On Friday, June 3, 2016, Muhammad Ali died in a Phoenix-area hospital after suffering from respiratory complications. Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1984 and struggled with the degenerative disease for 32 years. Considered by many as the greatest boxer of all time, this champion of physical toughness and strength made multiple public appearances to broaden awareness of the incurable disorder. Perhaps most famous of all his post-diagnosis appearances came in 1996, when the former heavyweight champion of the world carried the torch to light the Olympic Cauldron. His impact on this world has held up to his self-imposed nickname “The Greatest,” and we should remember him for his many great humanitarian deeds, as well as his athletic performances.
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., Ali has been an outspoken advocate for peace, opportunity, morality, and strength his entire life. Even towards the end of his life, he remained outspoken and resolute in his conviction to stand for equality, criticizing Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump over his proposed ban on Muslim immigrants. “The Greatest” was quoted by NBC News as saying:
I am a Muslim, and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world. True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion.
We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda. They have alienated many from learning about Islam. True Muslims know or should know that it goes against our religion to try and force Islam on anybody.
Speaking as someone who has never been accused of political correctness, I believe that our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is. (2015)
After winning a Light Heavyweight Championship title in the 1960 Summer Olympics, Cassius became a professional fighter, and he won his first world heavyweight title in 1964, knocking out his opponent, Sonny Liston. Shortly after, on April 28, 1967, Muhammad Ali refused to serve in the United States military, currently embroiled in the Vietnam War. Ali stated, “I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong.” He claimed that he couldn’t reasonably justify fighting to liberate a foreign people when his own people were being oppressed in America. “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 in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?”
Because of his refusal to serve, Ali’s world heavyweight title and boxing license were stripped, he was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $10,000. He appealed the charges, stayed out of jail on bail, regained his boxing license after three years, and in 1971 the Supreme Court overturned his prior conviction. It didn’t take long for “The Greatest” to regain his title either. After receiving his first ever professional loss from the hands of Joe Frazier in what was publicized as “The Fight of the Century” and his second, plus a broken jaw, from heavy-hitter Ken Norton, Ali avenged both losses and set his eyes on the current title holder, Big George Foreman. The fight against Foreman was christened the “Rumble in the Jungle” and was fought in Kinshasa, Zaire in front of a crowd of 60,000 people.
Ali knocked out Foreman in the eighth round of the fight and regained the title that had been stolen from him. In doing so, he overcame the prejudice and bigotry that had ripped away his titles, he silenced those who tried to denounce him, and he became an international symbol of hope. Muhammad Ali was a voice for the downtrodden, the oppressed, and the mistreated, and he used his platform to stand up to the highest courts and offices of America and prevail.
All said, Muhammad Ali’s career lasted 21 years, going 56–5 in 61 bouts, and he is the only person in history to have won three lineal World Heavyweight Championship titles, winning an astonishing 22 championship fights in total. Following his boxing career, Ali committed himself to preaching equality, peace, and spirituality to the world. He was a vocal opponent of apartheid in South Africa, and Nelson Mandela has been quoted as saying that Ali was an inspiration to the someday president while he was in jail. He has used his money and influence to support development initiatives in suffering communities, deliver vital supplies to remote villages, and build orphanages and hospitals in Africa. Because of his humanitarian efforts throughout his life, Muhammad Ali was presented the United Nations Messenger of Peace award in 1998 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President George W. Bush in 2005.
Throughout Muhammad Ali’s lifetime, he affected the lives of many, and his story will live on for many years to come. He lost everything, faced imprisonment, and was crucified before the American public, and he still stood up for what he believed in. As resolute as his beliefs were, he never forced his own ideals on others or argued their legitimacy. Instead, he was an advocate for all faiths, religions, beliefs, and people. He will, undoubtedly, go down in history as one of the greatest fighters of all time, but it is important to know that he was much more than that.
