Muhammad Ali Research Paper

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Muhammad Ali was a Hall of Fame boxer and considered the greatest of all time.” I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.”-Muhammad Ali. He was also a civil rights leader, political figure and an ambassador. He was born on January 17 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky to his mother and father Odessa Grady Clay and Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. He started his boxing career at age twelve when his bike was stolen and he told the police officer he reported the theft to that he was going to fight whoever stole his bike. Joe Martin decided to train Cassius so he knew how to fight when he met his bike robber. All though he never got revenge on the person who stole his bike he won his first boxing match with a split decision after six weeks …show more content…

After he won nineteen matches with 15 knockout wins he took the title from the reigning champion Sonny Liston in Miami Florida and became the heavyweight champion of the world. Soon after Cassius Clay became the heavyweight champion of the world he converted to Islam. Malcolm X gave him the name Muhammad which means worthy of all praises and ali which means most high. Muhammad was selected to be drafted into the army to fight in the Vietnam war but he refused and said that his would not fight because his religion did not stand for the war. He was arrested right away and stripped of his boxing license and Title. Ali lost three of his prime boxing years until the supreme court overruled his suspension. While he was suspended he supported his family by speaking at college campuses. Ali returned to his stage on October, 26 1970 and knocked Jerry Quary out in the third round. During this time Muhammad was being harassed by the public because of his refusual to be drafted into the army. To get away from the distractions and the public he opened up a training camp on deer lake where he trained from 1970 until the end of his career. Then Muhammad Ali got the chance to fight Joe Frazier and regain the his title but lost. His next big change to regain his title came in a fight with George Foreman known as the Rumble in the Jungle. Ali won using his Rope a Dope strategy that tired George Foreman down and led to Ali knocking out his opponent in the 8th

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