Muhammad Ali: Story Of Persecution And Perseverance

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Section C

Muhammad Ali: story of persecution and perseverance

Have you ever heard “float like a butterfly! Sting like a bee! Rumble young man, rumble!” That famous line was said by the one and only Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali was arguably the best boxer in the 1960s and 1970s. But before the fame he was just another kid Louisville kid with big dreams. Cassius Clay was born in Louisville on January 17, 1942. Louisville was one of the segregated states in the south. Life growing up was difficult because getting jobs and doing a lot of other simple tasks such as getting food were difficult for blacks. Muhammad Ali taught us to stand up for ourselves when we feel mistreated.

A young Cassius Clay went to an event where there was

Cassius Clay was the man that was easy to hate and easy to love. Cassius once said Clay developed his boxing style where he kept his hands down away from his face, and swinging. This is very unorthodox and not what boxers are taught to do. Cassius was the kid who did everything wrong, but still won. Cassius used his new style to his advantage by leaning back a fraction of a second before the opposing attack came. Cassius Clay was known as the Louisville lip because of his verbal intimidation. Others called him insane and said that he made these comments just for public attention to tell himself that he was better than the opposition. Cassius Clay once fought the big and scary Sonny Liston, who was picked by almost all experts to win. Clay taunted him the whole fight, the taunting wore Liston down physically and mentally as Liston lost by technical knockout in the seventh round. This fight gave him a lot of opportunities, but also gave him more haters who didn’t like his flamboyant and boastful

Muhammad Ali is recognized as one of the best boxers of all time. Muhammad Ali was the world heavyweight champion of the world 3 different times. Ali ended his career with 37 total knockouts, one of the most ever.

In 1984 Muhammad Ali made news that he had Parkinson’s syndrome public. The Ring magazine named Ali as the greatest heavyweight of all time. In addition to that in 1990 Muhammad Ali was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In 1996 a shaking and word-slurring Ali comes out of nowhere to light the Olympic torch. In 1997 Ali was given the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. In 1999 Muhammad Ali was named the Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated. In 2005 Ali was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, also in 2005 Ali opens the Muhammad Ali center in Louisville,