Ali successfully defended his title six times, including a rematch with Liston. Then, in , at the height of the Vietnam War, Ali was drafted to serve in the U.
He'd said previously that the war did not comport with his faith, and that he had "no quarrel" with America's enemy, the Vietcong. He refused to serve. They never lynched me. They didn't put no dogs on me.
His stand culminated with an April appearance at an Army recruiting station, where he refused to step forward when his name was called. The reaction was swift and harsh.
He was stripped of his boxing title, convicted of draft evasion and sentenced to five years in prison. Released on appeal but unable to fight or leave the country, Ali turned to the lecture circuit, speaking on college campuses, where he engaged in heated debates, pointing out the hypocrisy of denying rights to blacks even as they were ordered to fight the country's battles abroad.
You my opposer when I want justice. You my opposer when I want equality. You won't even stand up for me in America for my religious beliefs and you want me to go somewhere and fight but you won't even stand up for me here at home. Ali's fiery commentary was praised by antiwar activists and black nationalists and vilified by conservatives, including many other athletes and sportswriters. His appeal took four years to reach the U. Supreme Court, which in June reversed the conviction in a unanimous decision that found the Department of Justice had improperly told the draft board that Ali's stance wasn't motivated by religious belief.
Toward the end of his legal saga, Georgia agreed to issue Ali a boxing license, which allowed him to fight Jerry Quarry, whom he beat. Six months later, at a sold-out Madison Square Garden, he lost to Joe Frazier in a round duel touted as "the fight of the century. That fight began one of boxing's and sport's greatest rivalries. Ali and Frazier fought again in , after Frazier had lost his crown. This time, Ali won in a unanimous decision, making him the lead challenger for the heavyweight title.
He took it from George Foreman later that year in a fight in Zaire dubbed "The Rumble in the Jungle," a spectacularly hyped bout for which Ali moved to Africa for the summer, followed by crowds of chanting locals wherever he went. A three-day music festival featuring James Brown and B. King preceded the fight. Finally, Ali delivered a historic performance in the ring, employing a new strategy dubbed the "rope-a-dope," goading the favored Foreman into attacking him, then leaning back into the ropes in a defensive stance and waiting for Foreman to tire.
Ali then went on the attack, knocking out Foreman in the eighth round. The maneuver has been copied by many other champions since. The third fight in the Ali-Frazier trilogy followed in , the "Thrilla in Manila" that is now regarded as one of the best boxing matches of all time.
Ali won in a technical knockout in the 15th round. Muhammad Ali timeline. Online tributes to Ali. Crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC, Ali was noted for his pre- and post-fight talk and bold fight predictions just as much as his boxing skills inside the ring. But he was also a civil rights campaigner and poet who transcended the bounds of sport, race and nationality. Asked how he would like to be remembered, he once said: "As a man who never sold out his people.
But if that's too much, then just a good boxer. Ali turned professional immediately after the Rome Olympics and rose through the heavyweight ranks, delighting crowds with his showboating, shuffling feet and lightning reflexes. British champion Henry Cooper came close to stopping Clay, as he was still known, when they met in a non-title bout in London in Cooper floored the American with a left hook, but Clay picked himself up off the canvas and won the fight in the next round when a severe cut around Cooper's left eye forced the Englishman to retire.
Many residents of Louisville, Kentucky, woke up on this hazy Saturday morning to the news: Muhammad Ali is dead. The news of his death is on every local television station, and the front page of the local newspaper reads simply "The Greatest" over the iconic image of Ali standing victorious over Sonny Liston in Flags at Louisville's city hall will fly at half mast today and the mayor will deliver a memorial service there. I cried like a baby when I found out the news," says Arnold Mathis, 39, who was on his way to lay a wreath and light a candle at the museum.
I know he's dead, but it hasn't really set in yet. Almost everyone has a personal story about Ali, whether it's a favourite fight, a glance through a car window, or a trip to his boyhood home, which opened as a museum only last week, the interior recreated as if Ali were still living there as a precocious year-old boy in the s.
Dwight Smith, who was sweeping the empty downtown streets outside the hotel where he works, doesn't remember the day Ali hoisted him up for photos - he was only a baby - but he uses them as a motivator to this day. If you dream it, you can achieve it.
That was one of his mottos. Read more from Jessica. In February the following year, Clay stunned the boxing world by winning his first world heavyweight title at the age of He predicted he would beat Liston, who had never lost, but few believed he could do it.
Yet, after six stunning rounds, Liston quit on his stool, unable to cope with his brash, young opponent. At the time of his first fight with Liston, Clay was already involved with the Nation of Islam, a religious movement whose stated goals were to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans in the United States. But in contrast to the inclusive approach favoured by civil rights leaders like Dr Martin Luther King, the Nation of Islam called for separate black development and was treated by suspicion by the American public.
Ali eventually converted to Islam, ditching what he perceived was his "slave name" and becoming Cassius X and then Muhammad Ali. Tributes to Ali. I loved Muhammad Ali, he was my friend. Ali will never die. Like Martin Luther King his spirit will live on, he stood for the world. No doubt he was one of the best people to have lived in this day and age. The black community all around the world, black people all around the world, needed him. He was the voice for us. Drafted into the military in April , he refused to serve on the grounds that he was a practicing Muslim minister with religious beliefs that prevented him from fighting.
He was arrested for committing a felony and almost immediately stripped of his world title and boxing license. The U. Department of Justice pursued a legal case against Ali, denying his claim for conscientious objector status.
He was found guilty of violating Selective Service laws and sentenced to five years in prison in June but remained free while appealing his conviction. Unable to compete professionally in the meantime, Ali missed more than three prime years of his athletic career. Ali returned to the ring in with a win over Jerry Quarry, and the U. Supreme Court eventually overturned the conviction in June Ali had a career record of 56 wins, five losses and 37 knockouts before his retirement from boxing in at the age of Often referring to himself as "The Greatest," Ali was not afraid to sing his own praises.
He was known for boasting about his skills before a fight and for his colorful descriptions and phrases. In one of his more famously quoted descriptions, Ali told reporters that he could "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" in the boxing ring. A few of his more well-known matches include the following:. After winning gold at the Olympics, Ali took out British heavyweight champion Henry Cooper in He then knocked out Sonny Liston in to become the heavyweight champion of the world.
Ali recovered quickly, but the judges awarded the decision to Frazier, handing Ali his first professional loss after 31 wins. Dubbed the "Thrilla in Manila," the bout nearly went the distance, with both men delivering and absorbing tremendous punishment.
However, Frazier's trainer threw in the towel after the 14th round, giving the hard-fought victory to Ali. Another legendary Ali fight took place in against undefeated heavyweight champion George Foreman. For once, Ali was seen as the underdog to the younger, massive Foreman, but he silenced his critics with a masterful performance. He baited Foreman into throwing wild punches with his "rope-a-dope" technique, before stunning his opponent with an eighth-round knockout to reclaim the heavyweight title.
After losing his title to Leon Spinks in February , Ali defeated him in a September rematch, becoming the first boxer to win the heavyweight championship three times. Following a brief retirement, Ali returned to the ring to face Larry Holmes in but was overmatched against the younger champion. Following one final loss in , to Trevor Berbick, the boxing great retired from the sport at age Ali was married four times and had nine children, including two children he fathered outside of marriage.
Ali married his first wife, Sonji Roi, in ; they divorced after one year when she refused to adopt the Nation of Islam dress and customs. Ali married his second wife, year-old Belinda Boyd, in Boyd and Ali divorced in At the same time Ali was married to Boyd, he traveled openly with Veronica Porche, who became his third wife in Porche and Ali divorced in Ali married his fourth and final wife Yolanda "Lonnie" in The pair had known each other since Lonnie was just six and Ali was 21; their mothers were best friends and raised their families on the same street.
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