The word of the week is "legendary." The word officially means a popular story passed down from generation to generation. It may be historical in a sense, but not factual. In my reality, a legend is a person or event that has had such an impact upon the world that it is not forgotten. Only a few of the people I would consider legends include Virginia Woolf, Frederick Douglass and Aristotle. As a former boxer, I feel that I must honor another legend who as of Saturday, June 4th 2016 is no longer with us. I am, of course, speaking of Muhammad Ali. We all know his famous saying: "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see." Although, not many of us can say we knew how the boxer impacted the world outside of the ring.
Muhammad Ali, arguably one of the greatest boxers, put his career on the line for his beliefs. In 1964 he joined an African-American Muslim group called the Nation of Islam and changed his birth name from Cassius Clay to the name we all know. In 1967, he was drafted into the military to fight in the Vietnam war. Ali, who had been speaking out against the war, refused his draft on the account of his religious beliefs, knowing that if he refused the draft it was a felony and his right to box and his championship would be taken away from him. However, that did not change his mind. In June 1967, he was sentenced to five years in prison and spent more than three of his best years outside the ring until the supreme court overturned his conviction in 1971.
Ali retired with a record of 56-5, which thus began his life as a philanthropist in which he created the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center to treat others with the same disease that he was affected by. Ali used his retirement to help the Make-A-Wish foundation, the Special Olympics and even traveled to different countries to help whoever he could.
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see." This quote was not only a taunt to his opponents, but words of inspiration to everyone. The key in winning, not only in boxing but winning in life, is to fly and to be heard because nothing can drag you down if you don't let it.
