Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., January 17, 1942) is a former boxer and three time world champion heavyweight. As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. After turning pro, became the first and only boxer to win the heavyweight championship three times in succession.

Originally known as Cassius Clay, Ali changed his name after joining the Nation of Islam in 1964, subsequently converted to Sunni Islam in 1975. In 1967, Ali refused to be called for the U.S. military, based on his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. He was arrested and convicted of draft evasion charges, stripped of his title and his boxing license boxing, has been suspended. It was not imprisoned, but not to fight again for nearly four years while his appeal makes its way to the Supreme Court US, where he was successful.

Nicknamed "the greatest" Ali has been involved in a series of historic boxing matches. Key among these are the three rival Joe Frazier, George Foreman, who beat and a knockout to win the world heavyweight title for the second time. He suffered only five defeats (four decisions and one by TKO retirement match), without drawing compiled during his career 56 wins (37 knockouts, 19 decisions). Ali was known for his unusual style of fighting, which he described as "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee", and use techniques such as rope-a-Drug. He was also known as pre-match hype, where "trash talk" your opponents on television and in person some time before the game, often rhymes. These jokes and expressions of personality and unusual fighting technique, made him a cultural icon. Later in life, Ali developed Parkinson's syndrome. In 1999, Ali was crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and the 'Sports Personality of the Century "by the BBC.