Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr January 17 1942 June 3 2016 was an American professional boxer activist entertainer and philanthropist Nicknamed The Greatest he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated figures of the 20th century and as one of the greatest boxers of all time Ali was born and raised in Louisville Kentucky 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 and turned professional later that year He became a Muslim after 1961 He won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25 1964 at age 22 On March 6 1964 he announced that he no longer would be known as Cassius Clay but as Muhammad Ali In 1966 Ali refused to be drafted into the military citing his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War He was found guilty of draft evasion so he faced 5 years in prison and was stripped of his boxing titles He stayed out of prison as he appealed the decision to the Supreme Court which overturned his conviction in 1971 but he had not fought for nearly four years and lost a period of peak performance as an athlete Alis actions as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War made him an icon for the larger counterculture generation and he was a very highprofile figure of racial pride for African Americans during the civil rights movement and throughout his career As a Muslim Ali was initially affiliated with Elijah Muhammads Nation of Islam NOI He later disavowed the NOI adhering to Sunni Islam and supporting racial integration like his former mentor Malcolm X Ali was a leading heavyweight boxer of the 20th century and he remains the only threetime lineal champion of that division His joint records of beating 21 boxers for the world heavyweight title and winning 14 unified title bouts stood for 35 years He is the only fighter to have been ranked as the worlds best heavyweight by BoxRec twelve times He has been ranked among BoxRecs ten best heavyweights seventeen times the third most in history He won 8 fights that were rated by BoxRec as 5Star the third most in the history of the heavyweight division Ali is the only boxer to be named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year six times He has been ranked the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time and as the greatest athlete of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC and the third greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN SportsCentury He was involved in several historic boxing matches and feuds most notably his fights with Joe Frazier such as the Fight of the Century and the Thrilla in Manila and his fight with George Foreman known as The Rumble in the Jungle which has been called arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th century and was watched by a record estimated television audience of 1 billion viewers worldwide becoming the worlds mostwatched live television broadcast at the time Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many fighters let their managers do the talking and he was often provocative and outlandish He was known for trashtalking and often freestyled with rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry anticipating elements of hip hop