Ali successfully defended his title eight more times.

In April 1967 Ali was drafted into military service during the Vietnam War (1957–75; a war fought in an unsuccessful attempt to stop Communist North Vietnam from overtaking South Vietnam). He claimed that as a minister of the Black Muslim religion he was not obligated to serve. The press criticized him as unpatriotic, and the New York State Athletic Commission and World Boxing Association suspended his boxing license and stripped him of his heavyweight title. Ali told Sports Illustrated, "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." Ali was finally sentenced to five years in prison but was released on appeal, and his conviction was thrown out three years later by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Back in the ring

Ali returned to the ring and beat Jerry Quarry in 1970. Five months later he lost to Joe Frazier (1944–), who had replaced him as heavyweight champion when his title had been stripped. Ali regained the championship for the first time when he defeated George Foreman (1949–), who had beaten Frazier for the title, in a fight held in Zaire in 1974. Ali referred to this match as the "Rumble in the Jungle." Ali fought Frazier several more times, including a fight in 1974 staged in New York City and a bout held in the Philippines in 1975, which Ali called the "Thrilla in Manila." Ali won both matches to regain his title as the world heavyweight champion. In 1975 Sports Illustrated magazine named Ali its "Sportsman of the Year."

Ali now used a new style of boxing, one that he called his "rope-a-dope." He would let his opponents wear themselves down while he rested, often against the ropes; he would then be strong and lash out in the later rounds. Ali successfully defended his title ten more times. He held the championship until Leon Spinks defeated him in February 1978 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Seven months later Ali regained the heavyweight title by defeating Spinks in New Orleans, Louisiana, becoming the first boxer in history to win the heavyweight championship three times. At the end of his boxing career he was slowed by a condition related to Parkinson's disease (a disease of the nervous system that results in shaking and weakness of the muscles). Ali's last fight (there were sixty-one in all) took place in 1981.

Role as statesman

As Ali's boxing career ended, he became involved in social causes and politics. He campaigned for Jimmy Carter (1924–) and other Democratic political candidates and took part in the promotion of a variety of political causes addressing poverty and the needs of children. He even tried to win the release of four kidnapped Americans in Lebanon in 1985. As a result, his image changed and he became respected as a statesman. At the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, the world and his country honored Ali by choosing him to light the Olympic torch during the opening ceremonies.

Ali remains in the public eye even as he continues to suffer from the effects of Parkinson's disease. In 1998 he announced he was leaving an experimental treatment program in Boca Raton, Florida, claiming that the program's leader was unfairly using his name to gain publicity. In 1999 Ali became the first boxer to ever appear on a Wheaties cereal box. Later that year he supported a new law to clean up the business side of boxing. After the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, Ali agreed to record sixty-second announcements for airing in Muslim countries to show that the United States remained friendly to those of the Muslim faith. Among many documentaries and books about Ali, a film version of his life, Ali, was released in December 2001.

For More Information

Myers, Walter Dean. The Greatest: Muhammad Ali. New York: Scholastic Press, 2001.

Remnick, David. King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero. New York: Random House, 1998.

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The life of Muhammad Ali 1942-2016

As a boxer, Ali will be remembered as a three-time world heavyweight champion who won 56 bouts over a 21-year career.

New York – Of all the tributes being paid to Muhammad Ali, few can match the praise that the former boxer heaped upon himself.

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr on January 17, 1942, in Louisville Kentucky

Aged 22, he took on heavyweight champion Sonny Liston in Miami. He won and proclaimed to the world: “I am the world’s greatest!”

Ali was the first man to win heavyweight titles three times

Ali attended his first Nation of Islam meeting in 1959 and converted to Sunni Islam in 1975

In 1967, he famously refused to fight in Vietnam, citing religious reasons

Married four times, he had seven daughters and two sons

He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1984, at the age of 43

Ali died late on June 3, 2016, in a hospital in Arizona after being admitted with respiratory problems

Ali’s funeral will take place in Louisville

Ali is survived by his wife, the former Lonnie Williams, who knew him when she was a child, along with his nine children

Ali, in his own words, was the “prettiest, the most superior, most scientific, most skilfullest fighter in the ring”.

Keep reading

‘mma brought me closer to god’: biaggio ali walsh, muhammad ali’s grandson, dutch boxing hero who fought ali still riding punches in bulgaria, the black game changers of us sport, float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

Elvis Presley was the 20th century’s king of Rock ‘n’ Roll, and Ali was the Elvis of Boxing, he once said.

Most of the time, Ali dispensed with comparisons or complex superlatives. He was, simply, “the Greatest”.

If anybody took this self-congratulation for arrogance, Ali had an answer ready. “It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am,” he said.

He died on Friday aged 74, after a decades-long struggle with Parkinson’s disease – a slowly worsening brain disorder that never wholly subdued one of the sporting world’s biggest personalities.

As a boxer, he will be remembered as a three-time world heavyweight champion who won 56 bouts over a 21-year career.

READ MORE: Muhammad Ali quotes on boxing and racism

Ali also made headlines outside the ring with critiques of racism in the US, his conversion to Islam and a refusal to fight in the Vietnam War.

He was born in the American South of 1942 and the segregation era, taking his original name, Cassius Clay, from his father, a sign and mural painter. His mother, Odessa Clay, was a housemaid.

In 1954, it was Ali’s quick tongue that got him into boxing.

The skinny 12-year-old sought out local police officer Joe Martin to report his red bicycle as stolen in his home town of Louisville, Kentucky.

Ali said he would whip the thief who had pinched his Christmas gift. Martin – who also ran a boxing gym – said Ali had better learn how to fight to come good on his threat.

Six years later, he won a gold medal in the 175-pound division at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome and launched his professional career.

Nation of Islam phase

A title fight against Sonny Liston won him fame in 1964. Ali was an underdog who became world heavyweight champion by pounding his rival to defeat in six rounds – a big upset in sports history.

Two days later, he shocked the US again by embracing the Nation of Islam – a religious group that seeks to improve life for blacks in the US, but has been criticised for black supremacist ideas.

He also dropped what he called his “slave name” and became Muhammad Ali.

Ali’s links with activist Malcolm X and his spiritual mentor, Elijah Muhammad, worried conservatives, but he was an inspiration for many.

“As a child, the first action figure my parents got me was of Muhammad Ali. For my generation, he was perhaps the largest and most influential pop culture icons for African-Americans and Muslims,” Dawud Walid, from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group, told Al Jazeera.

“In the civil rights era, he stood against the discrimination we’ve all faced in the US. He crystallised that mindset of resistance and a feeling among many Muslims not to submit to stereotypes; that being Muslim is just as American as being Christian or Jewish.”

Ali risked his career – and his reputation – to oppose the Vietnam War. Citing religious beliefs, he refused to serve in the US srmy and was subsequently arrested for committing a felony. “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong,” he said.

The conflict was broadly popular in the US at that time, and Ali was stripped of his titles, had his boxing licence suspended and was found guilty of an offence at a 1967 trial. The US Supreme Court reversed the conviction four years later.

“He was ahead of the curve in calling the Vietnam War wrong and he doesn’t get enough credit for that,” Michael McPherson, director of the anti-war group, Veterans for Peace, told Al Jazeera.

“He was an African-American Muslim who criticised US foreign policy. It’s hard to do that today; but back then, black people had to prove their allegiance, patriotism and belief in America. I wish we had more people who speak out when something is wrong.”

Back in the ring in 1970, Ali continued to “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” against the likes of George Foreman and Joe Frazier.

He lost the Fight of the Century to Frazier at Madison Square Garden after 15 rounds in 1971, but beat him back four years later in the capital of the Philippines – the so-called Thrilla in Manila.

Rope-a-dope trick

Fans have questioned Ali’s style: he held his hands low and backed away from punches, rather than dodging and weaving.

His “rope-a-dope” trick of leaning back on the ropes to avoid blows helped him win a knockout victory against Foreman in a 1974 title fight – the Rumble in the Jungle – in Kinshasa, Zaire, now called the Democratic Republic of Congo.

As well as being able to take a punch, Ali fought with speed, courage and good footwork. He ranks among the greatest boxers of all time, alongside Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis, Henry Armstrong and others.

He fought his final professional fight and married his fourth wife, Lonnie Williams, in the 1980s. Having left the hard-line Nation of Islam, Ali embraced the mainstream Sunni faith and remained politically active despite the onset of Parkinson’s.

Ralph Ali, Frazier & Foreman we were 1 guy. A part of me slipped away, "The greatest piece" https://t.co/xVKOc9qtub — George Foreman (@GeorgeForeman) June 4, 2016

He met Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 1990 and brokered the release of Americans who had been held hostage after the invasion of Kuwait. In 2011, he called on Iran to release the captive US hikers Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal.

One of Ali’s most celebrated moments came in 1996, when he lit the cauldron at the opening ceremony to the Atlanta Olympics. His willingness to appear despite a visibly twitching arm touched many in the crowd.

It was a “moment of infinite sadness, yet supreme majesty”, wrote Ken Rosenthal in The Baltimore Sun. Parkinson’s disease was “proving a more difficult opponent than Joe Frazier” for the champion.

The father-of-nine’s less-frequent television appearances showed how even the cleverest and strongest men are worn down by a brain illness.

“Parkinson’s sufferers say they can still think the things they thought before they had the disease – it just takes them a lot longer,” Peter Schmidt, who heads research programmes at the National Parkinson Foundation, told Al Jazeera.

“You can imagine how hard it was for Ali, who joked around so much and for whom timing was so important. That’s why he remained such an inspiration – even though he was so seriously affected, he was always joking and continued to have such an infectious personality.”

While the sporting world has had many champions, few can match Ali for charisma and swagger.

In his own words: “I won’t miss fighting, fighting will miss me.”

Follow James Reinl on Twitter: @jamesreinl

Muhammad Ali

A Biography of the Famous Boxer

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Muhammad Ali (January 17, 1942–June 3, 2016) was one of the most famous boxers of all time. His conversion to Islam and draft evasion conviction surrounded him with controversy and even exile from boxing for three years. Despite the hiatus, his quick reflexes and strong punches helped Muhammad Ali become the first person in history to win the heavyweight title three times.

At the Opening Ceremony of the 1996 Olympics, Muhammad Ali showed the world his strength and determination in dealing with the debilitating effects of Parkinson's syndrome by lighting the Olympic cauldron.

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. at 6:35 p.m. on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, to Cassius Clay Sr. and Odessa Grady Clay. Cassius Clay Sr. was a muralist, but he painted signs for a living. Odessa Clay worked as a housecleaner and a cook. Two years after Ali was born, the couple had another son, Rudolph ("Rudy").

Becoming a Boxer

When Ali was 12 years old, he and a friend went to the Columbia Auditorium for the free hot dogs and popcorn available for visitors to the Louisville Home Show. When the boys were done eating, they went back to get their bicycles—only to discover that Ali's had been stolen.

Furious, Ali went to the basement of the Columbia Auditorium to report the crime to police officer Joe Martin, who was also a boxing coach at the Columbia Gym. When Ali said he wanted to beat up the person who stole his bike, Martin told him that he should probably learn to fight first. A few days later, Ali started boxing training at Martin's gym.

From the very beginning, Ali took his training seriously. He trained six days a week. On school days, he woke early in the morning so he could go running and then would go work out at the gym in the evening. When Martin's gym closed at 8 p.m., Ali would then go train at another boxing gym.

Over time, Ali also created his own eating regimen that included milk and raw eggs for breakfast. Concerned about what he put in his body, Ali stayed away from junk food, alcohol, and cigarettes so that he could be the best boxer in the world.

The 1960 Olympics

Even in his early training, Ali boxed like no one else. He was fast. So fast that he didn't duck punches like most other boxers; instead, he just leaned back away from them. He also didn't put his hands up to protect his face; he kept them down by his hips.

In 1960, the Summer Olympics were held in Rome. Ali, then 18 years old, had already won national tournaments such as the Golden Gloves and so he felt ready to compete at the Olympics. On Sept. 5, 1960, Ali (then still known as Cassius Clay) fought against Poland's Zbigniew Pietrzyskowski (1934–2014) in the light-heavyweight championship bout. In a unanimous decision, the judges declared Ali the winner. He was an Olympic gold medalist.

Having won the gold medal, Ali had attained the top position in amateur boxing. It was time for him to turn professional.

Winning the Heavyweight Title

As Ali started fighting in professional bouts, he realized that there were things he could do to create attention for himself. For instance, before fights, Ali would say things to worry his opponents. He would also frequently declare, "I am the greatest of all time!"

Often before a fight, Ali would write poetry that either called the round his opponent would fall or boast of his own abilities. Muhammad Ali's most famous line was when he promised to "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

His theatrics worked. Many people paid to see Ali's fights just to see such a braggart lose. In 1964, even heavyweight champion Charles "Sonny" Liston (1932–1971) got caught up in the hype and agreed to fight Ali.

On Feb. 25, 1964, Ali fought Liston for the heavyweight title in Miami. Liston tried for a quick knockout, but Ali was too fast to catch. By the seventh round, Liston was too exhausted, had hurt his shoulder, and was worried about a cut under his eye. Liston refused to continue the fight. Ali became boxing's heavyweight champion of the world.

The Nation of Islam and Name Change

The day after the championship bout with Liston, Ali publicly announced his conversion to Islam. The public was not happy with his decision. Ali had joined the Nation of Islam, a group led by Elijah Muhammad that advocated for a separate Black nation. Since many people found the Nation of Islam's beliefs to be racist, they were angry and disappointed that Ali had joined them.

Up to this point, Muhammad Ali was still known as Cassius Clay. When he joined the Nation of Islam in 1964, he shed his "slave name" (he had been named after a White abolitionist that had freed his slaves) and took on the new name of Muhammad Ali.

Banned From Boxing for Draft Evasion

During the three years after the Liston fight, Ali won every bout. He had become one of the most popular athletes of the 1960s and was a symbol of Black pride. Then in 1967, Muhammad Ali received a draft notice: the United States was calling up young men to fight in the Vietnam War.

Since Ali was a famous boxer, he could have requested special treatment and just entertained the troops. However, Ali's deep religious beliefs forbade killing, even in war, and so Ali refused to go.

In June 1967, Muhammad Ali was tried and found guilty of draft evasion. Although he was fined $10,000 and sentenced to five years in jail, he remained out on bail while he appealed. But despite being on appeal, in response to public outrage, the New York State Athletic Commission and the World Boxing Association stripped him of his title and banned him from boxing.

For three and a half years, Ali was "exiled" from professional boxing. While watching others claim the heavyweight title, Ali lectured around the country to earn some money.

Back in the Ring

By 1970, the American general public had become dissatisfied with the Vietnam War and was thus easing its anger against Ali. This change in public opinion meant Ali was able to rejoin boxing.

After participating in an exhibition match on Sept. 2, 1970, Ali fought in his first real comeback bout on October 26, 1970, against Jerry Quarry (1945–1999) in Atlanta, Georgia. During the fight, Muhammad Ali appeared slower than he used to be; yet before the start of the fourth round, Quarry's manager threw in the towel.

Ali was back and he wanted to reclaim his heavyweight title.

The Fight of the Century: Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier (1971)

On March 8, 1971, Ali got his chance to win back the heavyweight title. Ali was to fight Joe Frazier (1944–2011) at Madison Square Garden.

Billed as "the Fight of the Century," it was viewed in 35 countries around the world and was the first fight Ali used his "rope-a-dope" technique. That involved Ali leaning on the ropes and protecting himself while he let his opponent hit him repeatedly. The intention was to quickly tire out his opponent.

Although Ali did well in a few of the rounds, in many others he was pounded by Frazier. The fight went the full 15 rounds, with both fighters still standing at the end. The fight was unanimously awarded to Frazier. Ali had lost his first professional fight and had officially lost the heavyweight title.

Shortly after the bout, Ali won a different kind of fight: His appeals against his draft evasion conviction had gone all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which unanimously reversed the lower court's decision on June 28, 1971. Ali had been exonerated.

The Rumble in the Jungle: Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman

On Oct. 30, 1974, Muhammad Ali had another chance at the championship title. In the time since Ali lost to Frazier in 1971, Frazier himself had lost his championship title to George Foreman (b. 1949). While Ali had won a rematch against Frazier in 1974, Ali was much slower and older than he used to be and was not expected to have a chance against Foreman. Many considered Foreman to be unbeatable.

The bout was held in Kinshasa, Zaire, and was thus billed as "the Rumble in the Jungle." Once again, Ali used his rope-a-dope strategy—this time with much more success. Ali was able to tire out Foreman so much that by the eighth round, Ali knocked Foreman out.

For the second time, Ali had become the heavyweight champion of the world.

Thrilla in Manila: Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier

Joe Frazier really did not like Muhammad Ali. As part of the antics before their fights, Ali had called Frazier an "Uncle Tom" and a gorilla, among other racial slurs. Ali's comments greatly angered Frazier.

Their third match against each other was held on October 1, 1975, and was called the "Thrilla in Manila" because it was held in Manila, Philippines. The fight was brutal. Both Ali and Frazier hit hard. Both were determined to win. By the time the bell for the 15th round was rung, Frazier's eyes were swollen nearly shut; his manager wouldn't let him continue. Ali won the fight, but he himself was badly hurt as well.

Both Ali and Frazier fought so hard and so well that many consider this fight to be the greatest boxing fight in history.

Winning the Championship Title a Third Time

After the Frazier fight in 1975, Muhammad Ali announced his retirement. This, however, did not last long, as it was just too easy to pick up a million dollars here or there by fighting one more bout. Ali did not take these fights very seriously and became lax on his training.

On Feb. 15, 1978, Ali was extremely surprised when novice boxer Leon Spinks (b. 1953) beat him. The bout had gone all 15 rounds, but Spinks had dominated the match. The judges awarded the fight—and the championship title—to Spinks.

Ali was furious and wanted a rematch. Spinks obliged. While Ali worked diligently to train for their rematch, Spinks did not. The second fight did go the full 15 rounds again, but Ali was the obvious winner. Not only did Ali win back the heavyweight champion title, he became the first person in history to win it three times.

Retirement and Parkinson's Syndrome

After the Spinks fight, Ali retired on June 26, 1979. He did fight Larry Holmes (b. 1949) in 1980 and Trevor Berbick (1954–2006) in 1981 but lost both fights. The fights were embarrassing; it was obvious that Ali should stop boxing.

Ali had been the greatest heavyweight boxer in the world three times. In his professional career, he won 56 bouts and lost only five. Of the 56 wins, 37 of them were by knockout. Unfortunately, all of these fights took a toll on Muhammad Ali's body.

After suffering increasingly slurred speech, shaking hands, and over-tiredness, Ali was hospitalized in September 1984 to determine the cause. His doctors diagnosed Ali with Parkinson's syndrome, a degenerative condition that results in decreased control over speech and motor skills.

After being out of the limelight for more than a decade, Ali was asked to light the Olympic cauldron during the Opening Ceremony of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Ali moved slowly and his hands shook, yet his performance brought tears to many who watched.

Since then, Ali worked tirelessly to help charities around the world. He also spent a lot of time signing autographs.

On June 3, 2016, Muhammad Ali died at age 74 in Phoenix, Arizona, after suffering from respiratory problems. He remains a hero and icon of the 20th century.

• Edmonds, Anthony O. "Muhammad Ali: A Biography." ABC-CLIO, 2005.
• Gorn, Elliott J. "Muhammad Ali, the People's Champ."
• Hauser, Thomas and Muhammad Ali. "Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times." New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1995.
• Muhammad Ali's All-Time Fight Record
• Muhammad Ali Becomes World Heavyweight Champion
• Boxing's Lineal Heavyweight Champions
• Antonio Inoki vs. Muhammad Ali
• Ring Magazine's 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years
• George Foreman's Fight-By-Fight Career Record
• Boxing Career of Larry Holmes
• Best Boxing Movies Of All Time
• The Boxing Career of Mike Tyson
• A Complete List of Heavyweight Champions in Professional Boxing
• Lennox Lewis: Professional Boxer
• Sugar Ray Leonard Fight History
• Laila Ali - The Boxer Who Never Lost a Fight
• The Boxing Career of Manny Pacquiao
• Bernard Hopkins Fight-By-Fight Career Record
• Floyd Mayweather Jr. Fight-by-Fight Career Record

Muhammad Ali

• Born January 17 , 1942 · Louisville, Kentucky, USA
• Died June 3 , 2016 · Scottsdale, Arizona, USA (septic shock)
• Birth name Cassius Marcellus Clay
• The Louisville Lip
• The Greatest
• The People's Champion
• Poet Laureate of Boxing
• Height 6′ 3″ (1.91 m)
• Muhammad Ali beat more champions and top contenders than any heavyweight champion in history. He defeated heavyweight kings Sonny Liston (twice), Floyd Patterson (twice), Ernie Terrell , Jimmy Ellis, Ken Norton (twice), Joe Frazier (twice), George Foreman and Leon Spinks . He defeated light-heavyweight champs Archie Moore and Bob Foster. Ali defeated European heavyweight champions Henry Cooper, Karl Mildenberger , Jürgen Blin , Joe Bugner , Richard Dunn, Jean-Pierre Coopman and Alfredo Evangelista. He defeated British and Commonwealth king Brian London. All of Ali's defeats were by heavyweight champions: Frazier, Norton, Spinks, Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick . Ali also beat undefeated fighters Sonny Banks (12-0), Billy Daniels (16-0), 'Rudi Lubbers' (21-0) and George Foreman (40-0). - IMDb Mini Biography By: angelsunchained (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)
• Spouses Lonnie Ali (November 19, 1986 - June 3, 2016) (his death, 1 child) Verónica Porche Ali (June 19, 1977 - July 1986) (divorced, 2 children) Khalilah Camacho Ali (August 17, 1967 - December 29, 1976) (divorced, 4 children) Sonji Roi (August 14, 1964 - January 10, 1966) (divorced)
• Children May May Jamillah Ali Rasheda Ali Laila Ali Hana Ali Khaliah Ali Asaad Ali Muhammad Ali Jnr Miya Ali
• Parents Odessa Clay Cassius Clay Sr.
• Relatives Rahman Ali (Sibling) Jacob Ali-Wertheimer (Grandchild) Sydney Jurldine Conway (Grandchild) Curtis Muhammad Conway (Grandchild) Biggio Ali Walsh (Grandchild) Nico Ali Walsh (Grandchild)
• Trademark phrase: "Floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee"
• Predicting the round in which his opponents would fall, sometimes even down to the minute
• The Ali Shuffle
• Boastful behaviour
• Extraordinary speed and agility in addition to devastatingly powerful blows
• He first decided to take boxing lessons when neighborhood bullies stole his bike and he wanted to get back at them.
• Legend has it that Ali threw his 1960 Olympic gold medal into the river, when in reality he just simply lost it at some point in time.
• His bout with massive underdog Chuck Wepner inspired Sylvester Stallone to create Rocky Balboa, while the character Apollo Creed (played by Carl Weathers ) was based on Ali himself.
• Ali learned early from the outrageous bad-guy wrestler, Gorgeous George , that it could pay to be hated. Ali said "I saw fifteen thousand people coming to see this man get beat, and his talking did it. I said, this is a goo-o-o-d idea!" Then Ali refined that talking concept to what has been referred to as the Louisville Lip.
• Has a record of 56-5 with 37 KOs.
• Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.
• I am an astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and Jack Dempsey were just jet pilots. I'm in a world of my own.
• At home I am a nice guy - but I don't want the world to know. Humble people, I've found, don't get very far.
• When you're as great as I am, it's hard to be humble.
• It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.

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Muhammad Ali: Facts & Related Content

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Did You Know?

• Ali visited North Korea as a celebrity guest.
• Ali visited Iraq and recovered 15 American hostages from Saddam Hussein.
• Muhammad Ali sang in a Broadway musical called "Buck White".

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Muhammad Ali Series ‘The Greatest’ Greenlit at Amazon Prime Video With Widow Lonnie Ali as EP, Jaalen Best to Star

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Amazon Prime Video has greenlit “ The Greatest ,” the first-ever authorized scripted series about the life of Muhammad Ali . Jaalen Best will star as Ali while Ben Watkins, creator of Amazon’s upcoming Alex Cross series, is set as showrunner.

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Alongside Lonnie Ali and Wakely, executive producers include Watkins; Jordan and Outlier Society president Elizabeth Raposo; Authentic Brand Group’s Corey Salter, Marc Rosen and Matthew Gross; and Polygram’s Michele Anthony and Boyd Muir. David Blackman co-executive produces for Polygram. Stefano Agosto, executive vice president of television at Outlier Society will also oversee the project for Outlier. 

Best is known for recurring as Ryan Craig in Season 2 of the CW’s “All American: Homecoming,” which aired in 2023. He has also appeared in episodes of “Magnum P.I.” and “American Horror Stories.” He is repped by Luber Roklin Entertainment and GGSSC.

“Muhammed Ali defined commitment and passion for multiple generations of Americans. His journey is best told in full by a team whose dedication reflects that example,” said Vernon Sanders, head of television at Amazon MGM Studios. “Ali’s is an awe-inspiring story of one of the most significant global figures of the 20th century. We are proud to work with Ben alongside Outlier, Roc Nation, Polygram, Grace, Authentic Brands, Lonnie Ali and the very talented Jaalen Best, who we know will do a remarkable job bringing ‘The Greatest’ to life for our global Prime Video customers.”

“To be trusted with the honor of telling the story of my most cherished hero, Muhammad Ali, is humbling and scary, and a dream come true,” said Watkins. “I am filled with an overwhelming sense of pride, responsibility and most of all, gratitude.”

“I’m thrilled to be producing ‘The Greatest’ alongside Ben Watkins who captured the essence and nuance of Muhammad. With Jaalen Best, we have uncovered a soulful gem. He is such a talented young man who not only embodies Muhammad, but exudes his resilience, courage, charisma and confidence,” said Lonnie Ali.

“On behalf of the Outlier Society team, I want to thank the incomparable Lonnie Ali for entrusting us to tell the story of one of the greatest humanitarians in the history of the world. It is with humility and gratitude that we will begin the journey of making this wonderful show,” said Raposo.

“We are excited to participate in a project celebrating the iconic athlete, trailblazer and activist, Muhammad Ali. His impact extended far beyond the boxing ring, using his platform to inspire and transform culture,” said Desiree Perez, CEO of Roc Nation. “It’s an honor to collaborate with all our partners, especially Lonnie Ali. ‘The Greatest’ is a perfect title for a show dedicated to his legacy.”

“It’s been an honor to work with Lonnie to tell the incredible story of how Cassius Clay became the iconic Muhammad Ali. We look forward to sharing this personal portrait with his fans around the world,” said Michele Anthony, executive vice president of Universal Music Group.

“It’s been a longtime dream to tell Ali’s remarkable life story as a television series, which is the only way to truly capture his greatness, and I’m grateful to Lonnie and the assembled team who also share my passion for getting ‘The Greatest’ to the screen,” said Wakely.

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