Muhammad Ali

Throughout history there have been many influential people who have lived in this country. Some were politicians, some were actors, and some were even athletes. One such man was a gifted boxer named Muhammad Ali. He made his mark as an amateur, then as a professional. "The Greatest" was the self-proclaimed nickname of Ali, but so many people agreed that it stuck. He went through trials and tribulations in his life, which make him a historic icon. Muhammad Ali is known for being "The Greatest" boxer of all time, but unlike other athletes he is remembered for his out of the ring actions as well as his athletic accomplishments.

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Mercellus Clay Jr. on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. Cassius lived with his father, Cassius Sr., his mother, Odessa, and later on with his younger brother Rudy. He was a boisterous baby, who demonstrated his pugilistic skills at the age of one, when being spanked he knocked his mother's front teeth out of place (Conklin 19). The Clays were a very close family who lived in a small house bought by Cassius Sr. They were better off than many other southern blacks at the time. They would have been

considered middle class by today's standards (Conklin 20).

One day, Clay's bike was stolen while he was watching a show at Columbia Auditorium. He went to report his bike stolen to a cop named Joe Martin. Joe Martin ran a boxing gym, so when Clay went to report this he saw the fighters in the gym and he later said, "A feeling of awe came over me...I was so excited I forgot about my bike." Now Clay had discovered boxing. Clay trained at Martin's gym for eight years.

During his amateur career, he fought one-hundred-and-eight fights and only lost eight of those. He won the National Golden Gloves and the Amateur-Athletic Union light-heavyweight championship. Clay won them both two years in a row. In 1960 he decided it was time to take his skills to the Olympics. In order to do so he had to get a job to pay for all the expenses that the Olympics entail. He worked as a "houseboy" for Billy Reynolds, the heir to the Reynolds aluminum foil fortune (Conklin 26-27). The eighteen-year-old was now six feet, two inches tall and weighed 178 pounds of pure muscle. Clay easily beat the European champion, Zbigniew Pietrzykowski, to win the light-heavyweight gold medal. All that was left was to go pro.

On October 29, 1960 Cassius Clay made his a professional debut with a six round unanimous decision over Tunney Hunsaker. Cassius made all arrangements for the fight and he even trained himself. After having trouble with a less talented Hunsaker, Ali decided to hire a trainer. He went through many trainers until he found Angelo Dundee. Clay won his first world heavyweight championship on February 25, 1964. He beat Sonny Liston in six rounds. Liston refused to leave his corner for the seventh round. Almost directly after the fight, Clay told the world that he was now to be called Cassius X because of his affiliation with Islam. A month later he announced his name was to be Muhammad Ali which was the title given to him by the head of the Black Muslims, Elijah Muhammad. The name Muhammad Ali means "worthy of praise most high." Ali was then drafted into the Army and to fight in the Vietnam War. However, he refused to join the army and as a result he was banned from boxing for three years. Upon his return he won the title two more times and only lost to Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Leon Spinks, and Larry Holmes before retiring. Ali now suffers from Parkinson's Disease as a result of his last few fights.

Boxing is not the only thing Ali affected. He also had an effect on many other aspects of life. He made a big impact on religion in America. He brought attention to Islam, by being the most famous person in the world, and announcing his faith. He took all the criticism and stood his ground. Never again could someone have such an effect on the world by announcing his religion. Many thought this meant he was a racist, but that was far from the truth.