The Great Boxer
Muhammad Ali is one of the greatest sports figures of the 20th century. Muhammad Ali was a heavyweight champion who was the first person the win the heavyweight title three times, and an Olympic Gold medalist. In addition, Ali was a huge idol for people in his culture by denying the offer to go to the Vietnam War because of his beliefs. Muhammad Ali was most famous for his fights in the ring, and the way he fought, Ali also smack talked the other opponent in the ring before fighting to get into their head. Muhammad Ali was very aggressive inside and outside the ring, he fought for his beliefs and fought opponents.
Muhammad Ali was an amazing boxer but didn’t start boxing until someone messed with him. Muhammad Ali, also known as Cassius Clay Jr., was born on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. One day Muhammad Ali’s bike was stolen, and Ali told a police officer, Joe Martin, that he wanted to beat up the thief. "Well, you better learn how to fight before you start challenging people," Martin said (Muhammad Ali Biography). “Muhammad Ali then went
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Muhammad Ali played in many competitions such as the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, and the Amateur Athletic Union's national title for the light heavyweight division, and the Olympics (Muhammad Ali Biography). Muhammad Ali won a in almost every competition he ever played in (Muhammad Ali Biography). Muhammad Ali was a very successful man because he was doing what he loved and never gave up on the game or himself. Muhammad Ali played in the 1960 summer Olympics and won the gold medal for the heavyweight division (Muhammad Ali). In the 1960 olympics, Muhammad Ali had a tough competitor, 3 time European heavyweight champion, and still battled it out to win the gold medal at the 1960 summer Olympics. Muhammad Ali played in many competitions and kept fighting to win, he never gave up and kept pushing through the hard
The story of how young Cassius Marcellus Clay wound up in boxing has been told time and time again. It reads as if it a movie script. However, this story is better than fiction. Clay was born on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Ky. Growing up, Clay understood his place in the framework of the country he was a black child of the middle class.
The first reason Muhammad Ali isn't a hero is because he is violent. For almost all of his life he fought in boxing matches that all started when he was a boy because he wanted to beat up the kid who stole his bike. For 14 years, on-and-off, he was heavyweight champion and before that a lightweight champion. To do this, you had to have the rage to hurt your opponent. Muhammad Ali even said, “I believe in the eye-for- an-eye business, I got no respect for a man who won’t hit back. You kill my dog, you better hide your cat” (Myers 36). Now, in his 60’s,...
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
Muhammad Ali experienced social challenges since he was an African American who converted into a Muslim. First, even as a boy growing up in the south, Ali encountered discrimination. For example, when Ali went to a stand to get soda, the clerk refused to serve him because of his race and religion. According to Schuppe, “After he was refused services at a soda fountain counter, he said,
Muhammed Ali grew up in Louisville, Kentucky but he was known as Cassius Clay. He lived a normal life until the age of twelve when his bicycle was stolen during a local convention of the Louisville Service Club. Clay wanted to report the crime and went to find a police officer. He found Joe Martin, an officer and a boxing coach at the Columbia Gym . Clay told Martin “I’m going to whip the person who stole my bike.” Martin then proceeded to tell Clay that if he wanted to do that he should come to the gym and learn how to fight properly. Clay was a small man when he started boxing as an amateur; he weighed only eighty-nine pounds. Clay would soon become the man to see at the Columbia Gym. Joe Martin’s wife said that Clay was an overall nice guy. He was polite and always did what he was asked to do. He carried his Bible with him all the time, read when he could, and loved it. Throughout his amateur career and high school, Clay worked at the Nazareth College Library. Clay also was viewed as a kid obsessed with boxing. Clay got bigger and stronger as his talents grew. Sometimes, to keep in shape, Clay would race the city buses to school. Bettie Johnson, a school counselor said “Clay wasn’t a good student, and if he had not been a boxer, he would not have stood out in any way but he went to school like he was supposed to.” Clay never had any problems with his attitude in school, but as a senior he wrote a paper about Black Muslims. Clay’s paper was controversial because his teacher was a conforming Christian and his ideas about separatism and blacks being super-assertive scared her. The teacher wasn’t going to pass Clay, but the principal said “the boy will not fail, because he’s going to be an outstanding boxer.” Clay was becoming a boxing phenomenon; the first newspaper article about him was published on October 27, 1957. By then Clay had been boxing for 3 years and was clearly the number on...
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
At first, Muhammad Ali had no intension of boxing. After his bike was stolen, in the month of October 1954, when he was twelve, his whole life was set. Upon finding out that there was a police officer in the basement of a gym, Ali went down to the officer in a shocked state of mind demanding a "state wide bike hunt" for hsi stolen bicycle. But all the cop told him to do was to learn to fight. and that
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.
Muhammad Ali, whose birth name was Cassius Marcellus Clay, was born in Louisville, Kentucky January 17, 1942. He was named for a white, Kentucky abolitionist, Cassius M. Clay, and received the name Marcellus from his father’s name. Ali’s father, Marcellus Clay was a mural painter who did a lot of work for many churches in the community and his mother Odessa (Grady) Clay was a domestic worker. As a young boy, Cassius Clay was full of energy and carried a loud mouth wherever he went. One day when Ali discovered that someone stole his bicycle, he became enraged and made loud threatening comments by exclaiming that he would “whup whoever stole it.” Upon hearing these threats, Louisville police officer Joe Martin persuaded Ali to take out his frustration in the boxing ring rather than on the dangerous streets of Louisville. At age 12, Ali’s boxing career had officially begun.
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.
Muhammad Ali was a man made to box. He had a great career before him since he made his first professional fight under President Eisenhower presidency. His Professional Career was really impressive. His had a great balance and was able to move his hands and feet in great speed and coordination. Ali was said to dance in the ring while destroying his opponents. Ali started fighting at a very short age, and his first teacher was Joe Martin (Hauser 18). Through hard work and discipline, he became a professional fighter and eventually the Heavyweight champion of the world. Although he lost the title twice, he regained it three times, putting him in the history books. His boxing career was put to an end when he started suffering from Parkinson's disease. This was the end of his boxing, but his greatness will never die.
When prominent boxers of the 20th century are discussed, many heavyweight champions are mentioned. Names like Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston and Joe Frazier always find their way to the front of the conversation. But it is Muhammad Ali, a three-time heavyweight champion and political activist, who always seems to find the forefront of it all. Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on January 17, 1942, Ali came into the ring after his bike was stolen at the age of twelve. He brought up his anger to Officer Joe Elsby Martin Sr. who suggested he start boxing. Ali quickly became a star after winning a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics. At 6’3”, Ali demonstrated extraordinary speed and accuracy and he quickly became a contender for the heavyweight title.
His bold public persona described or showed what was happening in Clay's personal life. However, Clay did some soul searching and he decided to join the Nation of Islam, in 1964. The Nation of Islam was a black Muslim group. Clay went with the name Cassius X, but he later changed his name again to Muhammad Ali. Two years later, he picked a fight that did
Cassius Clay Jr. or known to many people as ‘Muhammad Ali’ was born in Louisville, KY on January 17th , 1942 He was the first Heavyweight Boxer to win the Heavyweight title three times, his professional career lasted about twenty one years, in that time he won a total of fifty six fights. Most people do not know Cassius changed his name to ‘Muhammad Ali’ because of his religion, History.com staff.(2-4) Muhammad Ali’s early career before becoming a professional boxer, how he worked his way to become the Heavyweight Champion of the World, him converting his religion to Islam and his life after boxing.
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...