Muhammed Ali
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Muhammed Ali
OR:
Muhammed Ali on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American
professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, and is frequently ranked as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...
'' and the Sports Personality of the Century by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. Born and raised in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, he began training as an amateur boxer at age 12. At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the
1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...
and turned professional later that year. He became a Muslim after 1961. He won the world heavyweight championship, defeating Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22. During that year, he denounced his birth name as a "
slave name A slave name is the personal name given by others to an enslaved person, or a name inherited from enslaved ancestors. The modern use of the term applies mostly to African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans who are descended from enslaved Africans who ...
" and formally changed his name to Muhammad Ali. In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military owing to his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
and was found guilty of
draft evasion Draft evasion is any successful attempt to elude a government-imposed obligation to serve in the military forces of one's nation. Sometimes draft evasion involves refusing to comply with the military draft laws of one's nation. Illegal draft e ...
and stripped of his boxing titles. He stayed out of prison while appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, where his conviction was overturned in 1971. He did not fight for nearly four years and lost a period of peak performance as an athlete. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War made him an icon for the larger counterculture of the 1960s generation, and he was a very high-profile figure of racial pride for African Americans during the
civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...
and throughout his career. As a Muslim, Ali was initially affiliated with
Elijah Muhammad Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Robert Poole; October 7, 1897 – February 25, 1975) was an African American religious leader, black separatist, and self-proclaimed Messenger of Allah, who led the Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1934 until his deat ...
's Nation of Islam (NOI). He later disavowed the NOI, adhering to Sunni Islam. He fought in several historic boxing matches, including his highly publicized fights with Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier (including the
Fight of the Century Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali, billed as ''The Fight Of The Century'' or simply ''The Fight'', was a heavyweight championship boxing match between WBA, WBC, and ''The Ring'' heavyweight champion Joe Frazier and former undisputed heavyweight cham ...
, the biggest boxing event up until then), the Thrilla in Manila, and his fight with George Foreman in
The Rumble in the Jungle George Foreman vs. Muhammad Ali, billed as ''The Rumble in the Jungle'', was a heavyweight championship boxing match on October 30, 1974, at the 20th of May Stadium (now the Stade Tata Raphaël) in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of t ...
. Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many boxers let their managers do the talking, and he became renowned for his provocative and outlandish persona. He was famous for
trash-talk Trash talk is a form of insult usually found in sports events, although it is not exclusive to sports or similarly characterized events. It is often used to intimidate the opposition and/or make them less confident in their abilities as to win e ...
ing, often free-styled with rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry incorporating elements of hip hop. He often predicted in which round he would knock out his opponent. Outside boxing, Ali attained success as a
spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...
artist, releasing two studio albums: '' I Am the Greatest!'' (1963) and ''
The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay ''The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay'' is a 1976 educational album by the American heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali. The album was recorded to raise awareness of tooth decay among children. The album features several notable perso ...
'' (1976). Both albums received
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
nominations. He also featured as an actor and writer, releasing two autobiographies. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy and activism. In 1984, he made public his diagnosis of Parkinson's syndrome, which some reports attributed to boxing-related injuries, though he and his specialist physicians disputed this. He remained an active public figure globally, but in his later years made fewer public appearances as his condition worsened, and he was cared for by his family.


Early life

Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. ( ) was born on January 17, 1942, in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
. He had one brother. He was named after his father,
Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. Cassius Marcellus Clay (November 11, 1912 – February 8, 1990) was an American painter and musician. He was the father of three-time World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali and Rahman Ali, and the paternal grandfather o ...
, who had a sister and four brothers and who himself was named in honor of the 19th-century
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
politician and staunch
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...
Cassius Marcellus Clay, also from the state of Kentucky. Clay's father's paternal grandparents were John Clay and Sallie Anne Clay; Clay's sister Eva claimed that Sallie was a native of
Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
. He was a descendant of slaves of the antebellum South, and was predominantly of African descent, with Irish and English family heritage. Ali's maternal great-grandfather, Abe Grady, emigrated from Ennis,
Co. Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...
, Ireland.
DNA testing Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, o ...
performed in 2018 showed that, through his paternal grandmother, Ali was a descendant of the former slave
Archer Alexander Archer Alexander (c. 1810 or 1815 – December 8, 1879) was a formerly enslaved person who served as the model for the emancipated slave in the ''Emancipation Memorial'' (1876) located in Lincoln Park in Washington, D.C. He was the subject of ...
, who had been chosen from the building crew as the model of a freed man for the ''
Emancipation Memorial The Emancipation Memorial, also known as the Freedman's Memorial or the Emancipation Group is a monument in Lincoln Park in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was sometimes referred to as the "Lincoln Memorial" before the mor ...
'', and was the subject of abolitionist
William Greenleaf Eliot William Greenleaf Eliot (August 5, 1811 – January 23, 1887) was an American educator, Unitarian minister, and civic leader in Missouri. He is most notable for founding Washington University in St. Louis, and also contributed to the foundi ...
's book, ''The Story of Archer Alexander: From Slavery to Freedom''. Like Ali, Alexander fought for his freedom. His father was a sign and billboard painter, and his mother, Odessa O'Grady Clay (1917–1994), was a domestic helper. Although Cassius Sr. was a Methodist, he allowed Odessa to bring up both Cassius Jr. and his younger brother, Rudolph "Rudy" Clay (later renamed Rahaman Ali), as Baptists. Cassius Jr. attended Central High School in Louisville. He was dyslexic, which led to difficulties in reading and writing, at school and for much of his life. Ali grew up amid
racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...
. His mother recalled one occasion when he was denied a drink of water at a store: "They wouldn't give him one because of his color. That really affected him." He was also strongly affected by the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, which led to young Clay and a friend taking out their frustration by vandalizing a local rail yard. His daughter Hana later wrote that Ali once told her, "Nothing would ever shake me up (more) than the story of Emmett Till."


Amateur career

Clay was first directed toward boxing by Louisville police officer and boxing coach
Joe E. Martin Joseph Elsby Martin Sr., (February 1, 1916 – September 14, 1996) was an American boxing coach who trained two world heavyweight champions, Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Ellis (boxer), Jimmy Ellis, as well as several national Golden Gloves champions ...
, who encountered the 12-year-old fuming over a thief's having taken his bicycle. He told the officer he was going to "whup" the thief. The officer told Clay he had better learn how to box first. Initially, Clay did not take up Martin's offer, but after seeing amateur boxers on a local television boxing program called ''Tomorrow's Champions'', Clay was interested in the prospect of fighting. He then began to work with trainer Fred Stoner, whom he credits with giving him the "real training", eventually molding "my style, my stamina and my system." For the last four years of Clay's amateur career he was trained by boxing
cutman A cutman is a person responsible for preventing and treating physical damage to a fighter during the breaks between rounds of a full contact match such as a boxing, kickboxing or a mixed martial arts bout. Cutmen typically handle swelling, nose ...
Chuck Bodak Vasil "Chuck" Bodak (June 3, 1916 – February 6, 2009) was an American boxing cutman and trainer who worked with over 50 world champions including Muhammad Ali, Rocky Marciano, Tommy Hearns, Julio César Chávez, Evander Holyfield, Edward Necc ...
. Clay made his amateur boxing debut in 1954 against local amateur boxer Ronnie O'Keefe. He won by split decision. He went on to win six Kentucky
Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nation ...
titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an
Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...
national title, and the light heavyweight gold medal in the
1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...
in Rome. Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with five losses. Ali said in his 1975 autobiography that shortly after his return from the Rome Olympics, he threw his gold medal into the Ohio River after he and a friend were refused service at a "whites-only" restaurant and fought with a white gang. The story was later disputed, and several of Ali's friends, including Bundini Brown and photographer
Howard Bingham Howard Leonid Bingham (May 29, 1939December 15, 2016) was a biographer of Muhammad Ali and a professional photographer.Deford, FranYou don't know Muhammad Ali until you know his best friend''Sports Illustrated''. March 11, 2016 Bingham was born in ...
, denied it. Brown told ''Sports Illustrated'' writer Mark Kram, " Honkies sure bought into that one!"
Thomas Hauser Thomas C. Hauser (born February 27, 1946) is an American author known for his biographies and novels. Biography Hauser graduated from Columbia College in 1967 and Columbia Law School in 1970. He made his debut as a writer in 1978 with ''The ...
's biography of Ali stated that Ali was refused service at the diner but that he lost his medal a year after he won it. Ali received a replacement medal at a basketball intermission during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he lit the torch to start the games.


Professional career


Early career

Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over
Tunney Hunsaker Tunney Morgan Hunsaker (September 1, 1930 – April 27, 2005) was a mid-20th century American professional boxer, who also served as the Police Chief of Fayetteville, West Virginia. Early life He was born in the Western Kentucky town of Princet ...
. From then until the end of 1963, Clay amassed a record of 19–0 with 15 wins by knockout. He defeated boxers including Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff,
LaMar Clark LaMar F. Clark (December 1, 1933 – November 5, 2006) was an American professional boxer who fought in the heavyweight division. He was active from 1958 to 1961 and fought a recorded 46 times in his 3 year-career, mostly in his home state of U ...
, Doug Jones, and Henry Cooper. Clay also beat his former trainer and veteran boxer
Archie Moore Archie Moore (born Archibald Lee Wright; December 13, 1913 – December 9, 1998) was an American professional boxer and the longest reigning World Light Heavyweight Champion of all time (December 1952 – May 1962). He had one of the longest ...
in a 1962 match. These early fights were not without trials. Clay was knocked down by both
Sonny Banks Lucien "Sonny" Banks (June 29, 1940 – May 13, 1965) was a mid-20th Century American boxer who is primarily remembered for being the first boxer to ever knock down Cassius Clay (later "Muhammad Ali") in a professional match. In the early 1960s ...
and Cooper. In the Cooper fight, Clay was floored by a left
hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...
at the end of round four and was saved by the bell, going on to win in the predicted 5th round due to Cooper's severely cut eye. The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963 was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch. The number two and three heavyweight contenders respectively, Clay and Jones fought on Jones' home turf at New York's Madison Square Garden. Jones staggered Clay in the first round, and the unanimous decision for Clay was greeted by boos and a rain of debris thrown into the ring. Watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay he might get locked up for murder. The fight was later named "Fight of the Year" by ''The Ring'' magazine. In each of these fights, Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. He called Jones "an ugly little man" and Cooper a "bum". He said he was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff and claimed that Madison Square Garden was "too small for me."Bob Mee, ''Ali and Liston: The Boy Who Would Be King and the Ugly Bear'', 2011. Ali's
trash talk Trash talk is a form of insult usually found in sports events, although it is not exclusive to sports or similarly characterized events. It is often used to intimidate the opposition and/or make them less confident in their abilities as to win e ...
was inspired by
professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
"Gorgeous George" Wagner's, after he saw George's talking ability attract huge crowds to events. Ali stated in a 1969 interview with the Associated Press' Hubert Mizel that he met with George in Las Vegas in 1961, that George told him that talking a big game would earn paying fans who either wanted to see him win or wanted to see him lose, thus Ali transformed himself into a self-described "big-mouth and a bragger". In 1960, Clay left Moore's camp, partially due to Clay's refusal to do chores such as washing dishes and sweeping. To replace Moore, Clay hired
Angelo Dundee Angelo is an Italian masculine given name and surname meaning "angel", or "messenger". People People with the given name *Angelo Accattino (born 1966), Italian prelate of the Catholic Church *Angelo Acciaioli (bishop) (1298–1357), Italian Rom ...
to be his trainer. Clay had met Dundee in February 1957 during Clay's amateur career. Around this time, Clay sought longtime idol
Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regard ...
to be his manager, but was rebuffed.


World heavyweight champion


Fights against Liston

By late 1963, Clay had become the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. The fight was set for February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach. Liston was an intimidating personality, a dominating fighter with a criminal past and ties to the mob. Based on Clay's uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous two fights, and Liston's destruction of former heavyweight champion
Floyd Patterson Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in hi ...
in two first-round knockouts, Clay was a 7–1 underdog. Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the pre-fight buildup, dubbing him "the big ugly bear", stating "Liston even smells like a bear" and claiming "After I beat him I'm going to donate him to the zoo." Clay turned the pre-fight weigh-in into a circus, shouting at Liston that "someone is going to die at ringside tonight." Clay's pulse rate was measured at 120, more than double his normal 54. Many of those in attendance thought Clay's behavior stemmed from fear, and some commentators wondered if he would show up for the bout. The outcome of the fight was a major upset. At the opening bell, Liston rushed at Clay, seemingly angry and looking for a quick knockout. However, Clay's superior speed and mobility enabled him to elude Liston, making the champion miss and look awkward. At the end of the first round, Clay opened up his attack and hit Liston repeatedly with jabs. Liston fought better in round two, but at the beginning of the third round Clay hit Liston with a combination that buckled his knees and opened a cut under his left eye. This was the first time Liston had ever been cut. At the end of round four, Clay was returning to his corner when he began experiencing blinding pain in his eyes and asked his trainer,
Angelo Dundee Angelo is an Italian masculine given name and surname meaning "angel", or "messenger". People People with the given name *Angelo Accattino (born 1966), Italian prelate of the Catholic Church *Angelo Acciaioli (bishop) (1298–1357), Italian Rom ...
, to cut off his gloves. Dundee refused. It has been speculated that the problem was due to ointment used to seal Liston's cuts, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner to his gloves. Though unconfirmed, boxing historian
Bert Sugar Herbert Randolph Sugar (June 7, 1936 – March 25, 2012) was an American boxing writer and sports historian known for his trademark fedora and unlit cigar. Biography Early life and education Sugar was born in Washington, D.C. on June 7, 193 ...
said that two of Liston's opponents also complained about their eyes "burning". Despite Liston's attempts to knock out a blinded Clay, Clay was able to survive the fifth round until sweat and tears rinsed the irritation from his eyes. In the sixth, Clay dominated, hitting Liston repeatedly. Liston did not answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by TKO. Liston stated that the reason he quit was an injured shoulder. Following the win, a triumphant Clay rushed to the edge of the ring and, pointing to the ringside press, shouted: "Eat your words!" He added, "I am the greatest! I shook up the world. I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived." At ringside post fight, Clay appeared unconvinced that the fight was stopped due to a Liston shoulder injury, saying that the only injury Liston had was "an open eye, a big cut eye!" When told by Joe Louis that the injury was a "left arm thrown out of its socket," Clay quipped, "Yeah, swinging at nothing, who wouldn't?" In winning this fight at the age of 22, Clay became the youngest boxer to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion. However,
Floyd Patterson Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in hi ...
remained the youngest to win the heavyweight championship, doing so at the age 21 during an elimination bout following
Rocky Marciano Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), better known as Rocky Marciano (, ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955, and held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956. He is the onl ...
's retirement. Mike Tyson broke both records in 1986 when he defeated
Trevor Berbick Trevor Berbick (1 August 1954 – 28 October 2006) was a Jamaican professional boxer who competed from 1976 to 2000. He won the WBC heavyweight title in 1986 by defeating Pinklon Thomas, then lost it in his first defense in the same year to M ...
to win the heavyweight title at age 20. Soon after the Liston fight, Clay changed his name to Cassius X, and then later to Muhammad Ali upon converting to Islam and affiliating with the Nation of Islam. Ali then faced a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in
Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, the state's capital, and Portland, the state's most populous ci ...
. It had been scheduled for Boston the previous November, but was postponed for six months due to Ali's emergency surgery for a hernia three days before. The fight was controversial. Midway through the first round, Liston was knocked down by a difficult-to-see blow the press dubbed a "phantom punch". Referee
Jersey Joe Walcott Arnold Raymond Cream (January 31, 1914 – February 25, 1994), best known as Jersey Joe Walcott, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1930 to 1953. He held the NYSAC, NBA, and ''The Ring'' heavyweight titles from 1951 to 1952 ...
did not begin the count immediately after the knockdown, as Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner. Liston rose after he had been down for about 20 seconds, and the fight momentarily continued. However a few seconds later Walcott, having been informed by the timekeepers that Liston had been down for a count of 10, stopped the match and declared Ali the winner by knockout. The entire fight lasted less than two minutes. It has since been speculated that Liston purposely dropped to the ground. Proposed motivations include threats on his life from the Nation of Islam, that he had bet against himself and that he "took a dive" to pay off debts. Slow-motion replays show that Liston was jarred by a chopping right from Ali, although it is unclear whether the blow was a genuine knockout punch.


Fight against Patterson

Ali defended his title against former heavyweight champion
Floyd Patterson Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in hi ...
on November 22, 1965. Before the match, Ali mocked Patterson, who was widely known to call him by his former name Cassius Clay, as an "
Uncle Tom Uncle Tom is the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel, '' Uncle Tom's Cabin''. The character was seen by many readers as a ground-breaking humanistic portrayal of a slave, one who uses nonresistance and gives his life to prot ...
", calling him "The Rabbit". Although Ali clearly had the better of Patterson, who appeared injured during the fight, the match lasted 12 rounds before being called on a technical knockout. Patterson later said he had strained his
sacroiliac The sacroiliac joint or SI joint (SIJ) is the joint between the sacrum and the ilium bones of the pelvis, which are connected by strong ligaments. In humans, the sacrum supports the spine and is supported in turn by an ilium on each side. The j ...
. Ali was criticized in the sports media for appearing to have toyed with Patterson during the fight. Patterson biographer W. K. Stratton claims that the conflict between Ali and Patterson was not genuine but was staged to increase ticket sales and the closed-circuit viewing audience, with both men complicit in the theatrics. Stratton also cites an interview by
Howard Cosell Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...
in which Ali explained that rather than toying with Patterson, he refrained from knocking him out after it became apparent Patterson was injured. Patterson later said that he had never been hit by punches as soft as Ali's. Stratton states that Ali arranged the second fight, in 1972, with the financially struggling Patterson to help the former champion earn enough money to pay a debt to the
IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...
.


Main Bout

After the Patterson fight, Ali founded his own promotion company, Main Bout. The company mainly handled Ali's boxing promotions and pay-per-view closed-circuit television broadcasts. The company's stockholders were mainly fellow Nation of Islam members, along with several others, including
Bob Arum Robert Arum (born December 8, 1931) is an American lawyer and boxing promoter. He is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. Prior to becoming a boxing promoter, Arum was employed as an attorn ...
. Ali and then- WBA heavyweight champion boxer
Ernie Terrell Ernie is a masculine given name, frequently a short form (hypocorism) of Ernest, Ernald, Ernesto, or Verner. It may refer to: People * Ernie Accorsi (born 1941), American football executive * Ernie Adams (disambiguation) * Ernie Afaganis (born c ...
had agreed to meet for a bout in Chicago on March 29, 1966 (the WBA, one of two boxing associations, had stripped Ali of his title following his joining the Nation of Islam). But in February Ali was reclassified by the Louisville draft board as 1-A from 1-Y, and he indicated that he would refuse to serve, commenting to the press, "I ain't got nothing against no
Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...
; no Viet Cong never called me nigger." Amidst the media and public outcry over Ali's stance, the Illinois Athletic Commission refused to sanction the fight, citing technicalities. Instead, Ali traveled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts against
George Chuvalo George Louis Chuvalo, CM (born September 12, 1937 as Jure Čuvalo) is a Canadian former professional boxer who was a five-time Canadian heavyweight champion and two-time world heavyweight title challenger. He is known for having never been kno ...
, Henry Cooper,
Brian London Brian Sidney Harper (19 June 1934 – 23 June 2021), known professionally as Brian London, was an English professional boxer who competed from 1955 to 1970. He held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight title from 1958 to 1959, and twice ...
, and
Karl Mildenberger Karl Mildenberger (23 November 1937 – 4 October 2018) was a German heavyweight boxer. He was the European Heavyweight Champion from 1964 to 1968, during which he retained the title six times. He unsuccessfully challenged Muhammad Ali for the ...
. Ali returned to the United States to fight
Cleveland Williams Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams (June 30, 1933 – September 10, 1999) was an American professional boxer. A poll in '' The Ring'' magazine rated him as one of the finest boxers never to win a title. Early life Born in Griffin, Georgia, Williams sta ...
at the
Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...
in
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
on November 14, 1966. The bout drew a record-breaking indoor crowd of 35,460 people. Williams had once been considered among the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division, but in 1964 he had been shot at point-blank range by a Texas policeman, resulting in the loss of one kidney and of his small intestine. Ali dominated Williams, winning a third-round technical knockout in what some consider the finest performance of his career. Ali fought Terrell in Houston on February 6, 1967. Terrell, who was unbeaten in five years and had defeated many of the boxers Ali had faced, was billed as Ali's toughest opponent since Liston; he was big, strong and had a three-inch reach advantage over Ali. During the lead up to the bout, Terrell repeatedly called Ali "Clay", much to Ali's annoyance. The two almost came to blows over the name issue in a pre-fight interview with Howard Cosell. Ali seemed intent on humiliating Terrell. "I want to torture him", he said. "A clean knockout is too good for him." The fight was close until the seventh round, when Ali bloodied Terrell and almost knocked him out. In the eighth round, Ali taunted Terrell, hitting him with jabs and shouting between punches, "What's my name, Uncle Tom ... what's my name?" Ali won a unanimous 15-round decision. Terrell claimed that early in the fight Ali deliberately thumbed him in the eye, forcing him to fight half-blind, and then, in a clinch, rubbed the wounded eye against the ropes. Because of Ali's apparent intent to prolong the fight to inflict maximum punishment, critics described the bout as "one of the ugliest boxing fights."
Tex Maule Hamilton Prieleaux Bee Maule, commonly known as Tex Maule (May 19, 1915 in Ojus, Florida – May 16, 1981) was the lead American football writer for ''Sports Illustrated'' in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Early life Maule played football (end) at S ...
later wrote: "It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty." Ali denied the accusations of cruelty but, for Ali's critics, the fight provided more evidence of his arrogance. After Ali's title defense against
Zora Folley Zora "Bell" Folley (May 27, 1931 – July 7, 1972) was a mid-20th century American heavyweight boxer, known for his defensive game and punching ability. Early life Born in Dallas, Texas on 27 May 1931, Folley moved with his family to Chandler ...
on March 22, he was stripped of his title due to his refusal to be drafted to army service. His boxing license was also suspended by the state of New York. He was convicted of draft evasion on June 20 and sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He paid a bond and remained free while the verdict was being appealed.


Draft resistance

Ali registered for conscription in the United States military on his 18th birthday and was listed as 1-A in 1962. In 1964, he was reclassified as Class 1-Y (fit for service only in times of national emergency) after he failed the
U.S. Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
qualifying test because his writing and spelling skills were sub-standard, due to his dyslexia. (He was quoted as saying, "I said I was the greatest, not the smartest!") By early 1966, the army lowered its standards to permit soldiers above the 15th percentile and Ali was again classified as 1-A. This classification meant he was now eligible for the draft and induction into the U.S. Army at a time when the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War, a war which put him further at odds with the white establishment. When notified of this status, Ali declared that he would refuse to serve in the army and publicly considered himself a conscientious objector. Ali stated: "War is against the teachings of the
Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
. 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". He also said "We are not to be the aggressor but we will defend ourselves if attacked." He stated: "Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong." Ali elaborated: "Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?" Ali antagonized the white establishment in 1966 by refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
. On April 28, 1967, Ali appeared in Houston for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces, but he refused three times to step forward when his name was called. An officer warned him that he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Once more, Ali refused to budge when his name was called, and he was arrested. Later that same day, the
New York State Athletic Commission The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, is a division of the New York State Department of State which regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of New York, ...
suspended his boxing license and stripped him of his title. Other boxing commissions followed suit. Ali remained unable to obtain a license to box in any state for over three years. On June 4, 1967, in a first for sports professionals, a group of high-profile African-American athletes including Jim Brown,
Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most Va ...
, and
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim A ...
, as well as one political leader,
Carl Stokes Carl Burton Stokes (June 21, 1927 – April 3, 1996) was an American politician and diplomat of the Democratic Party who served as the 51st mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. Elected on November 7, 1967, and taking office on January 1, 1968, he was ...
, assembled at the Negro Industrial Economic Union in Cleveland for what became known as the "
Cleveland Summit The Cleveland Summit, also known as the Muhammad Ali Summit, was a meeting on Sunday, June 4, 1967, among twelve leading African-American men, eleven of them athletes and one politician, on the East Side of Cleveland, Ohio. Football star Jim Bro ...
" or the "Muhammad Ali Summit." The meeting was organized by Brown for his peers to question Ali about the seriousness of his convictions, and to decide whether to support him, which they ultimately did. At the trial on June 20, 1967, the jury found Ali guilty after only 21minutes of deliberation of the criminal offense of violating the Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. After a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the case was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971. Ali remained free in the years between the Appellate Court decision and the Supreme Court ruling. As public opinion began turning people against the war and the Civil Rights Movement continued to gather momentum, Ali became a popular speaker at colleges and universities across the country; this itinerary was rare if not unprecedented for a prizefighter. At
Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...
, for example, he gave his popular "Black Is Best" speech to 4,000 cheering students and community intellectuals, after he was invited to speak by sociology professor
Nathan Hare Nathan Hare (born April 9, 1933) is an American sociologist, activist, academic, and psychologist. In 1968 he was the first person hired to coordinate a Black studies program in the United States. He established the program at San Francisco S ...
on behalf of the Black Power Committee, a student protest group. On June 28, 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States in ''
Clay v. United States ''Clay v. United States'', 403 U.S. 698 (1971), was Muhammad Ali's appeal of his conviction in 1967 for refusing to report for induction into the United States military forces during the Vietnam War. His local draft board had rejected his applic ...
'' overturned Ali's conviction by a unanimous 8–0 decision (Justice
Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...
recused himself, as he had been the U.S. Solicitor General at the time of Ali's conviction). The decision was not based on, nor did it address, the merits of Ali's claims per se. Rather, the Court held that since the appeal board gave no reason for the denial of a conscientious objector exemption to Ali, that it was therefore impossible to determine which of the three basic tests for conscientious objector status (offered in the Justice Department's brief) the appeal board relied on, and Ali's conviction must be reversed.


Impact of Ali's draft refusal

Ali's example inspired many black Americans and others. However, initially when he refused induction, he became arguably the most hated man in the country and received many death threats. People who supported Ali during this time were also threatened, including sports journalist
Jerry Izenberg Jerry Izenberg (born September 10, 1930) is a sports journalist with ''The Newark Star-Ledger'' in Newark, New Jersey. He was born in Newark, New Jersey. His career with ''The Star-Ledger'' began in 1951 while he was still a student at Rutgers Uni ...
, whose columns defended Ali's decision not to serve. He wrote, "Bomb threats emptied our office, making the staff stand out in the snow. My car windshield was smashed with a sledgehammer." ''The New York Times'' columnist William Rhoden wrote, "Ali's actions changed my standard of what constituted an athlete's greatness. Possessing a killer jump shot or the ability to stop on a dime was no longer enough. What were you doing for the liberation of your people? What were you doing to help your country live up to the covenant of its founding principles?" Recalling Ali's anti-war position,
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim A ...
said: "I remember the teachers at my high school didn't like Ali because he was so anti-establishment and he kind of thumbed his nose at authority and got away with it. The fact that he was proud to be a black man and that he had so much talent ... made some people think that he was dangerous. But for those very reasons I enjoyed him." Civil rights figures came to believe that Ali had an energizing effect on the freedom movement as a whole.
Al Sharpton Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democrati ...
spoke of his bravery at a time when there was still widespread support for the Vietnam War: Ali was honored with the annual Martin Luther King Award in 1970 by civil rights leader
Ralph Abernathy Ralph David Abernathy Sr. (March 11, 1926 – April 17, 1990) was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was ordained in the Baptist tradition in 1948. As a leader of the civil rights movement, he was a close friend and ...
, who called him "a living example of soul power, the
March on Washington The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic righ ...
in two fists."
Coretta Scott King Coretta Scott King ( Scott; April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006) was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader who was married to Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his death. As an advocate for African-American equality, she ...
added that Ali was "a champion of justice and peace and unity." In speaking of the cost on Ali's career of his refusal to be drafted, his trainer Angelo Dundee said, "One thing must be taken into account when talking about Ali: He was robbed of his best years, his prime years."
Bob Arum Robert Arum (born December 8, 1931) is an American lawyer and boxing promoter. He is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. Prior to becoming a boxing promoter, Arum was employed as an attorn ...
did not support Ali's choice at the time. More recently, Arum stated that "when I look back at his life, and I was blessed to call him a friend and spent a lot of time with him, it's hard for me to talk about his exploits in boxing because as great as they were they paled in comparison to the impact that he had on the world," and "He did what he thought was right. And it turned out he was right, and I was wrong." Ali's resistance to the draft was covered in the 2013 documentary ''
The Trials of Muhammad Ali ''The Trials of Muhammad Ali'' is a 2013 American documentary about the heyday of boxer Muhammad Ali's career, with special focus on his conversion to Islam and his refusal to fight in the Vietnam War. It won an award for Best Use of News Foo ...
''.


NSA and FBI monitoring of Ali's communications

In a secret operation code-named " Minaret", the
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collect ...
(NSA) intercepted the communications of leading Americans, including Ali, Senators Frank Church and Howard Baker, Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
, prominent U.S. journalists, and others who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam. A review by the NSA of the Minaret program concluded that it was "disreputable if not outright illegal." In 1971, his
Fight of the Century Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali, billed as ''The Fight Of The Century'' or simply ''The Fight'', was a heavyweight championship boxing match between WBA, WBC, and ''The Ring'' heavyweight champion Joe Frazier and former undisputed heavyweight cham ...
with Frazier was used by an activist group, the
Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI The Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI was an activist group operational in the US during the early 1970s. Their only known action was breaking into a two-man Media, Pennsylvania, office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and s ...
, to pull off a burglary at an
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
office in Pennsylvania; the anticipation for the fight was unlike anything else, so they believed the security would also be focused on the fight. This raid exposed the
COINTELPRO COINTELPRO (syllabic abbreviation derived from Counterintelligence, Counter Intelligence Program; 1956–1971) was a series of Covert operation, covert and illegal projects actively conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation ( ...
operations that included illegal spying on activists involved with the civil rights and anti-war movements. One of the COINTELPRO targets was Ali, and their activities included the FBI gaining access to his records as far back as elementary school; one such record mentioned him loving art as a child.


Exile and comeback

In March 1966, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces. He was systematically denied a boxing license in every state and stripped of his passport. As a result, he did not fight from March 1967 to October 1970—from ages 25 to almost 29—as his case worked its way through the appeals process before his conviction was overturned in 1971.


Protesting while exiled

During this time of inactivity, as
opposition to the Vietnam War Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War (before) or anti-Vietnam War movement (present) began with demonstrations in 1965 against the escalating role of the United States in the Vietnam War and grew into a broad social mov ...
began to grow and Ali's stance gained sympathy, he spoke at colleges across the nation, criticizing the Vietnam War and advocating African-American pride and racial justice. Ali based himself in Chicago. According to most close to him, his Chicago years were formative. At the time, Ali was widely condemned by the
American media Mass media in the United States consist of several types of media: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and web sites. The U.S. also has a strong music industry. New York City, Manhattan in particular, and to a lesser extent ...
, with fears that his actions could potentially lead to mass civil disobedience. Despite this, ''
Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...
'' magazine noted in the late 1960s that Ali's popularity had increased during this time, especially among black people.


''The Super Fight''

While banned from sanctioned bouts, Ali settled a $1 million lawsuit against radio producer Murray Woroner by accepting $10,000 to appear in a privately staged fantasy fight against retired champion Rocky Marciano. In 1969 the boxers were filmed sparring for about 75 one-minute rounds; they produced several potential outcomes. A computer program purportedly determined the winner, based on data about the fighters, along with the opinions of approximately 250 boxing experts. Edited versions of the bout were shown in movie theaters in 1970. In the U.S. version Ali lost in a simulated 13th-round knockout, but in the European version Marciano lost due to cuts, also simulated. Ali suggested that prejudice determined his defeat in the U.S. version. He was reported to jokingly say, "That computer was made in Alabama."


Return

On August 11, 1970, with his case still in appeal, Ali was granted a license to box by the City of Atlanta Athletic Commission. Leroy Johnson, Jesse Hill Jr. and Harry Pett had used their local political influence and set up the company House of Sports to organize the fight, underlining the influential power of Georgia's black politics in Ali' s comeback. Ali's first return bout was against
Jerry Quarry Jerry Quarry (May 15, 1945 – January 3, 1999), nicknamed "Irish" or "The Bellflower Bomber", was an American professional boxer. During the peak of his career from 1968 to 1971, Quarry was rated by ''The Ring'' magazine as the most popular ...
on October 26, resulting in a win after three rounds after Quarry was cut. A month earlier, a victory in federal court forced the New York State Boxing Commission to reinstate Ali's license. He fought Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden in December, an uninspired performance that ended in a dramatic
technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving strikin ...
of Bonavena in the 15th round. The win left Ali as a top contender against heavyweight champion Joe Frazier.


Fight against Joe Frazier

Ali and Frazier's first fight, held at the Garden on March 8, 1971, was nicknamed the "
Fight of the Century Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali, billed as ''The Fight Of The Century'' or simply ''The Fight'', was a heavyweight championship boxing match between WBA, WBC, and ''The Ring'' heavyweight champion Joe Frazier and former undisputed heavyweight cham ...
", due to the tremendous excitement surrounding a bout between two undefeated fighters, each with a legitimate claim to be heavyweight champion. Veteran US boxing writer John Condon called it "the greatest event I've ever worked on in my life." The bout was broadcast to 36 countries; promoters granted 760 press passes. Adding to the atmosphere were the considerable pre-fight theatrics and name calling. Before the fight Frazier called Ali, "Cassius Clay", this angered Ali and he portrayed Frazier as a "dumb tool of the white establishment." "Frazier is too ugly to be champ", Ali said. "Frazier is too dumb to be champ." Ali also frequently called Frazier an "Uncle Tom". Dave Wolf, who worked in Frazier's camp, recalled that, "Ali was saying 'the only people rooting for Joe Frazier are white people in suits, Alabama sheriffs, and members of the Ku Klux Klan. I'm fighting for the little man in the ghetto.' Joe was sitting there, smashing his fist into the palm of his hand, saying, 'What the fuck does he know about the ghetto? Ali began training at a farm near Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1971 and, finding the country setting to his liking, sought to develop a real training camp in the countryside. He found a five-acre site on a Pennsylvania country road in the village of
Deer Lake, Pennsylvania Deer Lake is a borough in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The population was 670 at the 2020 census. The mayor of the borough is Larry Kozlowski. History The community was founded as a resort community serving coal barons and other members of t ...
. On this site, Ali carved out what was to become his training camp, where he trained for all his fights from 1972 to the end of his career in 1981. The Monday night fight lived up to its billing. In a preview of their two other fights, a crouching, bobbing and weaving Frazier constantly pressured Ali, getting hit regularly by Ali jabs and combinations, but relentlessly attacking and scoring repeatedly, especially to Ali's body. The fight was even in the early rounds, but Ali was taking more punishment than ever in his career. On several occasions in the early rounds he played to the crowd and shook his head "no" after he was hit. In the later rounds—in what was the first appearance of the "
rope-a-dope The rope-a-dope is a boxing fighting technique in which one contender leans against the ropes of the boxing ring and draws non-injuring offensive punches, letting the opponent tire themselves out. This gives the former the opportunity to then ...
strategy"—Ali leaned against the ropes and absorbed punishment from Frazier, hoping to tire him. In the 11th round, Frazier connected with a left hook that wobbled Ali, but because it appeared that Ali might be clowning as he staggered backwards across the ring, Frazier hesitated to press his advantage, fearing an Ali counter-attack. In the final round, Frazier knocked Ali down with a vicious left hook, which referee
Arthur Mercante Arthur Mercante Sr. (January 26, 1920 – April 10, 2010) was an American boxing referee. His career lasted from the 1960s until 2001. Mercante's son also became a noted referee. In his youth, Arthur Mercante Sr. was a member of the Merchant ...
said was as hard as a man can be hit. Ali was back on his feet in three seconds. Nevertheless, Ali lost by unanimous decision, his first professional defeat.


Chamberlain challenge and Ellis fight

In 1971, basketball star
Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely reg ...
challenged Ali to a fight, and a bout was scheduled for July 26. Although the seven-foot-two-inch tall Chamberlain had formidable physical advantages over Ali—weighing 60pounds more and able to reach 14inches further—Ali was able to influence Chamberlain into calling off the bout by taunting him with calls of "Timber!" and "The tree will fall" during a shared interview. These statements of confidence unsettled his taller opponent, whom Los Angeles Lakers owner
Jack Kent Cooke Jack Kent Cooke (October 25, 1912 – April 6, 1997) was a Canadian-American businessman in broadcasting and professional sports. Starting in sales, Cooke was very successful, eventually becoming a partner in a network of radio stations and news ...
had offered a record-setting contract, conditional on Chamberlain agreeing to abandon what Cooke termed "this boxing foolishness", and he did exactly that. To replace Ali's opponent, promoter
Bob Arum Robert Arum (born December 8, 1931) is an American lawyer and boxing promoter. He is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. Prior to becoming a boxing promoter, Arum was employed as an attorn ...
quickly booked a former sparring partner of Ali's, Jimmy Ellis, who was a childhood friend from
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, to fight him. Ali won the bout through a technical knockout when the referee stopped the fight in the twelfth round.


After his loss


Fights against Quarry, Patterson, Foster and Norton

After the loss to Frazier, Ali fought Jerry Quarry, had a second bout with Floyd Patterson and faced Bob Foster in 1972, winning a total of six fights that year. In 1973, Ken Norton broke Ali's jaw while giving him the second loss of his career. After initially considering retirement, Ali won a controversial decision against Norton in their second bout. This led to a rematch with Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 1974; Frazier had recently lost his title to George Foreman.


Second fight against Joe Frazier

upright=1.3, Ali vs. Frazier, promotional photo Ali was strong in the early rounds of the fight, and staggered Frazier in the second round. Referee Tony Perez mistakenly thought he heard the bell ending the round and stepped between the two fighters as Ali was pressing his attack, giving Frazier time to recover. However, Frazier came on in the middle rounds, snapping Ali's head in round seven and driving him to the ropes at the end of round eight. The last four rounds saw round-to-round shifts in momentum between the two fighters. Throughout most of the bout, however, Ali was able to circle away from Frazier's dangerous left hook and to tie Frazier up when he was cornered, the latter a tactic that Frazier's camp complained of bitterly. Judges awarded Ali a unanimous decision.


World heavyweight champion (second reign)


''The Rumble in the Jungle''

The defeat of Frazier set the stage for a title fight against heavyweight champion George Foreman in Kinshasa,
Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...
, on October 30, 1974—a bout nicknamed ''
The Rumble in the Jungle George Foreman vs. Muhammad Ali, billed as ''The Rumble in the Jungle'', was a heavyweight championship boxing match on October 30, 1974, at the 20th of May Stadium (now the Stade Tata Raphaël) in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of t ...
''. Foreman was considered one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history. In assessing the fight, analysts pointed out that Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, who had given Ali four tough battles and won two of them, had both been devastated by Foreman in second-round knockouts. Ali was 32 years old, and had clearly lost speed and reflexes since his twenties. Contrary to his later persona, Foreman was at the time a brooding and intimidating presence. Almost no one associated with the sport, not even Ali's long-time supporter Howard Cosell, gave the former champion a chance of winning. As usual, Ali was confident and colorful before the fight. He told interviewer David Frost, "If you think the world was surprised when Nixon resigned, wait till I whup Foreman's behind!" He told the press, "I've done something new for this fight. I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick." Ali was wildly popular in Zaire, with crowds chanting "Ali, bomaye" ("Ali, kill him") wherever he went. Ali opened the fight moving and scoring with right crosses to Foreman's head. Then, beginning in the second round, and to the consternation of his corner, Ali retreated to the ropes and invited Foreman to hit him while covering up, clinching and counter-punching, all while verbally taunting Foreman. The move, which would later become known as the "
Rope-a-dope The rope-a-dope is a boxing fighting technique in which one contender leans against the ropes of the boxing ring and draws non-injuring offensive punches, letting the opponent tire themselves out. This gives the former the opportunity to then ...
", so violated conventional boxing wisdom—letting one of the hardest hitters in boxing strike at will—that at ringside writer
George Plimpton George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American writer. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found ''The Paris Review'', as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. He was also known for " ...
thought the fight had to be fixed. Foreman, increasingly angered, threw punches that were deflected and did not land squarely. Midway through the fight, as Foreman began tiring, Ali countered more frequently and effectively with punches and flurries, which electrified the pro-Ali crowd. In the eighth round, Ali dropped an exhausted Foreman with a combination at center ring; Foreman failed to make the count. Against the odds, and amidst pandemonium in the ring, Ali had regained the title by knockout. Reflecting on the fight, George Foreman later said: "I thought Ali was just one more knockout victim until, about the seventh round, I hit him hard to the jaw and he held me and whispered in my ear: 'That all you got, George?' I realized that this ain't what I thought it was." It was a major upset victory, after Ali came in as a 41
underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...
against the previously unbeaten, heavy-hitting Foreman. The fight became famous for Ali's introduction of the rope-a-dope tactic. The fight was watched by a record estimated television audience of 1billion viewers worldwide. It was the world's most-watched live television broadcast at the time.


Fights against Wepner, Lyle and Bugner

Ali's next opponents included
Chuck Wepner Charles Wepner (born February 26, 1939) is an American former professional boxer. He fell just nineteen seconds short of a full fifteen rounds against world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in a 1975 championship fight. Wepner also scored notab ...
,
Ron Lyle Ronald David Lyle (February 12, 1941 – November 26, 2011) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1971 to 1980, and in 1995. He challenged unsuccessfully for the world heavyweight championship, losing to Muhammad Ali in 1975. Kno ...
, and
Joe Bugner József Kreul Bugner (born 13 March 1950) is a Hungarian-born British- Australian former heavyweight boxer and actor. He holds triple nationality, being a citizen of Hungary and a naturalised citizen of both Australia and the United King ...
. Wepner, a journeyman known as "The Bayonne Bleeder", stunned Ali with a knockdown in the ninth round; Ali would later say he tripped on Wepner's foot. It was a bout that would inspire Sylvester Stallone to create the acclaimed film, ''
Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burge ...
''.


Third fight against Joe Frazier

Ali then agreed to a third match with Joe Frazier in
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
. The bout, known as the " Thrilla in Manila", was held on October 1, 1975, in temperatures approaching . In the first rounds, Ali was aggressive, moving and exchanging blows with Frazier. However, Ali soon appeared to tire and adopted the "rope-a-dope" strategy, frequently resorting to clinches. During this part of the bout Ali did some effective counter-punching, but for the most part absorbed punishment from a relentlessly attacking Frazier. In the 12th round, Frazier began to tire, and Ali scored several sharp blows that closed Frazier's left eye and opened a cut over his right eye. With Frazier's vision now diminished, Ali dominated the 13th and 14th rounds, at times conducting what boxing historian Mike Silver called "target practice" on Frazier's head. The fight was stopped when Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow Frazier to answer the bell for the 15th and final round, despite Frazier's protests. Frazier's eyes were both swollen shut. Ali, in his corner, winner by TKO, slumped on his stool, clearly spent. An ailing Ali said afterwards that the fight "was the closest thing to dying that I know", and, when later asked if he had viewed the fight on videotape, reportedly said, "Why would I want to go back and see Hell?" After the fight he cited Frazier as "the greatest fighter of all times next to me." After the third fight with Frazier, Ali considered retirement. He said, “I'm sore all over. My arms, my face, my sides all ache. I'm so, so tired. There is a great possibility that I will retire. You might have seen the last of me. I want to sit back and count my money, live in my house and my farm, work for my people and concentrate on my family."


Later career

Following the Manila bout, Ali fought
Jean-Pierre Coopman Jean-Pierre Coopman (born 11 July 1946) is a retired Belgian boxer who is best known for his title fight against Muhammad Ali in 1976 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which Ali won by KO in round 5. Early life Jean-Pierre Coopman was born on 11 J ...
, Jimmy Young, and Richard Dunn, winning the last by knockout. The punch used to knock Dunn out was taught to Ali by
Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...
Grandmaster
Jhoon Rhee Rhee Jhoon-goo (January 7, 1932 – April 30, 2018), commonly known as Jhoon Rhee or Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee, was a South Korean master of Taekwondo who is widely recognized as the 'Father of American Taekwondo' for introducing this martial art ...
. Rhee called that punch the "Accupunch"; he learned it from Bruce Lee. The Dunn fight was the last time Ali would knock down an opponent in his boxing career. Ali fought Ken Norton for the third time in September 1976. The bout, which was held at
Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...
, resulted in Ali winning a controversial decision that ringside commentators had scored in favour of Norton. Afterwards, he announced he was retiring from boxing to practice his faith, having converted to Sunni Islam after falling out with the Nation of Islam the previous year. After returning to beat
Alfredo Evangelista Alfredo Evangelista (born December 3, 1954) is a former Uruguayan-born boxer. He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. "The Lynx of Montevideo" Evangelista faced Muhammad Ali in a bout for the List of heavyweight boxing champions, world heavyweight ...
in May 1977, Ali struggled in his next fight against
Earnie Shavers Earnie Dee Shaver (August 31, 1944 – September 1, 2022), best known as Earnie Shavers, was an American professional boxer who competed between 1969 and 1995. A two-time world heavyweight championship challenger, he is known as one of the harde ...
that September, getting pummeled a few times by punches to the head. Ali won the fight by another unanimous decision, but the bout caused his longtime doctor Ferdie Pacheco to quit after he was rebuffed for telling Ali he should retire. Pacheco was quoted as saying, "the New York State Athletic Commission gave me a report that showed Ali's kidneys were falling apart. I wrote to Angelo Dundee, Ali's trainer, his wife and Ali himself. I got nothing back in response. That's when I decided enough is enough." In February 1978, Ali faced
Leon Spinks Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
at the Hilton Hotel in
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
. At the time, Spinks had only seven professional fights to his credit, and had recently fought a draw with journeyman Scott LeDoux. Ali sparred less than two dozen rounds in preparation for the fight, and was seriously out of shape by the opening bell. He lost the title by split decision. A rematch occurred in September at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. 70,000 people attended the bout and paid a total of $6 million admission, making it the largest live gate in boxing history at that time.Read Peter Finney's column on Ali vs. Spinks 2 at the Superdome in 1978
''The Times-Picayune'' NOLA.com (New Orleans, LA.), re-posted on June 4, 2016. Ali won a unanimous decision in an uninspiring fight, with referee Lucien Joubert scoring rounds 10-4, judge Ernie Cojoe 10-4, and judge Herman Preis 11-4. This made Ali the first heavyweight champion to win the belt three times.The Last Flight of the Butterfly: Remembering Ali vs Spinks II
RingsideReport.com, Kevin "The Voice" Kincade, September 22, 2016. Following this win, on July 27, 1979, Ali announced his retirement from boxing. His retirement was short-lived, however; Ali announced his comeback to face
Larry Holmes Larry Holmes (born November 3, 1949) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 2002 and was world heavyweight champion from 1978 until 1985. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which led to his boxing nickname of the "Ea ...
for the WBC belt in an attempt to win the heavyweight championship an unprecedented fourth time. The fight was largely motivated by Ali's need for money. Boxing writer Richie Giachetti said, "Larry didn't want to fight Ali. He knew Ali had nothing left; he knew it would be a horror." It was around this time that Ali started struggling with vocal stutters and trembling hands. The
Nevada Athletic Commission The Nevada State Athletic Commission (also known as the Nevada Athletic Commission or NSAC) regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of Nevada, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, kickboxer ...
(NAC) ordered that he undergo a complete physical in Las Vegas before being allowed to fight again. Ali chose instead to check into the Mayo Clinic, who declared him fit to fight. Their opinion was accepted by the NAC on July 31, 1980, paving the way for Ali's return to the ring.


Fight stoppage vs. Larry Holmes

On October 2, 1980, Ali returned to the ring to fight Holmes at Caesars Palace in
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
. Holmes, who fought under the nickname "The Easton Assassin", easily dominated Ali. After the tenth round,
Angelo Dundee Angelo is an Italian masculine given name and surname meaning "angel", or "messenger". People People with the given name *Angelo Accattino (born 1966), Italian prelate of the Catholic Church *Angelo Acciaioli (bishop) (1298–1357), Italian Rom ...
stepped into the ring and instructed the referee to stop the fight. It was the only time Ali ever lost by stoppage. Giachetti called the fight "awful...the worst sports event I ever had to cover." Actor Sylvester Stallone was ringside for the fight and said that it was like watching an autopsy on a man who is still alive. The Holmes fight is said to have contributed to Ali's Parkinson's syndrome. Despite pleas to definitively retire, Ali fought one last time on December 11, 1981, in Nassau,
Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
, against
Trevor Berbick Trevor Berbick (1 August 1954 – 28 October 2006) was a Jamaican professional boxer who competed from 1976 to 2000. He won the WBC heavyweight title in 1986 by defeating Pinklon Thomas, then lost it in his first defense in the same year to M ...
, losing a ten-round decision.


Exhibition bouts

Ali boxed both well known boxers and celebrities from other walks of life, including
Michael Dokes Michael Marshall Dokes (August 10, 1958 – August 11, 2012) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1976 to 1997, and held the WBA heavyweight title from 1982 to 1983. As an amateur he won a silver medal in the heavyweight division ...
, Antonio Inoki,
Lyle Alzado Lyle Martin Alzado (April 3, 1949 – May 14, 1992) was an American professional All Pro football defensive end of the National Football League (NFL), famous for his intense and intimidating style of play. Alzado played 15 seasons, splitting hi ...
,
Dave Semenko David John Semenko (July 12, 1957 – June 29, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach, scout and colour commentator. During his National Hockey League (NHL) career, Semenko played for the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers and ...
, and the famous Puerto Rican comedian Jose Miguel Agrelot (with
Iris Chacon Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye * Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional en ...
acting as Agrelot's corner-woman).


Ali vs Inoki

On June 26, 1976, Ali participated in an exhibition bout in Tokyo against Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist Antonio Inoki. Ali was only able to land two jabs while Inoki's kicks caused two blood clots and an infection that almost resulted in Ali's leg being amputated, as a result of Ali's team insisting on rules restricting Inoki's ability to wrestle. The match was not scripted and ultimately declared a draw. After Ali's death, ''The New York Times'' declared it his least memorable fight. Most boxing commentators at the time viewed the fight negatively and hoped it would be forgotten as some considered it a "15-round farce." Today it is considered by some to be one of Ali's most influential fights and CBS Sports said the attention the mixed-style bout received "foretold the arrival of standardized MMA (
Mixed Martial Arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...
) years later." After the fight, Ali and Inoki became friends.


Ali vs Alzado

In 1979, Ali fought an
exhibition match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
against NFL player
Lyle Alzado Lyle Martin Alzado (April 3, 1949 – May 14, 1992) was an American professional All Pro football defensive end of the National Football League (NFL), famous for his intense and intimidating style of play. Alzado played 15 seasons, splitting hi ...
. The fight went 8 rounds and was declared a draw.


Ali vs Semenko

Ali fought
NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
player,
Dave Semenko David John Semenko (July 12, 1957 – June 29, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach, scout and colour commentator. During his National Hockey League (NHL) career, Semenko played for the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers and ...
in an exhibition on June 12, 1983. The match was officially a draw after going three rounds, but the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
reported Ali was not seriously trying and was just toying with Semenko.


Personal life


Marriages and children

Ali was married four times and had seven daughters and two sons. Ali was introduced to cocktail waitress Sonji Roi by Herbert Muhammad, who was to become Ali's long-time manager, and asked her to marry him after their first date. They married approximately one month later on August 14, 1964. They quarreled over Sonji's refusal to join the Nation Of Islam. According to Ali, "She wouldn't do what she was supposed to do. She wore lipstick; she went into bars; she dressed in clothes that were revealing and didn't look right." The marriage was childless and they divorced on January 10, 1966. Just before the divorce was finalized, Ali sent Sonji a note: "You traded heaven for hell, baby." Ali's brother Rahman said that she was Ali's only true love and the Nation of Islam made Ali divorce her and Ali never got over it. On August 17, 1967, Ali married
Belinda Boyd Khalilah Camacho Ali (born Belinda Boyd; March 17, 1950) is an American actress, also known for being the former wife of boxer Muhammad Ali. Personal life Born Belinda Boyd on March 17, 1950, she was raised in Chicago where she attended Islamic ...
. In an interview with NBC 6, Boyd recounted meeting Ali when she was 10 years old at her hometown mosque. "He said, 'Listen here little girl. This is my name. Imma be famous. You need to keep that 'cause it's gone be worth a lot of money,'" Boyd said, mimicking Ali. “You'll never be famous with that name. And, I walked away," Boyd said. Born into a Chicago family that had converted to the Nation Of Islam, she later changed her name to Khalilah Ali, though she was still called Belinda by old friends and family. They had four children: author and rapper Maryum "May May" (born 1968); twins Jamillah and Rasheda (born 1970); and Muhammad Ali Jr. (born 1972). Rasheda married Robert Walsh and has two sons: Biaggio Ali, (born 1998), and Nico Ali (born 2000), who is a professional boxer. Ali was a resident of Cherry Hill, New Jersey in suburban
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
in the early 1970s. At age 32 in 1974, Ali began an extramarital relationship with 16-year-old Wanda Bolton (who subsequently changed her name to Aaisha Ali) with whom he fathered another daughter, Khaliah (born 1974). While still married to Belinda, Ali married Aaisha in an Islamic ceremony that was not legally recognized. According to Khaliah, Aaisha and her mother lived at Ali's Deer Lake training camp alongside Belinda and her children. In January 1985, Aaisha sued Ali for unpaid palimony. The case was settled when Ali agreed to set up a $200,000 trust fund for Khaliah. In 2001 Khaliah was quoted as saying she believed her father viewed her as "a mistake". He had another daughter, Miya (born 1972), from an extramarital relationship with Patricia Harvell. By the summer of 1977, his second marriage ended due to Ali's repeated infidelity, and he had married actress and model Veronica Porché. At the time of their marriage, they had a daughter, Hana, and Veronica was pregnant with their second child. Their second daughter,
Laila Ali Laila Amaria Ali (born December 30, 1977) is an American television personality and retired professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2007. During her career, from which she retired undefeated, she held the WBC, WIBA, IWBF and IBA female sup ...
, was born in December 1977. By 1986, Ali and Porché were divorced due to Ali's continuous infidelity. Porché said of Ali's infidelity, "It was too much temptation for him, with women who threw themselves at him, It didn't mean anything. He didn't have affairs – he had one-night stands. I knew beyond a doubt there were no feelings involved. It was so obvious, It was easy to forgive him." On November 19, 1986, Ali married Yolanda "Lonnie" Williams. Lonnie first met Ali at the age of 6 when her family moved to Louisville in 1963. In 1982, she became Ali's primary caregiver and in return, he paid for her to attend graduate school at
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
. Together they adopted a son, Asaad Amin (born 1986), when Asaad was five months old. In 1992, Lonnie incorporated Greatest of All Time, Inc. (G.O.A.T. Inc) to consolidate and license his
intellectual properties Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
for commercial purposes. She served as the vice president and treasurer until the sale of the company in 2006. Kiiursti Mensah-Ali claims she is Ali's biological daughter with Barbara Mensah, with whom he allegedly had a 20-year relationship, citing photographs and a paternity test conducted in 1988. She said he accepted responsibility and took care of her, but all contacts with him were cut off after he married his fourth wife Lonnie. Kiiursti says she has a relationship with his other children. After his death she again made passionate appeals to be allowed to mourn at his funeral. In 2010, Osmon Williams came forward claiming to be Ali's biological son. His mother Temica Williams (also known as Rebecca Holloway) launched a $3 million lawsuit against Ali in 1981 for sexual assault, claiming that she had started a sexual relationship with him when she was 12, and that her son Osmon (born 1977) was fathered by Ali. She further alleged that Ali had originally supported her and her son financially, but stopped doing so after four years. The case went on until 1986 and was eventually thrown out as her allegations were deemed to be barred by the
statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...
. According to Veronica, Ali admitted to the affair with Williams, but did not believe Osmon was his son which Veronica supported by saying "Everybody in the camp was going with that girl." Ali biographer and friend
Thomas Hauser Thomas C. Hauser (born February 27, 1946) is an American author known for his biographies and novels. Biography Hauser graduated from Columbia College in 1967 and Columbia Law School in 1970. He made his debut as a writer in 1978 with ''The ...
has said this claim was of "questionable veracity". Ali then lived in
Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...
with Lonnie. In January 2007, it was reported that they had put their home in
Berrien Springs, Michigan Berrien Springs is a village in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,800 at the time of the 2010 census. The village is located within Oronoko Charter Township. History Berrien Springs, like Berrien County, is na ...
, which they had bought in 1975, up for sale and had purchased a home in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky for $1,875,000. Both homes were subsequently sold after Ali's death with Lonnie living in their remaining home in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Lonnie converted to Islam from Catholicism in her late twenties. In a 1974 interview, Ali said, "If they say stand and salute the flag I do that out of respect, because I'm in the country". Ali would later say, "If America was in trouble and real war came, I'd be on the front line if we had been attacked. But I could see that (The Vietnam War) wasn't right." He also said, "Black men would go over there and fight, but when they came home, they couldn't even be served a hamburger." Ali's daughter Laila was a professional boxer from 1999 until 2007, despite her father's previous opposition to women's boxing. In 1978, he said "Women are not made to be hit in the breast, and face like that." Ali still attended a number of his daughter's fights and later admitted to Laila he was wrong. Ali's daughter Hana is married to Bellator middleweight fighter Kevin Casey. Hana wrote about her father, "His love for people was extraordinary. I would get home from school to find homeless families sleeping in our guest room. He’d see them on the street, pile them into his Rolls-Royce and bring them home. He’d buy them clothes, take them to hotels and pay the bills for months in advance." She also said celebrities like
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
and Clint Eastwood would often visit Ali. After Ali met a lesbian couple who were fans of his in 1997, he smiled and said to his friend Hauser, "They look like they’re happy together." Hauser wrote about the story, "The thought that Liz and Roz (the lesbian couple he met) were happy pleased Muhammad. Ali wanted people to be happy."


Religion and beliefs


Affiliation with the Nation of Islam

Ali said that he first heard of the Nation of Islam when he was fighting in the Golden Gloves tournament in Chicago in 1959, and attended his first Nation of Islam meeting in 1961. He continued to attend meetings, although keeping his involvement hidden from the public. In 1962, Clay met
Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of I ...
, who soon became his spiritual and political mentor. By the time of the first Liston fight, Nation of Islam members, including Malcolm X, were visible in his entourage. This led to a story in ''
The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.Black Muslims when he was 18. In fact, Clay was initially refused entry to the Nation of Islam (often called the Black Muslims at the time) due to his boxing career. However, after he won the championship from Liston in 1964, the Nation of Islam was more receptive and agreed to publicize his membership. Shortly afterwards on March 6, Elijah Muhammad gave a radio address that Clay would be renamed
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
(one who is worthy of praise)
Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...
(most high). Around that time Ali moved to the south side of Chicago and lived in a series of houses, always near the Nation of Islam's Mosque Maryam or Elijah Muhammad's residence. He stayed in Chicago for about 12 years. Only a few journalists, most notably Howard Cosell, accepted the new name at that time. Ali stated that his earlier name was a "
slave name A slave name is the personal name given by others to an enslaved person, or a name inherited from enslaved ancestors. The modern use of the term applies mostly to African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans who are descended from enslaved Africans who ...
," and a "white man's name" and added that "I didn’t choose it and I don’t want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name". The person he was named after was a white slave owner turned abolitionist. Ali explained in his autobiography after studying his works, "he may have gotten rid of his slaves, but (he) held on to white supremacy." In truth, Cassius Clay's attachment to slavery went farther than Ali knew. In spite of his abolitionist fervor, Clay owned more slaves in 1865, when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution finally forbade its practice, than he had inherited from his wealthy slave-owning father
Green Clay Green Clay (August 14, 1757 – October 31, 1828) was an American businessman, planter, military officer and politician from Kentucky. Clay served in the American Revolutionary War and was commissioned as a general to lead the Kentucky militia ...
37 years earlier. With the Clay name coming from a family of enslavers, Ali concluded: "Why should I keep my white slavemaster's name visible and my black ancestors invisible, unknown, unhonored?" Not afraid to antagonize the white establishment, Ali stated, "I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me." Ali's friendship with Malcolm X ended as Malcolm split with the Nation of Islam a couple of weeks after Ali joined, and Ali remained with the Nation of Islam. Ali later said that turning his back on Malcolm was one of the mistakes he regretted most in his life. Aligning himself with the Nation of Islam, its leader
Elijah Muhammad Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Robert Poole; October 7, 1897 – February 25, 1975) was an African American religious leader, black separatist, and self-proclaimed Messenger of Allah, who led the Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1934 until his deat ...
, and a narrative that labeled the white race as the perpetrator of genocide against African Americans made Ali a target of public condemnation. The Nation of Islam was widely viewed by whites and some African Americans as a black separatist "hate religion" with a propensity toward violence; Ali had few qualms about using his influential voice to speak Nation of Islam doctrine. In a press conference articulating his opposition to the Vietnam War, Ali stated, "My enemy is the white people, not Vietcong or Chinese or Japanese." In relation to integration, he said: "We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don't want to be forced to integrate. Integration is wrong. We don't want to live with the white man; that's all." Further articulating his opposition to integration, he told members of the KKK at a Klan rally in 1975 that "black people should marry their own women... blue birds are blue birds, red birds are red birds, pigeons with pigeons, eagles with eagles, God did not make no mistake". Writer
Jerry Izenberg Jerry Izenberg (born September 10, 1930) is a sports journalist with ''The Newark Star-Ledger'' in Newark, New Jersey. He was born in Newark, New Jersey. His career with ''The Star-Ledger'' began in 1951 while he was still a student at Rutgers Uni ...
once noted that, "the Nation became Ali's family and Elijah Muhammad became his father. But there is an irony to the fact that while the Nation branded white people as devils, Ali had more white colleagues than most African American people did at that time in America, and continued to have them throughout his career."


Conversion to Sunni/Sufi Islam

In Hauser's biography ''Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times'', Ali says that although he's not a Christian as he thinks the idea of God having a son sounds wrong and does not make sense to him, as he believes, "God don't beget; man begets". He still believes that even good Christians or good Jews can receive God's blessing and enter heaven as he stated, "God created all people, no matter what their religion". He also stated, "If you're against someone because he's a Muslim that's wrong. If you're against someone because he's a Christian or a Jew, that's wrong". In a 2004 autobiography, Ali attributed his conversion to mainstream Sunni Islam to
Warith Deen Muhammad Warith Deen Mohammed (born Wallace D. Muhammad; October 30, 1933 – September 9, 2008), also known as W. Deen Mohammed, Imam W. Deen Muhammad and Imam Warith Deen, was an African-American Muslim leader, theologian, philosopher, Muslim revival ...
, who assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad, and persuaded the Nation's followers to become adherents of Sunni Islam. He said some people didn't like the change and stuck to Elijah's teachings, but he admired it and so left Elijah's teachings and became a follower of Sunni Islam. Ali had gone on the Hajj pilgrimage to
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
in 1972, which inspired him in a similar manner to Malcolm X, meeting people of different colors from all over the world giving him a different outlook and greater spiritual awareness. In 1977, he said that, after he retired, he would dedicate the rest of his life to getting "ready to meet God" by helping people, charitable causes, uniting people and helping to make peace. He went on another Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1988. After the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
in 2001, he stated that "Islam is a religion of peace" and "does not promote
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
or killing people", and that he was "angry that the world sees a certain group of Islam followers who caused this destruction, but they are not real Muslims. They are racist fanatics who call themselves Muslims." In December 2015, he stated that "True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic
jihadists Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...
goes against the very tenets of our religion", that "We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda", and that "political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam, and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is." He also developed an interest in Sufism, which he referenced in his autobiography, ''
The Soul of a Butterfly ''The Soul of a Butterfly'' (2003) is the autobiography of Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., a former heavyweight boxer who was a three time World Heavyweight Champion and is considered by many to be the greatest heavyweight of al ...
''. According to Ali's daughter, Hana Yasmeen Ali, who co-authored ''The Soul of a Butterfly'' with him, Ali was attracted to Sufism after reading the books of
Inayat Khan Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan ( ur, ) (5 July 1882 – 5 February 1927) was an Indian professor of musicology, singer, exponent of the saraswati vina, poet, philosopher, and pioneer of the transmission of Sufism to the West. At the urging of his ...
, which contain Sufi teachings. Muhammad Ali received guidance from Islamic scholars such as
Grand Mufti of Syria The Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is the head of regional muftis, Islamic jurisconsults, of a state. The office originated in the early modern era in the Ottoman empire and has been later adopted in a num ...
Al Marhum Al Sheikh
Ahmed Kuftaro Ahmed Kuftaro or Ahmad Kaftaru (Arabic: أحمد كفتارو; December 1915 – 1 September 2004) was the Grand Mufti of Syria, the highest officially appointed Sunni Muslim representative of the Fatwa-Administration in the Syrian Ministry of ...
,
Hisham Kabbani Muhammad Hisham Kabbani (born 28 January 1945) is a Lebanese-American Sunni Sufi Muslim scholar belonging to the Naqsbandi Sufi Order. Kabbani has counseled and advised Muslim leaders to build community resilience against violent extremism. ...
, Imam
Zaid Shakir Zaid Shakir ( ar, زيد شاكر; born Ricky Daryl Mitchell, May 24, 1956) is an American Muslim scholar"Lonny Shavelson, Fred Setterberg", Under the Dragon: California's New Culture, Oakland Museum of California, Heyday Books, p.64, "Edward ...
,
Hamza Yusuf Hamza Yusuf (born: Mark Hanson; 1958) is an American Islamic neo-traditionalist, Islamic scholar, and co-founder of Zaytuna College. He is a proponent of classical learning in Islam and has promoted Islamic sciences and classical teaching meth ...
, and Timothy J. Gianotti, who was at Ali's bedside during his last days and ensured that although his funeral was
interfaith Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...
, it was still in accordance with Islamic rites and rituals.


Beatles reunion plan

In 1976, inventor
Alan Amron Alan Amron (born November 20, 1948) is an American inventor who holds 40 United States patents. He is also involved in a popular dispute of $400 million with 3M for the invention of the Post-it note. Inventions Noteworthy Amron inventions incl ...
and businessman Joel Sacher partnered with Ali to promote The International Committee to Reunite
the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
. They asked fans worldwide to contribute a dollar each. Ali said the idea was not to use the proceeds for profit, but to establish an international agency to help poor children. "This is money to help people all over the world", he said. He added, "I love the music. I used to train to their music." He said a reunion of the Beatles "would make a lot of people happy." The former Beatles were indifferent to the plan, which elicited only a tepid response from the public. No reunion happened.


Entertainment career


Acting

Ali had a cameo role in the 1962 film version of ''
Requiem for a Heavyweight "Requiem for a Heavyweight" is a teleplay written by Rod Serling and produced for the live television show ''Playhouse 90'' on 11 October 1956. Six years later, it was adapted as a 1962 feature film starring Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey R ...
'', and during his exile from boxing, he starred in the short-lived 1969 Broadway musical, ''Buck White''. He also appeared in the documentary film ''
Black Rodeo ''Black Rodeo'' is a 1972 documentary by filmmaker Jeff Kanew. Overview ''Black Rodeo'' captures the events surrounding the first-time performance of an all African-American rodeo at Triborough Stadium on Randall's Island, N.Y. The documentary ...
'' (1972) riding both a horse and a bull. His autobiography '' The Greatest: My Own Story'', written with
Richard Durham Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...
, was published in 1975. In 1977 the book was adapted into a film called '' The Greatest'', in which Ali played himself and
Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...
played
Angelo Dundee Angelo is an Italian masculine given name and surname meaning "angel", or "messenger". People People with the given name *Angelo Accattino (born 1966), Italian prelate of the Catholic Church *Angelo Acciaioli (bishop) (1298–1357), Italian Rom ...
. The film ''
Freedom Road ''Freedom Road'' was a 1979 American TV historical drama mini-series starring boxer Muhammad Ali and Kris Kristofferson, based on the 1944 novel by Howard Fast and directed by Jan Kadar. Running for four hours, it was first broadcast on NBC on ...
'', made in 1978, features Ali in a rare acting role as Gideon Jackson, a former slave and Union (American Civil War) soldier in 1870s Virginia, who gets elected to the U.S. Senate and battles alongside former slaves and white sharecroppers to keep the land they have tended all their lives.


Spoken word poetry and rap music

Ali often used
rhyme scheme A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other. An example of the ABAB r ...
s and spoken word poetry, both for when he was trash talking in boxing and as political poetry for his activism outside of boxing. He played a role in the shaping of the black poetic tradition, paving the way for
The Last Poets The Last Poets are several groups of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African-American civil rights movement's black nationalism. The name is taken from a poem by the South African revolutionary poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, who bel ...
in 1968, Gil Scott-Heron in 1970, and the emergence of rap music in the 1970s. According to ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', "Some have argued that" Ali was "the first
rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
." In 1963, Ali released an album of
spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...
music on Columbia Records titled, '' I Am the Greatest'', and in 1964, he recorded a
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of the
rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
song " Stand by Me". ''I Am the Greatest'' sold 500,000 copies, and has been identified as an early example of rap music and a precursor to hip hop. It reached number 61 on the album chart and was nominated for a
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
. He later received a second Grammy nomination, for "Best Recording for Children", with his 1976 spoken word novelty record, ''
The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay ''The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay'' is a 1976 educational album by the American heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali. The album was recorded to raise awareness of tooth decay among children. The album features several notable perso ...
''. Ali was an influential figure in the world of hip hop music. As a "rhyming trickster", he was noted for his "funky delivery", "boasts", "comical trash talk", and "endless quotables." According to ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'', his " freestyle skills" and his "rhymes, flow, and braggadocio" would "one day become typical of old school MCs" like Run–D.M.C. and LL Cool J, and his "outsized ego foreshadowed the vainglorious excesses of
Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
, while his Afrocentric consciousness and cutting honesty pointed forward to modern bards like
Rakim William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim Allah or simply Rakim (), is an American rapper and record producer. One half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, he is widely regarded as one of t ...
,
Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...
, Jay-Z, and
Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...
." “I’ve wrestled with alligators, I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning and throw thunder in jail. You know I’m bad. Just last week, I murdered a rock, Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean, I make medicine sick” "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. His hands can't hit what his eyes can't see. Now you see me, now you don't. George thinks he will, but I know he won't.” Ali spoke like no man the world had seen before. So confident in what he said; fluent, smooth, creative, and intimidating. He was a boxer and an activist, but he also had a role in influencing what now dominated pop-culture, hip-hop. In 2006, the documentary ''Ali Rap'' was produced by
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
. Chuck D, a rapper for the band
Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...
is the host. Other rappers narrated the documentary as well, including Doug E Fresh,
Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, homophonous with 'ludicrous' in American English), is an American rapper, actor, record producer and record executive. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludac ...
and
Rakim William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim Allah or simply Rakim (), is an American rapper and record producer. One half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, he is widely regarded as one of t ...
who all spoke on Ali's behalf in the film. He has been cited as an inspiration by rappers such as LL Cool J,
Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...
's Chuck D, Jay-Z, Eminem,
Sean Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...
,
Slick Rick Richard Martin Lloyd Walters (born January 14, 1965), better known as Slick Rick, is an English-American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence with Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew in the mid-1980s. Their songs " The Show" and " ...
, Nas and
MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rap music, rapper, Disc jockey, DJ, actress and entrepreneur. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, Lyte first gained fame in the late 19 ...
. Ali has been referenced in a number of hip hop songs, including Migos "Fight Night", The Game's "Jesus Piece",
Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...
' "The Message,
The Sugarhill Gang The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop trio. Their 1979 hit "Rapper's Delight" was the first rap single to become a top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; reaching a peak position of number 36 on January 12, 1980. This was the trio's onl ...
's "
Rapper's Delight "Rapper's Delight" is a 1979 hip-hop track by the Sugarhill Gang, produced by Sylvia Robinson. Although it was shortly preceded by the Fatback Band's "King Tim III (Personality Jock)", "Rapper's Delight" is credited for introducing hip-hop mus ...
", the
Fugees Fugees (; sometimes The Fugees) is an American hip hop group formed in the early 1990s. Deriving its name from a shortening of the word "refugees", the group consists of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill. The group rose to fame with i ...
' " Ready or Not",
EPMD EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is a concatenation of the members' names "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon ("E" a.k.a. ...
's "You're a Customer" and
Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...
's "
Gettin' Jiggy wit It "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" is a song by American rapper and actor Will Smith, released as the third single from his debut solo album, ''Big Willie Style'' (1997). The verse is based around a sample of "He's the Greatest Dancer" by Sister Sledge, an ...
".


Professional wrestling

Ali was involved with
professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
at different times in his career. On June 1, 1976, as Ali was preparing for his bout with Inoki, he attended a match featuring
Gorilla Monsoon Robert James Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play commentator, and booker. Monsoon is famous for his run as a villainous super-heavyw ...
. After the match was over, Ali removed his shirt and jacket and confronted
professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
Gorilla Monsoon Robert James Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play commentator, and booker. Monsoon is famous for his run as a villainous super-heavyw ...
in the ring after his match at a
World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing ...
show in
Philadelphia Arena The Philadelphia Arena was an auditorium used mainly for sporting events located at 46th and Market Streets in West Philadelphia. The address of the building, originally named the Philadelphia Ice Palace and Auditorium, was 4530 Market Street. T ...
. After dodging a few punches, Monsoon put Ali in an airplane spin and dumped him to the mat. Ali stumbled to the corner, where his associate Butch Lewis convinced him to walk away. On March 31, 1985, Ali was the special guest referee for the main event of the WrestleMania I, inaugural WrestleMania event. In 1995, Ali led a group of Japanese and American professional wrestlers, including his 1976 opponent Antonio Inoki and Ric Flair, on a sports diplomacy mission to North Korea. Ali was guest of honor at the record-breaking Collision in Korea, a wrestling event with the largest attendance of all time.


Television appearances

Muhammad Ali's fights were some of the world's List of most-watched television broadcasts, most-watched television broadcasts, setting television viewership records. His most-watched fights drew an estimated 12 billion viewers worldwide between 1974 and 1980, and were the world's most-watched live television broadcasts at the time. Outside of fights, he made many other television appearances. The following table lists known viewership figures of his non-fight television appearances. For television viewership figures of his fights, see ''Boxing career of Muhammad Ali#Television viewership, Boxing career of Muhammad Ali: Television viewership''.


Art

Ali was also an amateur artist and made dozens of drawings and paintings in the 1970s. In 1977, Rodney Hilton Brown, who owned an art gallery in NYC, asked Ali if he was interested in painting. Ali took him up on the offer and produced several paintings for him to sell. Brown is the author of “Muhammad Ali: The Untold Story: Painter, Poet and Prophet." In October 2021, 26 of his drawings and arts were placed on auction and sold for close to $1 Million USD.


Later years

By the end of his boxing career Ali had absorbed an estimated 200,000 hits. In 1984, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's syndrome, which sometimes results from head trauma from violent physical activities such as boxing. Ali still remained active during this time, later participating as a guest referee at WrestleMania I.


Philanthropy, humanitarianism and politics

Ali was known for being a humanitarian and philanthropist. He focused on practicing his Zakat, Islamic duty of charity and good deeds, donating millions to charity organizations and disadvantaged people of all religious backgrounds. It is estimated that Ali helped to feed more than 22million people afflicted by hunger across the world. Early in his career, one of his main focuses was youth education. He spoke at several historically black colleges and universities about the importance of education, and became the largest single black donor to the United Negro College Fund in 1967 by way of a $10,000 donation ($78,000 in 2020 USD). In late 1966, he also pledged to donate a total of $100,000 to the UNCF (specifically promising to donate much of the proceeds of his title defense against Cleveland Williams), and paid $4,500 per closed circuit installation at six HBCUs so they could watch his fights. Ali began visiting Africa, starting in 1964 when he visited Nigeria and Ghana. In 1974, he visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Southern Lebanon, where Ali declared "support for the Palestinian struggle to liberate their homeland." In 1978, following his loss to Spinks and before winning the rematch, Ali visited Bangladesh and received honorary citizenship there. The same year, he participated in The Longest Walk, a protest march in the United States in support of Native American rights, along with singer Stevie Wonder and actor Marlon Brando. In early 1980, Ali was recruited by President Jimmy Carter for a diplomatic mission to Africa, in an effort to persuade a number of African governments to join the US-led 1980 Summer Olympics boycott, boycott of the Moscow Olympics (in response to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan). Having arrived in Tanzania, Ali told cameras "Russia is invading a Muslim country, Asiatic country", and that its probable intention to head to oil-rich Iran, Persia to take dwells and ports "could lead to nuclear war. My purpose in coming here was to try to stop that." However, according to Ali biographer Thomas Hauser, "at best, it was ill-conceived; at worst, a diplomatic disaster." The Tanzanian government was insulted that Carter had sent an athlete to discuss a serious political issue. One official asked whether the United States would "send Chris Evert to negotiate with London." Consequently, Ali was only received by the youth and culture minister, rather than President Julius Nyerere. Ali was unable to explain why the African countries should join the US boycott when it had failed to support the African boycott of the 1976 Summer Olympics, 1976 Olympics (in protest of Apartheid in South Africa), and was unaware that the Soviet Union was sponsoring popular revolutionary movements in Africa. Ali conceded "They didn't tell me about that in America", and complained that Carter had sent him "around the world to take the whupping over American policies." The Nigerian government also rebuffed him and confirmed that they would be participating in the Moscow games. Ali did, however, convince the government of Kenya to boycott the Olympics. On January 19, 1981, in Los Angeles, Ali talked a suicidal man down from jumping off a ninth-floor ledge, an event that made national news. In 1984, Ali announced his support for 1984 United States presidential election, the re-election of United States President Ronald Reagan. When asked to elaborate on his endorsement of Reagan, Ali told reporters, "He's keeping God in schools and that's enough." In 1985, he visited Israel to request the release of Muslim prisoners at Atlit detainee camp, which Israel declined. Around 1987, the California Bicentennial Foundation for the U.S. Constitution selected Ali to personify the vitality of the U.S. Constitution and United States Bill of Rights, Bill of Rights. Ali rode on a float at the following year's Tournament of Roses Parade, launching the U.S. Constitution's 200th birthday commemoration. In 1988, during the First Intifada, Ali participated in a Chicago rally in support of Palestinian territories, Palestine. The same year, he visited Sudan to raise awareness about the plight of famine victims. According to Politico, Ali supported Orrin Hatch politically. In 1989, he participated in an Indian charity event with the Muslim Educational Society in Kozhikode, Kerala, along with Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar. In 1990, Ali traveled to Iraq prior to the Gulf War, and met with Saddam Hussein in an attempt to negotiate the release of American hostages. Ali secured the release of the hostages, in exchange for promising Hussein that he would bring America "an honest account" of Iraq. Despite arranging the hostages release, he received criticism from President George H. W. Bush, and Joseph C. Wilson, the highest-ranking American diplomat in Baghdad.'' Ali cooperated with Thomas Hauser on a biography, ''Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times''. The oral history was released in 1991. In 1994, Ali campaigned to the United States government to come to the aid of refugees afflicted by the Rwandan genocide, and to donate to organizations helping Rwandan refugees. In 1996, he lit the flame at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. It was watched by an estimated 3.5billion viewers worldwide. On November 17, 2002, Ali went to Afghanistan as the "United Nations, U.N. Messenger of Peace." He was in Kabul for a three-day goodwill mission as a special guest of the UN. On September 1, 2009, Ali visited Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, the home of his great-grandfather, Abe Grady, who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1860s, eventually settling in Kentucky. On July 27, 2012, Ali was a titular bearer of the Olympic flag during the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He was helped to his feet by his wife Lonnie to stand before the flag due to his Parkinson's syndrome rendering him unable to carry it into the stadium. The same year, he was awarded the Philadelphia Liberty Medal in recognition of his lifelong efforts in activism, philanthropy and humanitarianism.


Earnings

By 1978, Ali's total fight purse earnings were estimated to be nearly $60million (inflation-adjusted ), including an estimated $47.45million grossed between 1970 and 1978. By 1980, his total fight purse earnings were estimated to be up to $70million (inflation-adjusted $million). In 1978, Ali revealed that he was "broke" and several news outlets reported his net worth to be an estimated (inflation-adjusted $million). The press attributed his decline in wealth to several factors, including taxes consuming at least half of his income, management taking a third of his income, his lifestyle, and spending on family, charity and religious causes. In 2006, Ali sold his name and image for $50million, after which ''Forbes'' estimated his net worth to be $55million in 2006. Following his death in 2016, his fortune was estimated to be between $50million and $80million.


Declining health

Ali's Parkinson's syndrome led to a gradual decline in his health, though he was still active into the early 2000s, promoting his own biopic, ''Ali (film), Ali'', in 2001. That year he also contributed an on-camera segment to the ''America: A Tribute to Heroes'' benefit concert. In 1998, Ali began working with actor Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, to raise awareness and fund research for a cure. They made a joint appearance before Congress to push the case in 2002. In 2000, Ali worked with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease to raise awareness and encourage donations for research. In February 2013, Ali's brother Rahman Ali said Muhammad could no longer speak and could be dead within days. Ali's daughter May May Ali responded to the rumors, stating that she had talked to him on the phone the morning of February 3 and he was fine. On December 20, 2014, Ali was hospitalized for a mild case of pneumonia. Ali was once again hospitalized on January 15, 2015, for a urinary tract infection after being found unresponsive at a guest house in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was released the next day.


Death

Ali was hospitalized in
Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...
, on June 2, 2016, with a respiratory illness. Though his condition was initially described as fair, it worsened, and he died the following day at the age of 74 from septic shock.


News coverage and tributes

Following Ali's death, he was the number-one trending topic on Twitter for over 12 hours and on Facebook for several days. BET played their documentary ''Muhammad Ali: Made In Miami''.
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
played four hours of non-stop commercial-free coverage of Ali. News networks, such as ABC News,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, CNN, and Fox News, also covered him extensively. He was mourned globally, and a family spokesman said the family "certainly believes that Muhammad was a citizen of the world ... and they know that the world grieves with him." Politicians such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, David Cameron and more paid tribute to Ali. Ali also received numerous tributes from the world of sports including Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, the Miami Marlins, LeBron James, Steph Curry and more. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer stated, "Muhammad Ali belongs to the world. But he only has one hometown." The day after Ali's death, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC paid tribute to Ali at their UFC 199 event in a lengthy video tribute package, crediting Ali for his accomplishments and inspiring multiple UFC champions.


Memorial

Ali's funeral had been pre-planned by himself and others for several years prior to his actual death. The services began in Louisville on June 9, 2016, with an Islamic Salat al-Janazah, Janazah prayer service at Freedom Hall on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center. The Janazah prayer was attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. On June 10, 2016, the funeral procession passed through the streets of Louisville ending at Cave Hill Cemetery, where his body was interred during a private ceremony. A public memorial service for Ali at downtown Louisville's KFC Yum! Center was held during the afternoon of June 10. Billy Crystal gave the eulogy. The pallbearers included
Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...
, Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, with honorary pallbearers including
George Chuvalo George Louis Chuvalo, CM (born September 12, 1937 as Jure Čuvalo) is a Canadian former professional boxer who was a five-time Canadian heavyweight champion and two-time world heavyweight title challenger. He is known for having never been kno ...
,
Larry Holmes Larry Holmes (born November 3, 1949) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 2002 and was world heavyweight champion from 1978 until 1985. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which led to his boxing nickname of the "Ea ...
and George Foreman. Ali's memorial was watched by an estimated 1billion viewers worldwide.


Legacy

Ali remains the only three-time Lineal championship, lineal heavyweight champion. He is the only boxer to be named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year, ''The Ring'' magazine Fighter of the Year six times, and was involved in more ''Ring'' "Fight of the Year" bouts than any other fighter. He was one of only three boxers to be named "Sportsman of the Year" by ''Sports Illustrated''. Muhammad Ali was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in its first year and held wins over seven other Hall of Fame inductees during an era that has been called the golden age of heavyweight boxing. The Associated Press ranked him as the second best boxer and best heavyweight of the 20th century. His joint records of beating World heavyweight boxing championship records and statistics, 21 boxers for the world heavyweight title and winning 14 unified title bouts stood for 35 years. In 1978, three years before Ali's permanent retirement, the Louisville Board of Aldermen in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, voted 6–5 to rename Walnut Street to Muhammad Ali Boulevard. This was controversial at the time, as within a week 12 of the 70 street signs were stolen. Earlier that year, a committee of the Jefferson County Public Schools (Kentucky), Jefferson County Public Schools (Kentucky) considered renaming Ali's alma mater, Central High School, in his honor, but the motion failed to pass. In time, Muhammad Ali Boulevard—and Ali himself—came to be well accepted in his hometown. Ali was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life (magazine), Life magazine in 1990. In 1993, the Associated Press reported that Ali was tied with Babe Ruth as the most recognized athlete, out of over 800 dead or living athletes, in America. The study found that over 97% of Americans over 12 years of age identified both Ali and Ruth. He was the recipient of the 1997 Arthur Ashe Courage Award. At the end of the 20th century he was ranked at or near the top of most lists of the century's greatest athletes. He was crowned Sportsman of the Century by ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...
''. Named BBC Sports Personality of the Year#Sports Personality of the Century Award, BBC's Sports Personality of the Century, he received more votes than the other five candidates combined. He was named Athlete of the Century by USA Today, and ranked as the third SportsCentury#SportsCentury: SportsCentury: Top 50 American Athletes of the 20th Century (Original series), greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN ''SportsCentury''. Ali was named "Kentucky Athlete of the Century" by the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the Galt House East. In 1999, ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine named Ali one of the Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century, 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. On January 8, 2001, Muhammad Ali was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton. In November 2005, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush, followed by the Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold of the UN Association of Germany (DGVN) in Berlin for his work with the civil rights movement and the United Nations, which he received on December 17, 2005. On November 19, 2005, Ali and his wife Lonnie Ali opened the $60million non-profit Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville. In addition to displaying his boxing memorabilia, the center focuses on core themes of peace, social responsibility, respect, and personal growth. On June 5, 2007, he received an honorary doctorate of humanities at Princeton University's 260th graduation ceremony. Ali Mall, located in Araneta Center, Quezon City, Philippines, is named after him. Construction of the mall, the first of its kind in the Philippines, began shortly after Ali's victory in a match with Joe Frazier in nearby Araneta Coliseum in 1975. The mall opened in 1976 with Ali attending its opening. The 1976 Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki fight played an important role in the history of mixed martial arts. In Japan, the match inspired Inoki's students Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki to found Pancrase in 1993, which in turn inspired the foundation of Pride Fighting Championships in 1997. Pride was acquired by its rival, Ultimate Fighting Championship, in 2007. The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act was introduced in 1999 and passed in 2000, to protect the rights and welfare of boxers in the United States. In May 2016, a bill was introduced to United States Congress by Markwayne Mullin, a politician and former Mixed martial arts, MMA fighter, to extend the Ali Act to mixed martial arts. In June 2016, US senator Rand Paul proposed an amendment to the Conscription in the United States, US draft laws named after Ali, a proposal to eliminate the Selective Service System. In 2015, ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...
'' renamed its Sportsman Legacy Award to the ''Sports Illustrateds Muhammad Ali Legacy Award. The annual award was originally created in 2008 and honors former "sports figures who embody the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy as vehicles for changing the world." Ali first appeared on the magazine's cover in 1963 and went on to be featured on numerous covers during his storied career. On January 13, 2017, the Muhammad Ali Commemorative Coin Act was introduced into the 115th Congress (2017–2019), but was not enacted.


In media and popular culture

As a world champion boxer, social activist, sex symbol and pop culture icon, Ali was the subject of numerous creative works including books, films, music, video games, TV shows, and other. Muhammad Ali was often dubbed the world's "most famous" person in the media. Several of his fights were watched by an estimated #Television appearances, 12 billion viewers between 1974 and 1980, and his lighting of the torch at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics was watched by an estimated 3.5billion viewers. Ali appeared on the cover of ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...
'' on 38 different occasions, second only to Michael Jordan's 46. He also appeared on the cover of ''Time Magazine'' 5 times, the most of any athlete. In 2015, Harris Poll found that Ali was one of the three most recognizable athletes in the United States, along with Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth. Martial artist and actor Bruce Lee was influenced by Ali, whose Footwork (martial arts), footwork he studied and incorporated into his own style while developing Jeet Kune Do in the 1960s. On the set of ''Freedom Road'' Ali met Canadian singer-songwriter Michel, and subsequently helped create Michel's album ''The First Flight of the Gizzelda Dragon'' and an unaired television special featuring them both. Ali was the subject of the British television program ''This Is Your Life (UK TV series), This Is Your Life'' in 1978 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews. Ali was featured in ''Superman vs. Muhammad Ali'', a 1978 DC Comics comic book pitting the champ against the superhero. In 1979, Ali guest-starred as himself in an episode of the NBC sitcom ''Diff'rent Strokes''. The show's title itself was inspired by the quote "Different strokes for different folks" popularized in 1966 by Ali, who also inspired the title of the 1967 Syl Johnson song "Different Strokes", one of the most sampling (music), sampled songs in pop music history. He also wrote several bestselling books about his career, including '' The Greatest: My Own Story'' and ''
The Soul of a Butterfly ''The Soul of a Butterfly'' (2003) is the autobiography of Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., a former heavyweight boxer who was a three time World Heavyweight Champion and is considered by many to be the greatest heavyweight of al ...
''. The Muhammad Ali effect, named after Ali, is a term that came into use in psychology in the 1980s, as he stated in ''The Greatest: My Own Story'': "I only said I was the greatest, not the smartest." According to this effect, when people are asked to rate their intelligence and moral behavior in comparison to others, people will rate themselves as more moral, but not more intelligent than others. ''When We Were Kings'', a 1996 documentary about the ''Rumble in the Jungle'', won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The 2001 biopic ''Ali (film), Ali'' garnered a Academy Award for Best Actor, Best Actor Oscar nomination for
Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...
for his portrayal of Ali. Prior to making the film, Smith rejected the role until Ali requested that he accept it. Smith said the first thing Ali told him was: "Man, you're almost pretty enough to play me." In 2002, Ali was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the entertainment industry. His star is the only one to be mounted on a vertical surface, out of deference to his request that the name Muhammad—a name he shares with Muhammad, the Islamic prophet—not be walked upon. His 1966 fight against
George Chuvalo George Louis Chuvalo, CM (born September 12, 1937 as Jure Čuvalo) is a Canadian former professional boxer who was a five-time Canadian heavyweight champion and two-time world heavyweight title challenger. He is known for having never been kno ...
was the subject of Joseph Blasioli's 2003 documentary film ''The Last Round: Chuvalo vs. Ali''.Geoff Pevere, "Chuvalo's finest hour packs a punch". ''Toronto Star'', October 31, 2003. ''
The Trials of Muhammad Ali ''The Trials of Muhammad Ali'' is a 2013 American documentary about the heyday of boxer Muhammad Ali's career, with special focus on his conversion to Islam and his refusal to fight in the Vietnam War. It won an award for Best Use of News Foo ...
'', a documentary directed by Bill Siegel that focuses on Ali's refusal of the Selective Service, draft during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
, opened in Manhattan on August 23, 2013. A 2013 made-for-TV movie titled ''Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight'' dramatized the same aspect of Ali's life. Antoine Fuqua's documentary ''What's My Name: Muhammad Ali'' was released in 2019. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns created the four-part documentary film ''Muhammad Ali (film), Muhammad Ali'', spanning over eight hours on Ali's entire life. Burns worked on the film since early 2016. It was released in September 2021 on PBS. Dave Zirin, who watched an 8-hour rough cut of this documentary, called it "utterly outstanding" and said "the footage they found will blow minds".


Professional boxing record


Discography

*'' I Am the Greatest'' (1963) *''
The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay ''The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay'' is a 1976 educational album by the American heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali. The album was recorded to raise awareness of tooth decay among children. The album features several notable perso ...
'' (1976)


See also

* List of heavyweight boxing champions * List of WBA world champions * List of WBC world champions * List of The Ring world champions, List of ''The Ring'' world champions * List of undisputed boxing champions * Converts to Islam * Notable boxing families * List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area * List of North American Muslims * African-American Muslims * Wells Fargo#1981 MAPS Wells Fargo embezzlement scandal, 1981 MAPS Wells Fargo embezzlement scandal


Notes


References


Further reading

*


Online


Muhammad Ali: American boxer
in ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online'', by Thomas Hauser, Adam Augustyn, Piyush Bhathya, Yamini Chauhan, John M. Cunningham, Richard Pallardy, Michael Ray, Emily Rodriguez, Surabhi Sinha, Amy Tikkanen, Grace Young and The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica


External links


Official website
(archived) * * *

* [https://vault.fbi.gov/muhammad-ali FBI Records: The Vault – Muhammad Ali] at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI
Cassius Clay Guilty (1967)
Texas Archive of the Moving Image * * * Photo essays * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Muhammad Muhammad Ali, 1942 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American rappers 20th-century Muslims 21st-century Muslims Activists for African-American civil rights Activists from Kentucky African-American boxers African-American male rappers African-American Muslims African-American poets African-American Sunni Muslims American anti–Vietnam War activists American conscientious objectors American former Protestants American humanitarians American male boxers American male poets American Muslim activists American people of Irish descent American people of Malagasy descent American philanthropists American spoken word poets American Sufis BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year winners Boxers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Boxers from Arizona Boxers from Chicago Boxers from Louisville, Kentucky Boxers from New Jersey Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery Central High School (Louisville, Kentucky) alumni COINTELPRO targets Columbia Records artists Converts to Sunni Islam from Protestantism Deaths from sepsis Former Nation of Islam members International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Neurological disease deaths in Arizona Olympic boxers of the United States Olympic cauldron lighters Olympic gold medalists for the United States in boxing Overturned convictions in the United States People from Cherry Hill, New Jersey People from Paradise Valley, Arizona People with Parkinson's disease People with traumatic brain injuries Poets from Arizona Poets from Kentucky Poets from New Jersey Presidential Citizens Medal recipients Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Professional wrestling referees Rappers from Kentucky Sportspeople from Camden County, New Jersey Sportspeople from the Phoenix metropolitan area The Ring (magazine) champions Vietnam War draft evaders Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions World heavyweight boxing champions Writers from Louisville, Kentucky People with dyslexia