Today, June 3, marks the fourth anniversary of the departure of American boxing legend Muhammad Ali Clay, who died at the age of 74, after respiratory complications, which were then transferred to a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. These complications were linked to Parkinson's disease, which he was diagnosed with in the 1980s.
The name Muhammad Ali Clay has a special impact in modern history, not only mathematical, but political and intellectual, because of his revolting and unique positions on many issues around the world in general, and toward American racism against blacks in particular. Also, his publicity of his Islam made him "the most famous man in the world" and he paid much for this position later.
His life:
The American boxer was born as “Cassius Marcelos Clay Jr.” on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky, he was born to a black American middle-class family, and his father was a Methodist, but his mother raised him and his brother on the Baptist school, but he converted to Islam in 1964 AD, and changed his name To Muhammad Ali without his last name, "Clay."
Championships :
Clay won the World Heavyweight Championship three times, over 20 years in: 1964, 1974 and 1978, and in 1999 he was crowned the "Athlete of the Century", a prize presented by Sports Illustrated. He also won the same title after a referendum held by the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, after he obtained 71.2% of the votes, outperforming many athletes, including Diego Maradona.
Muhammad Ali used to describe himself as "flying like a butterfly, and sting like a bee", and he is the owner of the fastest and strongest punch in the world, where its strength equals about 1,000 pounds.
Boxer George Foreman, who lost his world title after his famous fight with Clay in Kinshasa in 1974, described him as the greatest person he has ever met. "Just describing him as a boxer is unfair," he added.
His refusal to serve the US military in the Vietnam War and stripped him of his title:
Muhammad Ali was famous for his sudden and direct stances, so he was decisive in what he decided and said, even if it cost him a great price. He was a defender of people's rights not only in America, and against the foreign policies of his country in the world. Among his most assertive stances was his refusal to join the American army during his war in Vietnam in 1967, when he said in a famous statement that he had nothing to do with the Vietnamese, and they did not harm him before, so there is no reason to fight them.
Mohamed Ali was subsequently accused of treason for his country and this decision criticized many of his American fans, and stripped of his world titles. He was forcibly suspended from playing for four years, subjected to several trials until he was criminalized for "refusing to perform the national military duty", and was sentenced to five years in prison and ten thousand US dollars, before he suspended the sentence.
In this regard, civil rights movement activist Jesse Jackson said that Muhammad Ali was willing to sacrifice the title and money for his principles when he refused in 1967 to engage in military service during the Vietnam War.
Muhammad Ali Clay: "I will fight for pride, not for me, and I will fight for my younger brothers who are spreading roads in America today."
Muhammad Ali Clay: "I will not travel 10,000 miles away from my homeland to help kill and burn another powerless nation because of the continued white supremacy over black society around the world."
Clay: Activist for Equal Civil Rights for Blacks:
Clay was active for equality in the civil rights of blacks, as well as being a world champion in boxing tracks, and he once answered a question of how he would like the world to remember him saying, "As a man who has never sold his family, and if that was too much (Ali), then just a good boxer." ".
Clay was seen by many as one of the pillars of the counter-culture and the champion of the black issue who were fighting for equal rights.
The basketball player and the best recorded in the history of the NBA Karim Abdul-Jabbar, praised Muhammad Ali for the courage of his struggle against racial discrimination, saying: "While the blacks who talked about injustice and described the rebels as their class position were arrested, Muhammad sacrificed the best The years of his career to stand tall and fight for what he thinks are right. " He continued: "What he did, he made the Americans, white and black of them, stand tall. I might be 7 feet and 2 inches tall, but I never felt the length that I felt when I was standing in its shadow."
A man fought for his conviction:
When Muhammad Ali Clay was asked about how he likes people to remember him, he replied: "As a man who has been called the world champion in heavy weight three times, he possesses a playful spirit and he treated people properly. As a man who had never looked upon people who looked at him as a symbol, he fought for his convictions, and tried to The unification of all mankind through faith and love ... But, if this is too much, I think I will suffice to remember me as a great boxer, become a hero and leader of his people, and I will never mind if they do not remember my honor. ”
His retirement from boxing and his departure:
Muhammad Ali Clay retired from boxing in 1979, after a bus career that included 56 wins, including 37 by knockout, five defeats, and crowned world title three times.
Muhammad Ali suffered from Parkinson's disease in 1984, and his health deteriorated significantly in 2005, and his health setbacks continued, as he spent a period of time each year in a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona.
He was transferred in February 2013 to the hospital, and his brother Rahman Ali told the New York newspaper that he is in critical condition, and he may leave at any moment, before his daughter denies this, as he suffered from lung and urine infection and was subsequently hospitalized in 2014 and 2015.
On June 2, 2016, Clay was hospitalized again due to a breathing problem, after which newspapers and international channels confirmed that the legendary boxer was already dying, and that his family was preparing to perform the burial ceremonies, after the doctors announced that he was about to die, before his death was announced on the morning of June 3, 2016 The funeral was held in his hometown Louisville, Kentucky.
Obama: "He fought for us."
Upon the departure of Muhammad Ali Clay, former US President Barack Obama led the people who inherited the legend of the boxer, and said: "Muhammad Ali shook the world, and the world became better after that."
Obama said at the time that he kept in his private office in the White House his clay boxing gloves and "a famous photograph of him when he was a 22-year-old young hero roaring like a lion over a boxer Sony Liston falling on the track."
Obama stressed that Clay had "fought for us" and saluted his standing, as with civil rights advocates such as Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, "speaking when others are silent."
It is noteworthy that the death of Clay affected many people around the world, and there were immediate reactions after the announcement of this news, which came from athletes and politicians. One of them was written by one of the contemporary boxers, Floyd Mayweather, the famous boxing champion: “We will never see another Muhammad Ali. The black community around the world and all blacks around the world need it. Our voice.