As a Muslim, Ali was initially affiliated with Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam (NOI). Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War made him an icon for the larger counterculture of the 1960s generation, and he was a very high-profile figure of racial pride for African Americans during the civil rights movement and throughout his career. He did not fight for nearly four years and lost a period of peak performance as an athlete.
He stayed out of prison while appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, where his conviction was overturned in 1971. In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military owing to his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War and was found guilty of draft evasion and stripped of his boxing titles. During that year, he denounced his birth name as a " slave name" and formally changed his name to Muhammad Ali. He won the world heavyweight championship, defeating Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22. At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics and turned professional later that year. In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC.īorn and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, he began training as an amateur boxer at age 12. Nicknamed " The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century and is often regarded as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. Janu– June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Muhammad Ali ( / ɑː ˈ l iː/ born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.
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