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Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., was a legendary heavyweight boxer who won 56 of 61 matches and is known for his unconventional defensive style. He changed his name after joining the Nation of Islam and refused to serve in the Vietnam War, resulting in a prison sentence and a ban from boxing. He became an anti-war speaker and eventually regained his boxing license. He won and lost several fights, retired, and returned to the ring despite health concerns. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and retired for good.
World heavyweight champion boxer, Muhammad Ali, was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. Ali won 56 of 61 boxing matches, with 37 wins by knockout (KO) punches. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest boxers of all time and is known for his phrase “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee” to describe his unconventional defensive style of moving to avoid a punch rather than blocking conventionally his face with his hands.
Muhammad Ali no longer wanted to be known as Cassius Clay when he got involved with the Nation of Islam. Many members of the Nation of Islam gave up their surnames and took on new names because white men had given the surnames to their ancestors who were slaves. Ali would not have fought for the United States in the Vietnam War nor would he have been called Cassius Clay. As a result, he received a five-year prison sentence for refusing to serve in the US military, and the US professional boxing commission banned him from professional boxing for three years.
Muhammad Ali made a living during those difficult years as an anti-Vietnam War speaker. He often accompanied Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam, to rallies in the late 1960s. He received his boxing license in 1970 and the US Supreme Court overturned his prison sentence in 1971.
Ali’s boxing match against Joe Frazier on March 8, 1971 was called “The Fight of the Century” and the heavyweight crown was on the line. Frazier won that fight and it was Ali’s first loss as a professional boxer. However, Muhammad Ali won the heavyweight champion title against George Foreman on October 30, 1974 in Zaire.
Ali had another well received boxing match with Joe Frazier in 1975, but the fight was not over as Frazier’s eyes did not reopen during the fight. Frazier only had two more fights after that before retiring. Also in 1975, Ali became a Sunni Muslim due to changes the Nation of Islam was making to become a Sunni sect.
In 1977 Ali’s coaches and doctors tried to get him to retire as some of his physical reflexes were starting to fail. Muhammad Ali did not retire and lost a February 15, 1978 championship boxing fight to a young Olympic champion named Leon Spinks. Ali and Spinks had a rematch seven months later and Mohammad Ali won the fight.
On June 27, 1979, Muhammad Ali announced his retirement, but the following year he returned to fight Larry Holmes despite a Mayo Clinic exam that found a hole in Ali’s brain. He was beginning to feel the slurred words and numbness in his hands and lost to Holmes. On December 11, 1981 Ali fought once again – against young boxer Trevor Berbick – and lost that match as well. Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and retired from boxing for good.
