“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” quoted Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. aka Muhammad Ali, known as the greatest boxer of all time. He was the World Heavyweight Champion, three times in his life. Muhammad was not only a boxer, but he also a social activist, as well as a philanthropist. He had a tough life as being the only black boxer at the time. Muhammad was discriminated for his race, but he gained his pride and respect from showing everyone his moves in the ring. Ali became a Golden Gloves champion in 1959, and in the following year, he became an olympic gold medalist. He devoted much of his time to philanthropy, and showing how he felt about racism and social activity in the United States, in the 60’s.
Cassius was born on January 17, 1942, into an African- American, Methodist family in Louisville Kentucky, United States. His father Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., painted billboards, and his mother Odessa O’Grady Clay worked as a household domestic. Cassius has a younger brother who goes by the nickname of “Rudy” but his real name is Rudolph. In 1954, when he was 12, his bicycle was stolen from outside of an auditorium. He reported the theft to a local policeman, Joe Martin. He was teaching boys how to fight in the gym underneath the auditorium where Clay’s bike was stolen. Clay was intrigued with the technique of boxing, watching fists fly, and the students defending skills. Clay had then joined the gym, and started learning how to box. Six weeks after he learnt his boxing skills, he won his first fight. Muhammad went to Louisville High School, though he wasn’t a bright student. But, he was very popular, at school, as he was a well known boxer there. He’d show off his moves in the hall, or practice his jabs in front o...
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...’ decision. Ali beat him in a re-match, 2 years after. He had another huge win when he beat the reigning WWC (World Heavyweight Champion), George Foreman. He emerged victorious, becoming WHWC once again.
In his retirement, Ali has devoted much of his time to philanthropy. He announced that he has Parkinson's disease in 1984, a degenerative neurological condition, and has been involved in raising funds for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Over the years, Ali has also supported the Special Olympics and the Make a Wish Foundation among other organizations. Ali has been married happily to his fourth wife, Yolanda since 1986. The couple has one son, Assad, but Ali has multiple other kids from relationships before. He has one daughter, Laila, who continued in his footsteps in boxing, to continue his reputation, as the greatest boxer in the world.
...aine addiction and a case of paranoia. As a result, his wife Martha instituted him into a psychiatric hospital. Joe Louis also worked as an "official greeter" at Caesars Palace at this time. Taking in to account that he still owed the government taxes, the government agreed not to collect the back taxes. On April 12, 1981, Joseph Louis Barrow died of a heart attack. During his lifetime, Joe Louis married four times and had two children. President Ronald Reagan made it possible for Joe Louis to be buried in the Arlington National Cemetery since he served in the military.
His mother was born to Italian immigrants while his father was an immigrant from Messina. He was sent to a reformatory for attempting robbery, where he learned Boxing. He began to wrestle professionally at the age of 19, in 1941.
What they did not know was the self proclaimed greatest in the world was planning the one of the greatest changes in his life. Behind the scenes Cassius was studying Islam, he became good friends with Malcolm X and studied under Elijah Muhammad. Cassius took the name Muhammad Ali, saying he did not want to be called by a slave name any longer. He took Muhammed from the first prophet of Islam with the name meaning worthy of being praised, and the last name Ali which meaning is to be elevated. During a time where racial tensions were high people had a hard time accepting his new name. Often times the media would continue to call him Cassius, one didn't famed ABC sports reporter Howard Cosell, he respected Ali, because he too had changed his name from Cohen a Jewish name to Cosell, because in those time it was also a disadvantage to be Jewish. In 1965 Ai was scheduled to fight Floyd Patterson, who insisted on calling him Cassius, Patterson paid a big price for that, there is documentary footage which shows Ali giving Patterson the beating of a lifetime, making sure not to knock him out taking him through all 12 rounds repeating “now what’s my name
Muhammad was finished with army and left to run his own businesses. The first business he tried to run was a Mechanic Shop. After that failed He tried to open a Karate School, which also failed. Mildred, Muhammad’s second wife, divorced him. She then ordered him a restraining order. Muhammad then took off with their three children to Antigua. In Antigua Muhammad met his later accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo. Mu...
Keisha Morris was married to Tupac Shakur and have 2 children in New York City. The first wife and the only one wife. Tupac met Keisha Morris when she was in her 20s. After she was married to Tupac, he committed a crime which he was incarcerated for a period of 10 months at New York City Clinton Correctional Facility. In this article “Love is not enough” Keisha stated that they
history in the 1950's and 1960's by hitting the society. Ali was a great boxer who was very confident in his boxing game. Ali wanted to make a change in society by trying to get rid of the racial discrimination in America. Ali was also against the war in Vietnam. Ali said “Unless you have a very good reason to kill, war is wrong.” Ali sent messages of hope to the African American community by telling them to have pride. Ali said “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people while so called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs?” Ali said “The Vietnamese had nothing against him” (Schwartz).When he was drafted to fight in the war, a lieutenant called Ali by his real name, Cassius Clay, and he said, “Sir that isn't my name, my name is “MUHAMMAD ALI!” Ali said, again “Sir that is a slave name my name is “MUHAMMAD ALI” (Muhammad Ali [HH:MM:SS]). After that, Ali refused to serve in the Vietnam War. This lead Ali to the Supreme Court, and he was five years in imprisonment. Ali was precluded from the athletic commissions for fighting in the United States for three and a half years. Even though Ali was released from his five year sentence, he still had a jail sentence of four years, which was overturned by the Supreme Court (Schwartz). Ali was also stripped of the heavyweight boxing title because he refused to serve in the draft Following his suspension, Ali reclaimed
[3] I agree with the reviewers: the central problem or issue in Ali is the portrayal of Cassius Clay/Cassius X/Muhammad Ali as a very soft, non-threatening, and almost perfect man. It is almost if Will Smith is wearing a halo throughout the movie and can do no wrong. But, by looking at film clips, newspaper articles, and other "real" historical sources, I found a very different man. There was an Ali that was feared by mainstream and white America; there was an Ali that said racially controversial -- and flat-out racist -- things. Mann steers away from these parts of Muhammad Ali and presents the viewer with a diplomatic figure. Mann also neglects Ali's flaws. Basically, Mann puts limits on what he will show of Ali, and by doing so, revises Ali's story into a fairytale-like drama and sells the viewer an action-figure version of a very complicated man.
Malcolm X was born in Omaha, Nebraska to a Baptist minister who had been an organizer for Marcus Garvey’s United Negro Improvement Association (2012:20). After getting out of prison, Malcolm X began spreading his message. Seen as radical at times, he quickly gained notoriety in the Black community by campaigning violence, “If you’re interested in freedom you need some judo, you need some karate, you need all the things that will help you fight for freedom” (Malcolm X). It is within these spe...
Ali proved to be a strong-willed individual that did leave a huge impact on America, but what impact had increased as time continued and his faults have been somewhat forgotten. Those believing that Muhammad was more of a hero than Jackie Robinson most likely feel that Ali’s action of standing up against the United States government, when he was drafted, was an act of courage and bravery. The main reason why Ali didn 't wish to go to war in Vietnam was because he believed he shouldn 't be fighting for a country that ultimately didn 't support his own people within its own borders. Ali has developed into a figure of courage after the time that his happened. In the 1960s when this originally happened, Ali had more enemies as a result of his religious and social views and ideas than fans. Today we see that what he did may be considered heroic, but back when it actually occurred, Ali was seen as a nuisance to America. He was spreading word and influencing people to act against their own country in a time of war. Since Muhammad Ali’s retirement from boxing the course of time has faded criticism of Ali and left mostly just the positive parts of his life and career. As a society we’ve buried the controversial side of Ali’s existence in our minds and history simply remembers his greatness as an athlete. Robinson had an impact on
Elijah Muhammad was born Elijah Robert Poole in Sandersville, Georgia, on October 7, 1897 to William and Mariah Poole (biography.com). One of thirteen children, he had only the benefit of a third-grade education before he was forced to help support his large family by sharecropping (discovertheetworks.org). At an early age, Muhammad witnessed extreme prejudice and violence toward African Americans (biography.com). After the lynching of a friend, in 1912, prompted Muhammad to flee his parent’s house a year later (danielpipes.org). In 1917 Muhammad met Cara Evans and married her in 1919, together they had eight children between 1921 and 1939 (danielpipes.org). In 1923, seeking better employment and a more tolerant environment, Muhammad moved his own family, parents and siblings to Detroit, Michigan, where he worked in an auto factory (biography.com). In 1931 Muhammad met Wallace D. Fard, a former salesman preaching a ne...
Muhammad Ali is an example of an athlete who used politics in sports to advocate for the Civil Rights movement and protest the war. As an Olympic gold medalist, heavy weight titlist, and many other victories, he used the fame for humanitarian efforts. Ali refused to serve in Vietnam due to his religion and as a result, he was stripped of his 1967 title. He retired in 1981 with an incredible 59 wins and five losses, but he will always known as symbol of courage, will power and strength, not for his career milestones, but for breaking racial barriers.
Boxer Muhammad Ali, was born as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., on January 17, 1942, he was the son of Marcellus Clay Sr. and Odessa Grady Clay. He lived in Louisville, Kentucky where he experienced discrimination and racial prejudice towards himself and his family, which led him to his fascination towards boxing. Later in his life, he would win the Olympic gold medal for boxing in 1960 and became the world heavyweight boxing champion in 1964, and was the first fighter to recapture heavyweight champion three times. But Clay was not only a boxer, he was also a philanthropist and social activist with astonishing effrontery, he spoke out against problems such as race, religion, and politics that cause him to become such a controversial figure.
Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. later known as Muhammad Ali, was a black boxer, and was proud of it. Many African Americans were ashamed of their color, but Ali was different. He was the first boxer to win the Heavyweight Championship 3 different times. He had a great personality and was liked by the people. During his life, he made big decisions that changed the course of his life completely. Muhammad Ali's journey through life was a great inspiration for African American people, but Ali himself deserves the admiration of everyone.
Hauser, Thomas. "The Importance of Muhammad Ali." The Glider Lehrman Institute of American History, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.
Muhammad Ali is an example of an athlete who voiced his political ideologies in sports to advocate for the Civil Rights Movement and protest the War. As an Olympic gold medalist, heavy weight titlist, and many other victories, he used the fame to project his humanitarian efforts. Ali refused to serve in Vietnam due to his religion and as a result, he was stripped of his 1967 title . He retired in 1981 with an incredible 59 wins and five losses, but he will always known as symbol of courage, will power and strength, not for his career milestones, but for breaking racia...