HE FLOATED like a butterfly and stang like a bee. Today marks the ‘World’s Greatest’ boxing champion’s 70th birthday.
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in Kentucky, the young Cassius took up boxing at age 12, when his bike was stolen and he wanted to find the culprit and whoop him.
Winning his first world heavyweight champion title in 1964, Clay,who went onto wow the world and shock his opponents both inside and outside the ring, converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali.
However, he was stripped of his champion title in 1967 when he refused to join the military services during the Vietnam was as it went against his religious belief.
“I got nothing against no Viet Cong. No Vietnamese ever called me a ‘ni***r’,” Ali said on his refusal to draft.
He continued: “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?”
The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court and in 1971, reinstating his title and license.
Losing to rival Joe Frazier in his comeback fight in 1971, Ali regained the heavyweight title in 1974, when he defeated George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle in the Congo. One year later, he outlasted Frazier in the epic Thrilla in Manilabout.
Muhammad ‘The Greatest’ Ali hang his gloves in 1981, however sadly three years later, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
A humanitarian and equality champion, Ali was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the U.S, in 2005 by President George W. Bush.
From there on he would go on to become a three-time world champion with 56 Wins (37 knockouts, 19 decisions), 5 Losses (4 decisions, 1 TKO), 0 Draws.
We salute the Greatest boxer, philanthropist, and social activist!
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Mohammed Ali is one of the greatest black icon of my generation. His self believe is unparalleled in human history. Perhaps not granted the global recognition he deserves due to his Islamic profound beliefs.
How many of us can today honestly attest to risk our careers, and put economic prosperity on hold for our values and to fight against injustices of our time? Muhammad Ali’s selfless personality remains uncontested , un comparable to most human beings living or dead .
My champion truly, you remain the world’s greatest in our hearts . RIP.
Muhammad Ali explained on the Michael Parkinson Show in the 1970s the experience of having a African-skin in a nation that only valued caucasian-skin people, batter than any academic or Left-wing politican.