Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali was a great boxer. You could say his early life was much like kids today. Unlike ordinary people he had an extraordinary boxing career. On top of being one of the world's best boxers he also is a great activist. Muhammad Ali loves to give back to the world. Muhammad Ali was a well rounded individual who changed the boxing and racist world.

Muhammad Ali had a fairly normal childhood (Myers 2). He was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He had a low income family. He was born into a segregated south. His birth name was Cassius Marcellus Clay. His birthday was January 17, 1942. He started boxing at age twelve (Biography.com). He started when he wanted to beat up a kid who stole his bike (Myers 13). He showed a lot of potential and went to the Olympics at age eighteen (20).

Muhammad Ali had a very successful boxing career. From ages twelve-eighteen Ali won two AAU titles, Six Kentucky Gold Gloves, and Two Golden Glove championships (15). His professional career consisted of, sixty one total fights, fifty six wins, five losses, thirty seven knockouts, and three titles (Erhman). His Fighting style included taunting his opponents (Popstarsplus.com), His Favorite quote was "float like a butterfly sting like a bee, your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see" (Mahalo.com), He punched to the head a lot, He carried hands at sides, and He had extraordinary reflexes (Popstarsplus.com). He was one of the top American boxers (Biography.com). He beat more top contenders and boxing champions than any other heavyweight champion (Mahalo.com). He did not just defeat you physically; he hurt you with his tongue, as well. He was big, smart, and swift. He got into your head, also. Muhammad was a true boxer and should be every boxer's role model. He was crowned sportsman of the century by sports illustrated in 1999 (Newworldencyclopedia.org). He was one of the world's greatest heavyweight boxers (Popstarsplus.com). He won the gold medal in the 1960 Olympics (Myers 22). He did not stop his feats at boxing alone he also was an activist.

Muhammad Ali was a great activist. He supported and was good friends with Malcolm X. He faced racial hatred and segregation all his life (Biography.com). He protested the Vietnam War (Mahalo.com). He is a member of the Black Nationalist Nation of Islam. He and the black nation of Islam fought for black power and no more segregation. Even though it was an unpopular move he decided to join the group and lost many white fans. He constantly made the unpopular decision and showed he was a leader. He refused to go to or support the war. He was convicted of draft-evasion charges. He spent a little while in jail. He was stripped of his title. He was stripped of his license to fight for 3 years (Newworldencyclopedia.org). He was Muslim and it was against his religion to fight (Remnick 127). He never went against his religion to fight for America and took the punishment. He could not