Born on January 17, 1942, Muhammad Ali was one
of the fearful boxers of his time. He has won the
World Heavyweight Championship thrice and also a
gold metal at the Olympics. BBC and the Sports
Illustrated gave him the title of Sportsman of the
Century.
His birth name was Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.,
named after his father who was a billboard painter
by profession, and his birthplace is Louisville,
Kentucky. Muhammad Ali changed his name after
converting to Islam in 1975, after which he joined
Nation of Islam.
Joe E. Martin, a Louisville police officer, was his
first encouragement when he caught Ali fighting over
his stolen bicycle. He used to do a show named
Tomorrow's Champions, with Martin and at the same
time went to Stoner's Gym, as Stoner was a better
coach. Stoner was Ali's coach for his amateur
career. Under the coaching of Stone, Ali won six
Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden
Gloves titles, one Amateur Athletic Union national
title and 1960 Olympic gold medal in light
heavyweight. In his amateur career, he had hundred
wins and five losses.
After the victory at the Olympics, Muhammad Ali went
back to Louisville to start his professional career.
His first victory in the professional career was a
six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. Some of
boxers who were defeated by Ali are Jim Robinson,
Tony Esperti, Donnie Fleeman, George Logan, Alonzo
Johnson, Lamar Clark, Willi Besmanoff, Henry Cooper
and Doug Jones.
When Ali converted to Islam, he refused to respond
to his surname as he was told that that was the name
given by white men to his slave ancestors. His
refusal to react to his name and to join the
American military, created a controversy and he was
banned to fight in United States of America in the
year 1966. After which he defended his title 9 times
in England. He defeated Brian London, Karl
Mildenberger and Henry Cooper. In 1967, Ali was
deprived of his title by the professional boxing
commission and wasn't given the permission for three
years to fight professionally. He was sentenced to
jail for five years for refusing to serve the army.
He began fighting in 1970 and in 1971; the Supreme
Court reversed his conviction.
In 1970, a feature film was released based on a
boxing match between Rocky Marciano and Ali. And in
2005, the super fight and a documentary were also
released on a two disc DVD. The Fight of the Century
was named after the fight between Muhammad Ali and
Jon Frazier. They fought on March 8, 1971 and were
one of the most famous matches and most eagerly
anticipated. Both the fighters were undefeated and
extremely skillful. Frazier won by defeating Ali
with a hard left hook in the fifteenth round. Due to
this defeat Ali saw his first professional loss. He
won the title back again by defeating George Foreman
on October 30, 1974. This fight is popularly known
as The Rumble in the Jungle. This match was
considered as a political symbol and Ali was made
representative of the Black who was fighting against
the white power. This fight was also the main theme
of the documentary "When We Were Kings", which won
the Academy Award in 1996. It was given the seventh
rank in a television program named The 100 Greatest
Sporting Moments. Ali's fight with Chuck Wepner, on
March 24, 1975, inspired the movie Rocky that won
the Academy award.
Ali announced his retirement on June 27, 1979, but
it was for a very short period of time. He made a
comeback on October 2, 1980 and fought with Larry
Holmes for the World Heavyweight title. After the
match he was diagnosed for a hole in the brain
membrane. A few matches after that, Ali finally
retired in 1981. In his career, he had won fifty-six
matches and lost five. He won the title of world
Heavyweight Boxing Champion three times.
During his career, he had defeated almost all the
top Heavyweight champions and this period was named
as the Golden Age of Heavyweight boxing. Ali was
diagnosed with Parkinsonism in October 1983 and
finally diagnosed for Pugilistic Parkinson's
syndrome. Doctors do not accept that boxing was
responsible for his conditions. Mohammed Ali now
lives with his wife, Yolanda Lonnie Ali, in
Scottsdale, Arizona. In 1998, the Ring magazine
honored Ali by giving him the title of the Greatest
Heavyweight of All time. His daughter, Laila Ali,
has won championship titles of IBA, IWBF and WIBA.
Ali has always contested in the heavyweight category
and his height is 6' 3''. He was an active and quick
boxer and he applied this strategy to avoid punches
instead of shielding the face with high raised
hands.
