THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT MUHAMMAD ALI
Added on: 9th Dec 2016
MUHAMMAD ALI WAS ORIGINALLY NAMED
CASSIUS CLAY IN HONOUR OF A
NINETEENTH-CENTURY WHITE FARMER
AND ABOLITIONIST WHO EMANCIPATED THE
FORTY SLAVES HE INHERITED FROM HIS FATHER
MUHAMMAD ALI MIGHT BE ONE OF THE MOST
FAMOUS AFRICAN AMERICANS IN HISTORY,
BUT HE ALSO HAD IRISH ROOTS. HIS
GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS AN IRISHMAN
NAMED ABE GRADY WHO IMMIGRATED TO
THE UNITED STATES AND SETTLED IN
KENTUCKY IN THE 1860’S, WHERE HE MARRIED
A FREED SLAVE. THE REST IS HISTORY
THE THING THAT MOTIVATED HIM TO BECOME
A BOXER WAS HIS BELOVED RED-AND-WHITE
SCHWINN BICYCLE. WHEN IT GOT STOLEN IN
1954, A TWELVE-YEAR-OLD ALI REPORTED
THE THEFT TO A POLICEMAN WHO GAVE
BOXING LESSONS AT A LOCAL COMMUNITY
CENTRE. THE OFFICER, WHO WAS ALSO A
BOXING TRAINER, SUGGESTED THAT ALI LEARN
HOW TO FIGHT AND SIX WEEKS LATER ALI WON
HIS FIRST AMATEUR BOXING MATCH BY
A SPLIT DECISION
AS AN AMATEUR BOXER ALI WON 100 OF 108 FIGHTS,
INCLUDING SIX KENTUCKY GOLDEN GLOVES
CHAMPIONSHIPS AND AN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL
AT THE 1960 ROME OLYMPICS
MANY STORIES HAVE BEEN TOLD ABOUT HIS
OLYMPIC MEDAL. ALI HIMSELF WROTE IN HIS
1975 AUTOBIOGRAPHY THAT AFTER RETURNING
TO LOUISVILLE, HE THREW HIS GOLD MEDAL
OFF A BRIDGE INTO THE OHIO RIVER TO PROTEST
THE RACISM HE STILL ENCOUNTERED IN HIS
HOMETOWN. HOWEVER, HIS STORY HAS BEEN
DISPUTED BY SOME OF THOSE CLOSEST TO
HIM WHO CLAIM HE MADE UP THE STORY AFTER
HE ACCIDENTALLY LOST THE MEDAL. ONE WAY
OR ANOTHER, DURING THE 1996 SUMMER OLYMPICS,
ALI RECEIVED A REPLACEMENT GOLD MEDAL
ALI WAS KNOWN FOR TALKING TRASH. HE EVEN
COMPOSED HIS OWN VERSES IN WHICH HE
TAUNTED HIS OPPONENTS AND PRAISED
HIMSELF. PEOPLE AT COLUMBIA RECORDS
WERE SO IMPRESSED BY HIS TAUNTS THAT
THEY DECIDED TO RELEASE A 1963 SPOKEN-WORD
ALBUM CALLED I AM THE GREATEST, IN WHICH
THE TWENTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD PERFORMED HIS
“TRASH TALKING,” BACKED MY MUSICAL
ACCOMPANIMENT
AFTER HE DEFEATED SONNY LISTON FOR THE
HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD TITLE IN 1964, THE NEW
CHAMP CONFIRMED REPORTS THAT HE HAD
BECOME A MEMBER OF THE NATION OF ISLAM.
INSPIRED BY MALCOM X, ALI CHANGED
HIS NAME TO CASSIUS X
MUHAMMAD ALI REFUSED TO JOIN THE U.S. ARMY
AND TAKE PART IN VIETNAM, WHICH HE
CONSIDERED UNJUST. HE FAMOUSLY STATED,
“NO VIETCONG EVER CALLED ME NIGGER.”
AS A RESULT OF HIS REFUSAL, HE WAS
SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS IN PRISON BUT
WAS ABLE TO STAY OUT ON APPEAL. HE WAS
ALSO STRIPPED OF HIS WORLD TITLE AND
BANNED FROM THE RING FOR THREE YEARS
DURING HIS PRIME
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