Muhammad Ali died late Friday night/early Saturday morning, ending a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Widely considered the greatest boxer of all time, Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay in Louisville, Kentucky in 1942. He started boxing at the age of 12, after his bike was stolen. Clay told a police officer his plans to “whoop” the perpetrator, and that police officer turned out to be Joe E. Martin, a local boxing trainer who ran a gym. Martin told Clay, “you better learn to fight, then,” and as they say, the rest is history.
Clay made his amateur debut in 1954. During this amateur period, Clay won the Kentucky Golden Gloves an astonishing six times, the National Golden Glove twice, an AAU national title, and most notably, he won the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. He turned pro after the Olympics, and by the end of 1963, he amassed a record of 19-0, with 15 wins by knockout. Clay was given the opportunity to fight Sonny Liston, who held the heavyweight title at the time. Liston was a dominating fighter, known for his criminal past and ties to the mob. Despite being a 7-1 underdog, Clay managed to win the fight after Liston refused to answer the bell for the seventh round. It was the first time since 1919 that a World Heavyweight Champion had quit sitting on his stool.
Shortly after the fight, which established Clay as one of boxing’s premier fighters and one of the world’s greatest showmen, it was announced that Cassius Clay had joined the Nation of Islam after hearing its founder, Elijah Muhammad, speak on the radio. He changed his name to Muhammad Ali, and in 1965, faced Liston a second time. This was a much shorter fight… Ali knocked out Liston 2 minutes and 12 seconds into the first round.
After defending his title eight times, he was stripped of his titles due to his refusal to enter the draft for the Vietnam War. In his own words:
"My conscience won't let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America. And shoot them for what? They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didn't put no dogs on me, they didn't rob me of my nationality, rape or kill my mother and father.... How can I shoot them poor people? Just take me to jail.”
Ali was systematically denied a boxing license in every state, and after his initial conviction for draft evasion, he was stripped of his passport. This led to Ali essentially being exiled from the world of boxing. Ali didn’t fight from March 1967 to October 1970, when the City of Atlanta Athletic Commission granted him a license to box. Despite not having boxed for almost four years, in his first fight back, Ali won the fight after a third-round TKO.
Next up for Ali was the first of his fights against Joe Frazier. Both fighters had a legitimate claim as heavyweight champion, and both were undefeated at the time. The fight, held on March 8, 1971, was dubbed the “Fight of the Century.” It was a hard-fought bout; both fighters gave it their all, and the fight went the full 15 rounds. Frazier won by unanimous decision.
They had a rematch on January 28, 1974, at Madison Square Garden. Frazier had lost his title to George Foreman, and Ali pounced on the now-vulnerable Frazier. The rematch was almost identical to the first fight, but this time, Ali won by unanimous decision, setting up a title fight with George Foreman — the Rumble in the Jungle. Held in Kinshasa, Zaire, on October 30, 1974, the bout featured a 25-year-old Foreman, who was 40-0 with 37 KOs, against a 32-year-old Ali, who had clearly lost some of his speed and reflexes. Foreman was known for his sheer strength and physical dominance, arguably the heaviest hitter of the era. Ali was a heavy favorite among the Zairean people, who followed him everywhere, chanting “Ali, bomaye!” That’s Kongo for “Ali, kill him!” Nobody in the boxing world, however, thought Ali had a chance.
Ali knocked Foreman out in the 8th round.
After a few fights, one of which (against Chuck Wepner) inspired Rocky, Ali agreed to a third rematch against Frazier, this time in Manila, the Philippines, on October 1, 1975. Dubbed the “Thrilla in Manila,” this was arguably the toughest of any of Ali’s fights. Fought in temperatures approaching 100°F, Ali came out firing on all cylinders, but was quickly tired. Frazier took over from there, delivering relentless attacks. Then Frazier tired out, and when the 13th round started, Ali took over. Frazier’s trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow Frazier to answer the bell for the 15th round. Ali won by TKO. Ali said it was the closest to death he had ever come.
Ali will be remembered as the greatest heavyweight boxer ever (although Joe Louis is a very close second), and is on the boxing Mt. Rushmore with Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis, and Sugar Ray Leonard. I personally consider him to be the greatest boxer ever.
But Ali was much more than a boxer. He was an inspiration, a hero, and a freedom fighter. He stood up for what he felt is right, and didn’t allow himself to be silenced. When it came time for him to be drafted, he objected, and didn’t give in once. He fought and fought all the way to the Supreme Court, where his initial conviction on draft evasion charges was overturned 8-0 (Thurgood Marshall recused himself). When he converted to Islam and aligned himself with the Nation of Islam, a very unpopular group at the time, he showed the world that Ali did what Ali wanted, and that nobody was going to stop him from achieving what he wanted. He treated everyone, whether they were heads of states or janitors, with the same reverence and respect. He inspired a generation of fighters, both in the literal and figurative sense. He said, in his own words, he was “fighting for the little man in the ghetto.” He was, of course, a Civil Rights advocate and was fighting to inspire young black kids. But he was also fighting for more.
He fought for freedom of speech and freedom of religion. He fought for what he felt was right. Ali, a black Muslim from Kentucky, managed to inspire everyone across the country with his wit, his resolve, and his moral compass when being black and being Muslim was looked down upon. He sure as hell inspired me, a white Jewish kid from Manhattan, which is the ultimate testament to what Ali should be remembered for: a brilliant boxer, a fierce fighter for civil rights, and one of the greatest humanitarians in history. May he rest in peace.