Muhammad Ali, a boxing legend who transcended the world of sport, was an outspoken and larger-than-life figure both inside and outside of the ring.
Ali was born January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. Ali, whose birth name was Cassius Marcellus Clay, grew up in the south during the height of segregation. When Ali was 12, he took up boxing, mentored by a local policeman named Joe Martin.
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Ali quickly worked his way through the ranks before he won a gold medal at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, which would springboard his professional career.
During the beginning of Ali’s professional career, he was more well-known and highly regarded for his charm and personality. Ali’s early professional career saw his brash and bold personality clash with boxing purists. The young boxer heralded himself as “The Greatest” despite not defeating a boxer of consequence. Most fighters Ali faced were old veterans past their prime.
This narrative would shift on February 25, 1964, when Ali challenged Sonny Liston. Liston was widely considered to be the most intimidating fighter of the era, making Ali a considerable underdog. But in one of the most stunning upsets in sports, Ali defeated Liston, crowning Ali as the new champion. Two days later, Ali further shocked the boxing world by joining the Nation of Islam and changing his name to Muhammad Ali.
Ali continued to dominate inside the ring, but in 1967, he created another shockwave outside of it when he refused induction into the United States Army during the Vietnam War.
Ali’s refusal to fight in the Vietnam War would cost him his championship and also earn him a criminal indictment. Although Ali remained free for four years on bail before his indictment was overturned. Ali was also an outspoken advocate for Black pride and Black resistance during this time as well.
He returned to boxing in 1970 after serving his three-and-a-half-year athletic suspension for his refusal to participate in the Vietnam War. However, Ali would never be the same; he was older and had lost a step, and he retired in 1981.
Ali’s later years were marked by physical decline, boxing did a number on his body, and years of blows to the head contributed to slurred speech, slowed movement and other symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease.
Ali died in 2016 at the age of 74, but he is widely regarded as the greatest boxer of all time, and when you look at his resume and impact, it’s not hard to see why.