Reginald Turner
Mrs. Granitz
English
2-27-15
Muhammad Ali the Greatest
Cassius Clay Jr. or known to many people as ‘Muhammad Ali’ was born in Louisville, KY on January 17th , 1942 He was the first Heavyweight Boxer to win the Heavyweight title three times, his professional career lasted about twenty one years, in that time he won a total of fifty six fights. Most people do not know Cassius changed his name to ‘Muhammad Ali’ because of his religion, History.com staff.(2-4) Muhammad Ali’s early career before becoming a professional boxer, how he worked his way to become the Heavyweight Champion of the World, him converting his religion to Islam and his life after boxing.
When Muhammad was 12 years old, he and his friend rode their bikes to the fair, but when they left to return home Muhammad could not find his bike, later that night he decided to find a police officer so that he could report his bike stolen. (This information can be found in the book written by Carin T. Ford called; Muhammad Ali “I am the
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He discovered that he has a disease called Parkinson and started an organization to help other people like him according to Biography.com. Ali started to also travel different places to help people deal with the disease. In 1998, Muhammad Ali was selected to become a Messenger of Peace for the United Nations for the work that he had done with other Countries. According to History.com; Muhammad Ali was awarded the ‘Presidential Medal of Freedom’ from our forty-third President, George W. Bush during his time in office. During this same year Ali opened a center for youth in his hometown so they could have a chance to become something great and have mentor’s that were willing to teach them how to become just that. Ali wanted to instill positive behavior and let the youths within his community know that someone that cared about them, just like someone had shown him back when he was young
What they did not know was the self proclaimed greatest in the world was planning the one of the greatest changes in his life. Behind the scenes Cassius was studying Islam, he became good friends with Malcolm X and studied under Elijah Muhammad. Cassius took the name Muhammad Ali, saying he did not want to be called by a slave name any longer. He took Muhammed from the first prophet of Islam with the name meaning worthy of being praised, and the last name Ali which meaning is to be elevated. During a time where racial tensions were high people had a hard time accepting his new name. Often times the media would continue to call him Cassius, one didn't famed ABC sports reporter Howard Cosell, he respected Ali, because he too had changed his name from Cohen a Jewish name to Cosell, because in those time it was also a disadvantage to be Jewish. In 1965 Ai was scheduled to fight Floyd Patterson, who insisted on calling him Cassius, Patterson paid a big price for that, there is documentary footage which shows Ali giving Patterson the beating of a lifetime, making sure not to knock him out taking him through all 12 rounds repeating “now what’s my name
“I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me, All I ask is that you respect me as a human being”(JackieRobinson.com).This was once said by a man named Jackie Robinson, Jackie was a very great and multi-talented man that changed baseball history forever.
history in the 1950's and 1960's by hitting the society. Ali was a great boxer who was very confident in his boxing game. Ali wanted to make a change in society by trying to get rid of the racial discrimination in America. Ali was also against the war in Vietnam. Ali said “Unless you have a very good reason to kill, war is wrong.” Ali sent messages of hope to the African American community by telling them to have pride. Ali said “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people while so called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs?” Ali said “The Vietnamese had nothing against him” (Schwartz).When he was drafted to fight in the war, a lieutenant called Ali by his real name, Cassius Clay, and he said, “Sir that isn't my name, my name is “MUHAMMAD ALI!” Ali said, again “Sir that is a slave name my name is “MUHAMMAD ALI” (Muhammad Ali [HH:MM:SS]). After that, Ali refused to serve in the Vietnam War. This lead Ali to the Supreme Court, and he was five years in imprisonment. Ali was precluded from the athletic commissions for fighting in the United States for three and a half years. Even though Ali was released from his five year sentence, he still had a jail sentence of four years, which was overturned by the Supreme Court (Schwartz). Ali was also stripped of the heavyweight boxing title because he refused to serve in the draft Following his suspension, Ali reclaimed
Ali proved to be a strong-willed individual that did leave a huge impact on America, but what impact had increased as time continued and his faults have been somewhat forgotten. Those believing that Muhammad was more of a hero than Jackie Robinson most likely feel that Ali’s action of standing up against the United States government, when he was drafted, was an act of courage and bravery. The main reason why Ali didn 't wish to go to war in Vietnam was because he believed he shouldn 't be fighting for a country that ultimately didn 't support his own people within its own borders. Ali has developed into a figure of courage after the time that his happened. In the 1960s when this originally happened, Ali had more enemies as a result of his religious and social views and ideas than fans. Today we see that what he did may be considered heroic, but back when it actually occurred, Ali was seen as a nuisance to America. He was spreading word and influencing people to act against their own country in a time of war. Since Muhammad Ali’s retirement from boxing the course of time has faded criticism of Ali and left mostly just the positive parts of his life and career. As a society we’ve buried the controversial side of Ali’s existence in our minds and history simply remembers his greatness as an athlete. Robinson had an impact on
At first, Muhammad Ali had no intension of boxing. After his bike was stolen, in the month of October 1954, when he was twelve, his whole life was set. Upon finding out that there was a police officer in the basement of a gym, Ali went down to the officer in a shocked state of mind demanding a "state wide bike hunt" for hsi stolen bicycle. But all the cop told him to do was to learn to fight. and that
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”, this is exactly what he did; especially in the sport of boxing. Muhammad Ali does not need an introduction for people to know who he is, in the world of sports he is known to the people as a legend. He also had an impact on people in others ways than just sports. Muhammad Ali was born on January 17,1942, in Louisville, Kentucky (Schulman 6). Muhammad Ali impacted the world in many different ways such as, leaving an impact in the sport of boxing, helping raise awareness for Parkinson’s disease, and by openly expressing his religion and conversion to Islam.
Muhammad Ali is an example of an athlete who used politics in sports to advocate for the Civil Rights movement and protest the war. As an Olympic gold medalist, heavy weight titlist, and many other victories, he used the fame for humanitarian efforts. Ali refused to serve in Vietnam due to his religion and as a result, he was stripped of his 1967 title. He retired in 1981 with an incredible 59 wins and five losses, but he will always known as symbol of courage, will power and strength, not for his career milestones, but for breaking racial barriers.
Muhammad Ali, whose birth name was Cassius Marcellus Clay, was born in Louisville, Kentucky January 17, 1942. He was named for a white, Kentucky abolitionist, Cassius M. Clay, and received the name Marcellus from his father’s name. Ali’s father, Marcellus Clay was a mural painter who did a lot of work for many churches in the community and his mother Odessa (Grady) Clay was a domestic worker. As a young boy, Cassius Clay was full of energy and carried a loud mouth wherever he went. One day when Ali discovered that someone stole his bicycle, he became enraged and made loud threatening comments by exclaiming that he would “whup whoever stole it.” Upon hearing these threats, Louisville police officer Joe Martin persuaded Ali to take out his frustration in the boxing ring rather than on the dangerous streets of Louisville. At age 12, Ali’s boxing career had officially begun.
The "G.O.A.T.", is coming used term in the sports world meaning, The Greatest of All Time. In the National Basketball Association, when you mention the term, the "G.O.A.T., everyone assumes of one name and one name only, Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan was an innovator of the basketball work and influenced many different people and players that inputted & mimicked Jordan’s style of play and implicated it into their own game. In today's generation, there are several players that many average day people would consider these players on the road to becoming a Jordan type of player, potential or maybe even greater; players that may be able on road to sharing a Michael Jordan type of legacy includes Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and LeBron James.
He is also participating in Celebrity Fight Night every year, which generates funds for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center. In 2005, Ali was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George Bush and in 2002 won the BET Humanitarian Award. Another inclusion to his awards is the NAACP President’s Award for his public efforts. Today he still seeks to promote peace by making comments on recently acts violence that in the name of Islam such as the Paris attacks and San Bernardino shooting. He commented on the acts of violence as did the 9/11 attacks explained the values of Islam and explained that real Muslims know that the Islamic jihadist brutal violence is against the laws of Islam.
Muhammad Ali was a man made to box. He had a great career before him since he made his first professional fight under President Eisenhower presidency. His Professional Career was really impressive. His had a great balance and was able to move his hands and feet in great speed and coordination. Ali was said to dance in the ring while destroying his opponents. Ali started fighting at a very short age, and his first teacher was Joe Martin (Hauser 18). Through hard work and discipline, he became a professional fighter and eventually the Heavyweight champion of the world. Although he lost the title twice, he regained it three times, putting him in the history books. His boxing career was put to an end when he started suffering from Parkinson's disease. This was the end of his boxing, but his greatness will never die.
He was fearless. He was powerful. His footwork was more beautiful than a ballet dancer. He is an Olympic Gold Medalist. He is the G.O.A.T of boxing. He is… Muhammad Ali. I will inform you about the biography of Muhammad Ali of how people saw him in real life, the Movie Ali how it portrayed Muhammad Ali based on his life through screen write, and the Vietnam War. Muhammad Ali is considered one of the greatest athletes in boxing history, but before there was the Greatest of All Time or the acronym G.O.A.T World Heavy Champion Muhammad Ali, he was just a little kid that went by the name Cassius Clay.
Hauser, Thomas. "The Importance of Muhammad Ali." The Glider Lehrman Institute of American History, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.
Muhammad Ali is an example of an athlete who voiced his political ideologies in sports to advocate for the Civil Rights Movement and protest the War. As an Olympic gold medalist, heavy weight titlist, and many other victories, he used the fame to project his humanitarian efforts. Ali refused to serve in Vietnam due to his religion and as a result, he was stripped of his 1967 title . He retired in 1981 with an incredible 59 wins and five losses, but he will always known as symbol of courage, will power and strength, not for his career milestones, but for breaking racia...
The prophet Muhammad is a very significant individual in the lives of all Muslims. This essay will focus on the book The lives of Muhammad by Kecia Ali on the first chapter of The Historical Muhammad. Further discussion on early sources about Muhammad, Muhammad throughout the centuries and non-Muslim sources will be touched on throughout, as the author will provide insight on different perspectives of Muhammad as a true prophet.