Muhammad Ali Clay...the "greatest" boxer who refused to participate in the Vietnam War

Highlights: Muhammad Ali Clay was an American Muslim boxer. He fought 61 fights, in which he achieved 56 victories, 37 of which were by knockout. He defended human rights, and devoted his life to combating discrimination and racism and supporting Islam. He refused to participate in the Vietnam War, so he was stripped of his title, was sentenced to prison, and was banned from practicing boxing for 4 years. He was called “the greatest,” and the British Broadcasting Corporation chose him as “Sports Personality of the Century.”

One of the legends of heavyweight boxing in the world and throughout the history of the game, he was described as “flying like a butterfly and stinging like a bee.” He was called “the greatest,” and the British Broadcasting Corporation chose him as “Sports Personality of the Century.”

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Muhammad Ali Clay, an American Muslim boxer who excelled in his field and won several awards. He won the title of “The Greatest” after he became one of the greatest legends of the game throughout history and the master of the heavyweight category, and the only one to win the world heavyweight championship on 3 occasions, and he continued to reign in this sport for nearly From 20 years.

Clay lived a long sporting career, during which he fought 61 fights, in which he achieved 56 victories, 37 of which were by knockout.

He defended human rights, and devoted his life to combating discrimination and racism and supporting Islam. He refused to participate in the Vietnam War, so he was stripped of his title, was sentenced to prison, and was banned from practicing boxing for 4 years.

Birth and upbringing

Cassius Marcus Clay was born on January 17, 1942, and grew up with his younger brother in Louisville, the largest city in the US state of Kentucky, to a middle-class black family. He was named after a prominent abolitionist in the 19th century.

His father, Cassius Marcellus Clay, was a Methodist (Methodism is a Protestant Christian sect that appeared in the 18th century), and he worked in painting billboards and banners, while he was raised in the Baptist faith by his mother, Odessa Grady Clay, who worked as a domestic servant.

He changed his name to Muhammad Ali when he turned 22 after converting to Islam.

personal life

Muhammad Ali Clay married for the first time in 1964 to Sonji Roy, from whom he separated less than a year later. Then in 1967 he married Belinda Boyd, who changed her name to Khalila after converting to Islam, and they had 4 children before their divorce in 1976.

In 1977, Clay married Veronica Burchi for the third time, after they met in Zaire (Democratic Congo) in 1974, and he had two daughters with her, but they separated in 1986. In the same year, he married his fourth wife, Yolanda Williams.

His beginning in boxing

If it weren't for the lure of free food, Muhammad Ali Clay might never have boxed. The 12-year-old set off on his red-and-white bicycle toward the Louisville Home Show, which advertised popcorn, hot dogs and candy. Free attendees.

When he left the exhibition, Muhammad Ali Clay did not find his bike parked, so one of the people suggested that he inform a policeman who was at the place, so he went to him. The policeman was then running a gym in the city of Columbia, Adair County (Kentucky), and after Ali Clay told the policeman about the matter, he asked him to... He let him hit the thief, and the policeman replied, “You have to learn how to fight before you can challenge the world.”

Clay later recalled in his autobiography, “The Greatest,” saying, “I ran downstairs crying, but the sights, sounds, and smells of boxing excited me so much that I almost forgot about the bike.”

When he was about to leave, Police Officer Martin tapped him on the shoulder and said, “By the way, we practice boxing every night, from Monday to Friday, from six to eight. Here is an application if you want to join us.”

Clay began practicing boxing in 1954, and became passionate about it in the gym of boxing coach Joe Martin, when he was still 12 years old. He fought a fight for the first time in which he entered the ring against an older fighter. He was subjected to a violent beating, and within one minute his nose was stained with blood. The coach pulled him out.

Six weeks later, Clay returned and won his first match by split decision against a novice competitor named Ronnie O'Keefe. After that, he shone as an amateur, and his father, Cassius Clay, announced that his son would be a world heavyweight champion.

Over the next five years, Clay's athletic career flourished while he was under the age of 18, winning a number of awards and titles at the local and national levels, including the Golden Gloves of Champions in 1959.

Rome Olympics

Clay participated in the Olympic Games in 1960, representing the United States of America, after he began his sporting career under the supervision of the Louisville Sponsoring Group, a syndicate made up of 11 wealthy white men. He won the first gold medal in Rome in the heavy and light weight category, despite the difficulty. What he faced in the final match against Poland's Zbigniew Pietrzykowski, who won the bronze medal in 1956.

After this experience, Cassius rose from an amateur athlete to an Olympic gold medal-winning hero, but immediately after he was crowned, he threw his medal into the Ohio River. He mentioned in his memoirs that he threw it because of the frustration he felt with the reality of the segregated American society at the time, as he was expelled from a Kentucky restaurant. He was wearing his gold medal, because of his black skin color.

World Champion

After becoming a professional boxer in October 1960, Muhammad Ali Clay was able to win 19 fights, 15 of them by knockout, and inflicted defeats on a number of champions whose star was shining at the time, such as George Wagner, Don Warner, and Henry Cooper.

On February 25, 1964, Clay astonished the world after he was able to put an end to Sonny Liston’s dominance in the heavyweight category, and defeated him in a famous fight that took place in Miami Beach, Florida, at a time when Liston was considered a strong opponent who had only lost one fight. Out of his 36 fights until then, he won the world heavyweight title in 1962 after defeating Floyd Patterson.

At the beginning of the fight, Clay controlled the opening bell, raised his hands and danced a small dance in the middle of the ring, and his agility and style of avoiding strikes played a major role in throwing his opponent off balance.

He was able to injure him with many punches and combinations that left Liston dazed and confused, until he surrendered in the sixth round, indicating an injury to his shoulder, so Clay won by knockout, danced the victory dance, and was crowned world heavyweight champion.

After being announced as the new heavyweight champion of the world, the 22-year-old made statements to the press in front of a crowd of 8,297 people in the conference hall.

From Cassius to Muhammad Ali

Following his dramatic victory over his rival Sonny Liston in 1964, Cassius Clay announced his conversion to Islam and joined the Nation of Islam with Malcolm X. This announcement was a shock to public opinion and millions of his fans and admirers around the world.

The young hero was subjected to a wave of criticism, and some of them attacked him and refused to acknowledge his new name, “Muhammad Ali Clay,” continuing to call him Cassius. In addition, one of the recording companies withdrew the album “The Greatest,” in which Clay plays the title role.

A talk show in which Muhammad Ali Clay was scheduled to be a guest with star Jack Paar was also cancelled, at a time when the press, led by Jimmy Cannon, the dean of boxing journalists, led a violent campaign against the young boxer.

“I asked God for wealth and he gave me Islam. It does not matter whether you are a Muslim, a Christian or a Jew. When you believe in God you should believe that all people are part of a family.” Muhammad Ali Clay considered his conversion to Islam part of his spiritual and religious transformation, realizing that Islam represents... For him, it was a means of strengthening his identity and directing his life and sporting efforts in a manner consistent with his values and beliefs. He allocated an annual income to activities that served Islam, transformed his palace into a mosque and a school for teaching the Holy Qur’an, and built the largest mosque in Chicago, which was later transformed into an Islamic center.

During the 5 decades, since Jack Johnson lost his title to Jess Willard in Havana in 1915 until 1966, competition for the heavyweight title was recorded only twice outside America. However, when Clay found it difficult to fight inside the United States, he took his heavy belt and traveled with it. He went to Canada to defeat George Chuvalo, then to England to get rid of Henry Cooper (again), before jumping to Germany to defeat Karl Mildenberger, where the boxing organization at the time chose him as a goodwill ambassador in foreign lands, due to the popularity he had become enjoyed by the public. Boxing, who no longer cares about his beliefs.

Muhammad Ali Clay returned to America, made one of the most amazing visual performances of his sporting career, and stopped “The Big Cat” Williams in 3 rounds.

Vietnam War

In 1964, Muhammad Ali Clay had failed for the second time in the qualifying tests to join the US Army, due to his lack of writing and language skills, and it was indicated that his intelligence level at that time was much lower than the level required for recruitment, to which Clay responded by saying, “I said that I am the greatest, not the smartest".

However, two years later, the world boxing champion was surprised by his acceptance into the army, due to the relaxation of selection criteria, which made him eligible for conscription.

Muhammad Ali aroused international attention because of his refusal to serve in the military on April 28, 1967, and his objection to participating in the Vietnam War as “an unjustified war that does not fit with his religion,” indicating at the same time that he had no disagreement with the Viet Cong (Vietnamese fighters). .

In the context of this, the world champion said, “My conscience will not allow me to shoot my brother, or darker people, or some poor people hungry in the mud for the sake of a great, strong America.” And he was not satisfied with that, but he led many demonstrations rejecting this war.

Because of his position, Muhammad Ali Clay was stripped of the world title, and was put on trial on charges of refusing to conscript. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison and a fine of 10,000 dollars. He remained free during the period of appealing the decision, but he was banned from practicing boxing during this period, which lasted 3 years, before... The Supreme Court issued a new ruling in 1971, stating that “Ali Clay’s refusal to perform military service was not a crime, but rather his opposition to the war was due to a moral conscience related to his faith.”

The greatest revenge

Muhammad Ali Clay returned to wearing gloves again, and on October 26, 1970, he defeated Jerry Quarry by technical knockout in Atlanta, and on March 8, 1971, he faced his rival, Joe Frazier, in a fight that was called “the fight of the century,” due to the lack of... The two boxers had never been defeated together, and the fight ended with Frazier winning by unanimous decision by the judges.

On March 31, Muhammad Ali suffered his second loss on points against Ken Norton, then returned 6 months later and defeated him in a new match that brought them together. Then he returned in January 1974 to take revenge on Frazier in a new match, after the latter lost his title. In favor of George Foreman, Clay was able to achieve the championship title.

In one of the strongest matches in the history of boxing, Muhammad Ali Clay was able to win the “jungle fight” on October 28, 1974 in Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire (currently the Democratic Republic of the Congo), in front of his “terrifying” opponent, George Foreman, after he defeated him by knockout in the round. Eighth and won the title.

In Manila, in October 1975, Ali Clay was able to defeat Frazier in a second rematch in which his opponent was unable to enter the final round. Then, 3 years later, he lost his title on points to his compatriot, Leon Spinks (25 years old), but he quickly regained it a few months later. (September 15, 1978) by points and unanimously by the judges. He became the first boxer to win the championship on 3 occasions.

Muhammad Ali Clay announced his retirement at the age of 36, saying, “I have suffered and sacrificed more than ever before. I have nothing left to gain through fighting.”

Like other boxers, Muhammad Ali could not stay away from boxing, and he soon recorded his return to the ring at the age of 38 in order to face the new champion Larry Holmes in 1980, but Ali’s fitness and skill this time seemed clearly weak, which forced his coach Angelo Dundee to stop the fight after 10 Rounds, becoming the first time in Clay's career that he ended a bitter fight in this way, before he lost at the age of forty in his last match in his career to Trevor Berbick on December 11, 1981.

Awards and achievements

Olympic gold medal.

3-time world heavyweight champion (1964-1974-1978).

The Medal of Freedom in honor of him for the humanitarian and charitable assistance he provided.

Global Leadership Award for his leadership role in supporting humanitarian causes.

Member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame since 1990. Boxer of the Year in 1963, 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1978.

Death

On June 4, 2016, it was announced that world boxing champion Muhammad Ali Clay had died in Phoenix Hospital in the US state of Arizona at the age of 74, after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease.

He had been admitted to hospital a few days before his death to be treated for respiratory problems.

After his death, he was buried in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

Symptoms of Parkinson's disease began to appear on Muhammad Ali in 1984, and in 2013, his brother Rahman Ali told the press that Muhammad was no longer able to speak.

Source: Al Jazeera