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Muhammad Ali - Commonly Acquainted in French Mohamed Ali or Mohammed Ali1 - born January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky, and died June 3, 2016 in Scottsdale, Arizona2, is an American boxer in the heavyweight category, considered a of the greatest boxers of all time3,4. Born under the name of Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., he changed him to Mohamed Ali at the age of 22 after joining the Nation of Islam in 1965 at the time of his conversion to Islam.
Considered a cultural icon thanks to his commitment and eloquent poetry, Mohamed Ali was both adulated and vilified5.
He won the light heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Olympics at the age of 18. In 1967, three years after winning the world heavyweight championship against Sonny Liston, he was criticized for refusing to to be enlisted in the US Army as opposed to the Vietnam War saying, "No Vietcong has ever called me a Negro." Mohamed Ali is arrested and found guilty of fraud. He is not imprisoned, but dispossessed of his world title and his boxing license. He does not fight for nearly four years until his appeal is finally received by the US Supreme Court.
Nicknamed The Greatest, Mohamed Ali becomes the first triple world heavyweight champion. He has participated in several historic boxing matches7. Among them, three contests against his rival Joe Frazier are considered among the biggest fights in the history of boxing, as well as his clash against George Foreman in Kinshasa which he won by KO in the eighth round in front of about 100,000 spectators , October 30, 19748. Mohamed Ali is known for his unorthodox fighting style for a heavyweight, embodied by his slogan "Fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee, fists can not reach what the eyes can not see. And employing techniques such as "Shuffle Ali," rope-dope "9 and the destabilization of his rivals by words," trash talking "6. Thanks to his extraordinary skills and personality, Mohamed Ali has become one of the most famous athletes in the world10. Integrated in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Ali is considered one of the greatest boxers in history11.
In 1999, he was crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC12,13. He is named a sportsman of the twentieth century by an assembly of international journalists, preceding Pelé. In Berlin, in March 2005, he received the Otto Hahn Peace Medal14,15, on behalf of the United Nations Organization "for his commitment to the American movement against segregation and the cultural emancipation of blacks in the world." 'global scale'. He was decorated in 2005 with the Presidential Medal of Liberty, the highest civilian distinction in the United States16.
Beyond his athletic performances, he attains an unmatched notoriety in an athlete by his taste for the show, his provocative personality, his religious and political positions, and his personal destiny. He has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease since 1984 and exhibited to the world when he lit the Olympic cauldron in Atlanta in 1996.
He died on June 3, 2016 at the age of 74, as a result of respiratory problems.
Childhood, formation and beginnings
Cassius Marcellus Clay was born on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky, Odessa Clay Marcellus and Cassius Marcellus. He grew up in a black neighborhood of Louisville. His mother works as a cleaner and cook for wealthy white families and his father sells religious and commercial prints.
Without being rich, the Clay can give a proper education to their children. While he was 12 years old in 1954 in Louisville, Kentucky, the young Cassius Clay was the victim of a bicycle theft. Enervated he meets a policeman to whom he announces his intention to inflict a correction on the thief. Police officer Joe Elsby Martin Sr. told him he had better start learning how to box. The next day Cassius follows his advice and starts taking boxing classes under Martin's guidance. A few weeks later he played his first fight and won his first victory. Ali will credit Martin for teaching him to fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee
Amateur boxer
Winner amateur National Golden Gloves in the light heavyweight category in 1959, then heavyweight the next Amateur Amateur, 17 he won the gold medal for light heavyweight at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome18. He then becomes professional under the tutelage of Angelo Dundee and is quickly known for his unorthodox style, his spectacular results and his incessant self-promotion. He made himself known by the nickname "Louisville Lip" (lip of Louisville) by composing poems predicting how much he would put his opponent knockout. He did not hesitate to sing his own praises with phrases such as "I am the greatest" or "I am young, I am cute and I am totally unbeatable". He will retain throughout his career this high verb which is one of his greatest characteristics
Professional debut
In Louisville, on October 29, 1960, he won his first professional bout in points against Tunney Hunsaker19. Clay leaves for Florida with his coach Angelo Dundee. The nineteen-year-old gold medalist won some victories and even went on to stage an exhibition against former world champion Ingemar Johansson, who is preparing his third fight against Floyd Patterson. Cassius then returns to his fief of Louisville and continues to defeat all his opponents.
In 1962, his notoriety began to spread across America. Clay boxing for the first time in the cities of New York and Los Angeles. On November 15, he won a resounding success against Archie Moore in four rounds. Clay had predicted before the fight that he would stop his opponent in the fourth round20.
The year 1963 opens the way to the title of world champion. He wins on points with difficulty against Doug Jones in what will become the fight of the year21 and makes him talk again by forcing the referee to stop his fight against Henry Cooper for injury in the 5th round22. Cooper had at the previous round sent Clay to the ground for the first time in his career.
Named boxer of the year 1963, Clay naturally becomes the Outsider of the world champion Sonny Liston; in spite of nineteen victories of which fifteen by K.O. and no defeat, the boxer of Louisville is not considered as an opponent able to defeat Liston, judged then as invincible.
Undisputed champion
From February 25, 1964 to June 20, 1967, Ali undeniably dominates the category of heavyweight like Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano before him. After his second win against Liston, he made a dozen exhibitions around the world with his two sparrings partners: Jimmy Ellis and Cody Jones. On November 22, 1965, in Las Vegas, he faced former champion Floyd Patterson who had suffered serious setbacks against Sonny Liston (losing twice in the first round). The champion retains his title after twelve rounds and sends the challenger to the ground several times27.
While the champion has traditionally fought twice a year, Ali fought five times in 1966. He beat Canadian George Chuvalo in points in Toronto in March, then in May he found Henry Cooper, the boxer who sent him down, and the put KO in London. Also in this city, he has Brian London in three rounds on August 6, 28 defeated German champion Karl Mildenberger in Frankfurt on September 1029 and ended the year with a K.O. against Cleveland Williams in Houston30.
The WBA federation, which does not appreciate Ali's political positions, and uses the pretext of the illegality of his rematch against Liston to withdraw his belt, without his consent, and to crowned Ernie Terrell world champion. The title is for the first time divided. Ali, however, remains the undisputed champion and retains his WBC belt. He recovers the WBA title on February 6, 1967 in a reunification fight in Houston against Ernie Terrell. Ali easily regains his title, but fails to break Terrell who, the high guard, will hold until the end of the 15 rounds. On March 6, Ali then puts K.O. Zora Folley, a puncher deemed dangerous for the champion.
His legal problems with his incorporation into the US military prevented him from competing in another world championship. He can only perform an exhibition in Detroit on June 15th. This is his last appearance in the ring before 1970.
In 1969, he participated in the fight The Super Fight, a virtual fight against Rocky Marciano
