Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali
Ali in 1975
Born	Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. (1942-01-17)January 17, 1942 Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	June 3, 2016(2016-06-03) (aged 74) Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
Resting place	Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville
Monuments	Ali Mall Muhammad Ali Boulevard Muhammad Ali Center Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport
Citizenship	United States Bangladesh (honorary)
Education	Central High School (1958)
Spouses	Sonji Roi ​ ​ (m. 1964; div. 1966)​ Belinda Boyd ​ ​ (m. 1967; div. 1977)​ Veronica Porché ​ ​ (m. 1977; div. 1986)​ Yolanda "Lonnie" Williams ​ ​ (m. 1986)​
Children	9, including Laila (see below)
Parents	Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. Odessa Grady Clay
Relatives	Rahaman Ali (brother) Archer Alexander (great-great-great grandfather) Nico Ali Walsh (grandson)
Awards	Full list
Boxing career
Other names	The Greatest The People's Champion The Louisville Lip
Statistics
Weight(s)	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[1]
Reach	78 in (198 cm)[1]
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	61
Wins	56
Wins by KO	37
Losses	5
Medal record Men's amateur boxing Representing  United States Olympic Games 1960 Rome Light-heavyweight Intercity Golden Gloves 1959 Chicago Light-heavyweight 1960 New York Heavyweight Chicago Golden Gloves 1959 Chicago Light-heavyweight 1960 Chicago Light-heavyweight US National Championships 1959 Toledo Light-heavyweight 1960 Toledo Light-heavyweight
Website	muhammadali.com
Signature

Muhammad Ali (/ɑːˈliː/;^[2] born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. 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. He held the Ring magazine heavyweight title from 1964 to 1970. He was the undisputed champion from 1974 to 1978 and the WBA and Ring heavyweight champion from 1978 to 1979. In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC.

Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, he began training as an amateur boxer at age 12. At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics and turned professional later that year. He converted to Islam after 1961. He won the world heavyweight championship, defeating Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22. During that year, he denounced his birth name as a "slave name" and formally changed his name to Muhammad Ali. In 1967, 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. He stayed out of prison while appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, where his conviction was overturned in 1971. He did not fight for nearly four years and lost a period of peak performance as an athlete. 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. As a Muslim, Ali was initially affiliated with Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam (NOI). He later disavowed the NOI, adhering to Sunni Islam.

He fought in several historic boxing matches, including his highly publicized fights with Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier (including the Fight of the Century, the biggest boxing event up until then), the Thrilla in Manila, and his fight with George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle. Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many boxers let their managers do the talking, and he became renowned for his provocative and outlandish persona. He was famous for trash-talking, often free-styled with rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry, and has been recognized as a pioneer in hip hop. He often predicted in which round he would knock out his opponent. As a boxer, Ali was known for his unorthodox movement, fancy footwork, head movement, and rope-a-dope technique, among others.

Outside boxing, Ali attained success as a spoken word artist, releasing two studio albums: I Am the Greatest! (1963) and The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976). Both albums received Grammy Award nominations. He also featured as an actor and writer, releasing two autobiographies. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy, and activism. In 1984, he made public his diagnosis of Parkinson's syndrome, which some reports attributed to boxing-related injuries, though he and his specialist physicians disputed this. He remained an active public figure globally, but in his later years made fewer public appearances as his condition worsened, and he was cared for by his family.