How Did Muhammad Ali Impact Society

Without a doubt, Muhammad Ali was one of the most recognized African Americans during the 1960s. From being one of the greatest, if not, the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time, with having to battle the racial differences in America, representing his fellow African Americans and even going to court for refusing to serve for the draft in the Vietnam War due to his own morals and beliefs. Along with aiding people by spread awareness about Parkinson’s disease as well as providing treatment and support for research. Muhammad Ali has forever influenced and transformed the sport of boxing along with being an advocate and an iconic symbol to several generations of Americans. His legacy and the things he has done and accomplished ended up shaping

modern day America.
Muhammad Ali, mostly known for his tremendous boxing record of 56 wins, 37 by way of knockout and five losses, didn’t always think he could ever get become so talented in such a brutal game. The way how he got into got into fighting dates back to when he was about 11 or 12 years old. On an October afternoon in 1954, he and another friend were riding their bicycles towards the Columbia Auditorium when Ali’s bicycle was stolen. Obviously angered from this, he was making threats to fight and beat up the person who stole his bicycle. And while Ali was throwing his fit, a police officer by the name of Joe Martin had asked him if he had any knowledge about fighting, to which Ali had replied,“No, but I’d fight anyway.” (Remick 91). So Officer Martin had suggested that Ali come visit his gym on South Fourth Streets to learn the fundamentals in the art of boxing. Ali, after training for six weeks, had his very first boxing match. He was matched up with eighty-nine pound Ronnie O’Keefe where he won the fight via split decision. During his post-fight interview, he boldly stated that he was already the greatest of all time. (Remnick 93-94). As he continued to train with Martin in his gym in Louisville, his skills had also began to improve.
By the time Ali was 18 years old, had his life heading to the 1960 Olympics in Rome where Ali would be fighting in the light heavyweight division. Ali, only being 18 years old, ended up winning his four fights easily. In the boxing finals, he ended up defeating a three-time European light heavyweight champion, Zbigniew Pietrzykowski, to win the gold medal. Ali returned to Louisville, Kentucky a champion. Like any normal person, he boasted about his victory knowing that he is the greatest amateur boxer on a global scale. But the only problem was when he returned home, he was absolutely disgusted about the racial discrimination in Louisville. Ali went to the local diner in Louisville where he was refused service because he was African American. So what he ended up doing was throwing his gold medal into a river. “I went all the way to Italy to represent my country, won a gold medal, and now I come back to America and can’t even get served at a five-and-dime store. I went to a bridge, tore the medal off my neck and threw it into the river. That gold medal didn’t mean a thing to me if my black brothers and sisters were treated wrong in a country I was supposed to represent.” (Gale). Some had believed this to be a true story but it turns out the story was more of a myth. Ali later stated that he had simply lost it during a home move.
But despite his views on the racial tension in Louisville, he started to make a name for himself after his outstanding performance in the ring at the Rome Olympic games. He was signed in at a 50-50 pro boxing deal where he would go toe-to-toe with boxing’s most respected and memorable names in history. Ali was always known for having a big mouth and was never afraid to speak about what was on his mind, no matter the subject. He was always able to get inside his opponents heads and use his height at six foot three inches and a heavyweight at 237 pounds to intimidate his opponents at just a glance from him. Ali didn’t just let his words take all the fun and joy out of it, he let his fists do most of the talking. Compared to most of the fighters in the heavyweight division at the time, they all were able to use their brute strength and power punches to take out their opponents. For example, Sonny Liston who ended up knocking out a former heavyweight champion, Floyd Patterson in only two minutes and six seconds into the first round. Ali, on the other hand, was more known for having the fighting style of an out-boxer. As an out-boxer, he would use his speed, reach advantage, and the accuracy of his punches which is what made Muhammad Ali such an effective fighter during his time.
One of Ali’s most memorable bout was his first match against the current heavyweight champion at the time, Sonny Liston. Ali had seemed to be dominating the champion for the first six rounds. By the seventh round, Ali put him down for good with his signature,“phantom punch.” Most people, even some professional boxers, never saw the punch coming, and 50 years later, people still have a hard trouble finding it. Ali put on a spectacular performance and becoming the new heavyweight boxing champion was huge for Ali. Afterwards, his career skyrocketed, and he was then proclaimed to be the greatest boxer of all time. I was the most iconic moment of all time where Muhammad Ali is celebrating over the knocked out Liston. They made T-shirts, posters, mugs, and anything else that you could think of from such an iconic moment.
Muhammad Ali not only left a mark in the ring but also out of it.

After Muhammad Ali, or Cassius Clay at the time, had knocked out Sonny Liston in the opening of the seventh round. He announced in his post-fight ring interview of his allegiance to the Nation of Islam. Thus, changing his,“slave,” name of Cassius Clay to the iconic and memorable Muhammad Ali. Years following his conversion to the Nation of Islam, he went from the heavyweight champion in the ring, to the people’s champion for speaking out against the injustice and racial discrimination towards African Americans. Ali was considered a Civil Rights leader, assisting Martin Luther King Jr. There are even rumors stating that MLK had drawn a little bit of an inspiration from Ali due to his charisma and his character. He would usually speak out, especially towards the press, against racial tensions down in the

South.
Ali, along with being apart of the Nation of Islam, he was also a conscious objector. And with the Vietnam War being on the rise in the 1960s, Ali ended up getting drafted into the Armed Forces. At first, he was denied entry due to his poor reading and writing skills, but upon later review, ended up getting drafted again due to the extreme need for soldiers for the Vietnam war. So due to Ali being a conscious objector, Ali had refused to serve in the draft. He states that,“I ain’t got nothing against them Vietcong. How can I shoot those poor people? Just take me to jail.” (Gale). For the violation of the Selective-Service Act, Ali was then convicted for draft evasion and sentenced to five years in prison. He was also banned from boxing for three and a half years along with being stripped of his heavyweight title, his boxing passport being revoked and will be unable to obtain a license in any state. Spending his life behind bars while the peak of his career had ultimately cost him millions of dollars and then, leaving him in debt after his release. During his time in prison, he started to gain some popularity for his stand against the draft for Vietnam that it had ended up jumpstarting the Sixtie’s Anti War Movement. Encouraging people like Martin Luther King Jr. to help and join the movement against the Vietnam War in April of 1967. Eventually, due the sheer popularity that Ali has received while he was in prison, his case ended up getting reviewed by the Supreme Court and his convictions ended up getting overturned in a unanimous decision. He stated that,“Many great people have been tested for their religious beliefs. If I pass this test, I’ll come out stronger than ever.” (Gale). He was always known for having a big mouth and he then used this to make himself be heard with what he thought was right.
With becoming a fighter would, of course, come with their fair share of injuries. Especially in boxing, where the objective is to knockout your opponent and the main target to apply blunt force trauma to the opponent’s head. Muhammad Ali’s career was ended due to taking an estimated 290,000 punches to the head, leaving Ali diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome. On the contrary, he repeatedly ignored the signs that he shouldn’t continue to fight and just retire. Ali’s doctor, Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, had advised him to quit when he noticed that Ali’s reflexes had begun to dwindle and slow down. When he initially surrendered his title as the world heavyweight boxing champion back in 1979, he was paid $250,000 to quit boxing and to retire, but he eventually returned to the ring.
After Ali ended being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, people started to feel bad for Ali.

“I’ve got Parkinson's syndrome. Now they can say,‘He’s human, like us. He has problems.” (Gale). But after all the controversy about Ali’s Parkinson’s, he decided to capitalize on this and used his popularity to try and raise awareness for Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Michael Okun who is the medical director of the National Foundation states that,“Before Ali, there wasn’t that much known about Parkinson’s disease.” Most people would mistake Parkinson’s for other disease like ALS or Alzheimer's, but Ali made it so that people would be aware that this is a major issue that needed to understood. In the 1990s, Ali began to heavily advocating for the increased government funding for Parkinson’s disease research and even donated majority of his earnings so that scientists would receive research dollars for Parkinson’s. He even started his own annual event called, Celebrity Fight Night. This too was to raise money for research and he ended up making around $100 million in donations for Parkinson’s. In 1997, Ali helped establish Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at the Barrow Neurological Institute. For the next ten years, there were more than 23,000 research articles concerning Parkinson’s disease were published in scientific journals. And because of this, many centers, including the Muhammad Ali Parkinson’s Center, are now using mental and physical exercises for treatment for Parkinson’s

patients.
Most people look at Muhammad Ali as if he was just like any other person. But others saw him as a beacon for hope and person that they can truly rely on. Without a doubt, he has truly left a mark on this Earth and helped shape it into the world that we all know today. He was only just a 12 year-old boy from Louisville, Kentucky when his life had changed. He became one of, if not, the best boxers of all time. Becoming a three-time world heavyweight champion and fighting three generations of fighter. He’s gone toe-to-toe with some of America's greatest boxers. He also wasn’t afraid of sharing of what he believed in. Sometimes, being a merk with a mouth has its pros. He stood up for the African American community, fighting the war on race and segregation while inspiring others to do the same. He wanted to make himself heard, like when refused to serve for the draft in Vietnam and wasn’t afraid to serve jail time because it was considered a sacrifice to his people. Even when he ended up retiring, he still wanted to make a name for himself. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and devoting a good portion of his life for research and healthcare for people who have also been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Ali was certainly an amazing individual and was deeply loved by many until his death at 74 on June 3rd, 2016. It is truly mind blowing to think that all of this had occurred with just a stolen bicycle.