Muhammad Ali (real name Cassius Marcellus Clay; 1942-2016) is an American professional boxer who competed in the heavy weight category. One of the greatest boxers in boxing history.
Multiple champion of various international competitions. According to a number of sports publications, he is recognized as the "Sportsman of the Century".
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Muhammad Ali, which we will talk about in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Muhammad Ali.
Biography of Muhammad Ali
Cassius Clay Jr., better known as Muhammad Ali, was born on January 17, 1942 in the American metropolis of Louisville (Kentucky).
The boxer grew up and was brought up in the family of the artist of signs and posters Cassius Clay, and his wife Odessa Clay. He has a brother, Rudolph, who will also change his name in the future and will call himself Rahman Ali.
Childhood and youth
Muhammad's father aspired to become a professional artist, but earned money mainly by drawing signs. The mother was engaged in cleaning the homes of wealthy white families.
Although Muhammad Ali's family was middle-class and far poorer than whites, it was not considered a beggar.
Moreover, after some time, the parents of the future champion managed to buy a modest cottage for $ 4500.
Nevertheless, during this era, racial discrimination manifested itself in a wide variety of areas. Muhammad was able to experience the horrors of racial inequality first hand.
Growing up, Muhammad Ali admits that as a child he often cried in bed because he could not understand why blacks were called inferior people.
Obviously, the defining moment in the formation of the teenager's worldview was the father's story about a black boy named Emmett Louis Till, who was brutally killed because of racial hatred, and the murderers were never imprisoned.
When a bicycle was stolen from 12-year-old Ali, he wanted to find and beat the criminals. However, a white policeman and at the same time boxing trainer Joe Martin told him that "before you beat someone, you must first learn how to do it."
After that, the young man decided to learn boxing, starting to attend training with his brother.
In the gym, Muhammad often bullied the guys and shouted that he was the best boxer and future champion. For this reason, the coach repeatedly kicked out the black guy from the gym so that he cooled down and pulled himself together.
A month and a half later, Ali entered the ring for the first time. The fight was broadcast on TV in the TV show "Future Champions".
An interesting fact is that Muhammad's rival was a white boxer. Despite the fact that Ali was younger than his opponent and less experienced, he emerged victorious in this fight.
At the end of the fight, the teenager began to shout into the camera that he would become the greatest boxer.
It was after this that a turning point came in the biography of Muhammad Ali. He began to train hard, did not drink, did not smoke, and also did not use any drugs.
Boxing
In 1956, 14-year-old Ali won the Golden Gloves Amateur Tournament. It is curious that during his studies at school, he managed to play 100 fights, losing only 8 times.
It is worth noting that Ali was extremely poor at school. Once he was even left for the second year. However, thanks to the intercession of the director, he was still able to obtain a certificate of attendance.
In 1960, the young boxer received an invitation to participate in the Olympic Games held in Rome.
By that time, Muhammad had invented his famous fighting style. In the ring, he "danced" around the opponent with his hands down. Thus, he provoked his opponent to deliver long-range strikes, from which he was able to skillfully evade.
Ali's coaches and colleagues were critical of this tactic, but the future champion still did not change his style.
An interesting fact is that Muhammad Ali suffered from aerophobia - a fear of flying in aircraft. He was so afraid of flying to Rome that he bought himself a parachute and flew right in it.
At the Olympics, the boxer won a gold medal by defeating Pole Zbigniew Petszikowski in the final. It is worth noting that Zbigniew was 9 years older than Ali, having had about 230 fights in the ring.
Arriving in America, Muhammad did not take off his medal even when he was walking down the street. When he walked into a local colored restaurant and asked for a menu, the champion was refused service even after showing the Olympic medal.
Ali was so offended that, leaving the restaurant, he threw the medal into the river. In 1960, the athlete began to compete in professional boxing, where his first rival was Tanny Hansecker.
On the eve of the battle, Muhammad publicly announced that he would certainly win it, calling his opponent a bum. As a result, he did manage to defeat Tunney quite simply.
After that, Angelo Dundee became Ali's new coach, who was able to find an approach to his ward. He did not retrain the boxer so much as he corrected his technique and gave advice.
At the time of his biography, Muhammad Ali sought to satisfy his spiritual hunger. In the early 60s, he met the leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad.
The athlete joined this community, which seriously influenced his personality formation.
Ali continued to gain victories in the ring, and also voluntarily passed the commission at the military registration and enlistment office, but was not accepted into the army. He failed to pass the intelligence test.
Muhammad could not calculate how many hours a person works from 6:00 to 15:00, taking into account the hour for lunch. Many articles appeared in the press, in which the topic of a boxer's low intelligence was exaggerated.
Soon Ali will joke: "I said that I was the greatest, not the smartest."
In the first half of 1962, the boxer won 5 victories by knockout. After that, a fight took place between Muhammad and Henry Cooper.
A few seconds before the end of the 4th round, Henry sent Ali to a heavy knockdown. And if Muhammad's friends had not tore his boxing glove, and thereby did not allow him to take a breath, the ending of the fight could have been completely different.
In round 5, Ali cut Cooper's eyebrow with a blow with his hand, as a result of which the fight was stopped.
The next meeting between Muhammad and Liston was both bright and extraordinarily difficult. Ali outplayed the reigning world champion, and later he developed a serious hematoma.
In the fourth round, unexpectedly for everyone, Muhammad practically stopped seeing. He complained of severe pain in his eyes, but the coach persuaded him to continue the fight, moving more around the ring.
By the fifth round, Ali regained his sight, after which he began to carry out a series of accurate punches. As a result, in the middle of the meeting, Sonny refused to continue the fight.
Thus, 22-year-old Muhammad Ali became the new heavyweight champion. Ali was second to none in the boxing ring. Later, he retired from boxing for 3 years, returning only in 1970.
In the spring of 1971, the so-called "Battle of the Century" took place between Muhammad and Joe Fraser. For the first time in history, a duel took place between the undefeated ex-champion and the undefeated reigning champion.
Before meeting Ali, in his usual manner, he insulted Fraser in various ways, calling him a freak and a gorilla.
Muhammad promised to knock out his opponent in round 6, but this did not happen. An outraged Joe controlled Ali's attacks and repeatedly targeted the ex-champion's head and body.
In the last round, Fraser struck a powerful blow to the head, after which Ali fell off his feet. The audience thought that he would not get up, but he still had the strength to get up and finish the fight.
As a result, the victory went to Joe Fraser by unanimous decision, which became a real sensation. Later, a rematch will be organized, where the victory will already go to Muhammad. After that Ali defeated the famous George Foreman.
In 1975, the third battle between Muhammad and Fraser took place, which went down in history as "Thriller in Manila".
Ali insulted the enemy even more, continuing to prove his superiority.
During the fight, both boxers showed good boxing. The initiative passed to one, then to another athlete. At the end of the meeting, the confrontation turned into a real "wheelhouse".
In the penultimate round, the referee stopped the fight, as Fraser had a huge hematoma under his left eye. At the same time, Ali said in his corner that he had no more strength and could not continue the meeting.
If the referee had not stopped the fight, then it is not known what would have been its ending. After the end of the fight, both fighters were in a state of severe exhaustion.
This event received the status "Fight of the Year" according to the sports magazine "The Ring".
Over the years of his sports biography, Muhammad Ali fought 61 fights, scoring 56 victories (37 by knockout) and suffering 5 defeats. He became the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world (1964-1966, 1974-1978), 6-time winner of the title of "Boxer of the Year" and "Boxer of the Decade"
Personal life
Muhammad Ali was married 4 times. He divorced his first wife due to the fact that she had a negative attitude towards Islam.
The second wife Belinda Boyd (after the marriage of Khalil Ali) gave birth to the champion of 4 children: the son of Muhammad, the daughter of Mariyum and the twins - Jamila and Rashida.
Later, the couple parted, because Khalila could no longer tolerate her husband's betrayal.
For the third time, Muhammad married Veronica Porsh, with whom he lived for 9 years. In this union, 2 daughters were born - Hana and Leila. An interesting fact is that Leila will become the world boxing champion in the future.
In 1986, Ali married Iolanta Williams. The couple adopted a 5-year-old boy named Asaad.
By that time, Muhammad was already suffering from Parkinson's disease. He began to hear poorly, speak and was limited in movement.
A terrible illness was the result of the man's boxing activities. It is worth noting that the boxer had 2 more illegitimate daughters.
Death
In June 2016, Ali was taken to hospital due to lung problems. During the day he was treated in one of Scottsdale's clinics, but the doctors failed to save the legendary boxer.
Muhammad Ali died on June 3, 2016, at the age of 74.
Photo by Muhammad Ali
