World News

Olympic gold medalist and the world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali has passed way

The retired professional boxer hospitalized earlier in June 2016 for what was reportedly a respiratory issue. He passed away on the evening of June 3, 2016, at a Phoenix, Arizona facility.

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.  on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. While doing some spiritual searching, he decided to join the black Muslim group the Nation of Islam in 1964. At first he called himself “Cassius X” before calling himself Muhammad Ali.

The retired  professional boxer widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century. From early in his career, Ali was known as an inspiring, controversial and polarizing figure both inside and outside the ring.

Clay was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and began training when he was 12 years old. At 22, he won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in an upset in 1964. Shortly after that, Clay converted to Islam, changed his “slave” name to Ali, and gave a message of racial pride for African Americans and resistance to white domination during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.

In 1966, two years after winning the heavyweight title, Ali further antagonized the white establishment by refusing to be conscripted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War. He was eventually arrested, found guilty of draft evasion charges and stripped of his boxing titles. He successfully appealed in the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned his conviction in 1971. By that time, he had not fought for nearly four years—losing a period of peak performance as an athlete. Ali’s actions as a conscientious objector to the war made him an icon for the larger counterculture generation.

Ali remains the only three-time lineal world heavyweight champion; he won the title in 1964, 1974, and 1978. Between February 25, 1964, and September 19, 1964, Ali reigned as the heavyweight boxing champion. Nicknamed “The Greatest”, he was involved in several historic boxing matches. Notable among these were the “Fight of the Century”, “Super Fight II” and the “Thrilla in Manila” versus his rival Joe Frazier, the first Liston fight, and “The Rumble in the Jungle” versus George Foreman. Ali retired from boxing in 1981.

At a time when most fighters let their managers do the talking, Ali, inspired by professional wrestler “Gorgeous George” Wagner, thrived in—and indeed craved—the spotlight, where he was often provocative and outlandish.

Muhammad Ali remains one of the most celebrated athlete’s in the boxing word.

About the author

LasVegasNews

Leave a Comment

Translate »