Muhammad Ali: Story Of Persecution And Perseverance

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Section C

Muhammad Ali: story of persecution and perseverance

Have you ever heard “float like a butterfly! Sting like a bee! Rumble young man, rumble!” That famous line was said by the one and only Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali was arguably the best boxer in the 1960s and 1970s. But before the fame he was just another kid Louisville kid with big dreams. Cassius Clay was born in Louisville on January 17, 1942. Louisville was one of the segregated states in the south. Life growing up was difficult because getting jobs and doing a lot of other simple tasks such as getting food were difficult for blacks. Muhammad Ali taught us to stand up for ourselves when we feel mistreated.

A young Cassius Clay went to an event where there was

free ice cream, when he was all filled up, he walked out to find his brand new red Schwinn bike stolen. An aggravated Cassius went to a police officer named Joe Martin and told him that he was going to beat up the person that took his bicycle. Martin suggested that he first learned to box, Clay agreed still angry that he had to walk 30 minutes home without his bike. Clay started going to the boxing gym regularly starting at 6:00 and and going home at 12:00. Clay also put himself through a grueling workout everyday by racing the bus to the school, shadowboxing everywhere he went, lifting, and having a strict diet. By the end of high school Cassius had won the Golden Gloves and several AAU tournaments. Having those accomplishments were very incredible considering that he was not able to compete in many tournaments because he was black.

When Cassius became a professional boxer, he was highly criticized because of his boxing style and his words.

Cassius Clay was the man that was easy to hate and easy to love. Cassius once said Clay developed his boxing style where he kept his hands down away from his face, and swinging. This is very unorthodox and not what boxers are taught to do. Cassius was the kid who did everything wrong, but still won. Cassius used his new style to his advantage by leaning back a fraction of a second before the opposing attack came. Cassius Clay was known as the Louisville lip because of his verbal intimidation. Others called him insane and said that he made these comments just for public attention to tell himself that he was better than the opposition. Cassius Clay once fought the big and scary Sonny Liston, who was picked by almost all experts to win. Clay taunted him the whole fight, the taunting wore Liston down physically and mentally as Liston lost by technical knockout in the seventh round. This fight gave him a lot of opportunities, but also gave him more haters who didn’t like his flamboyant and boastful

attitude.

Cassius Clay had already attended a couple NOI (Nation of Islam)meetings that happened to be in Miami, where he was training. Months after his Liston fight Cassius Clay converted to Islam and was given the name Muhammad Ali by Elijah Muhammad. Ali went on to win many fights throughout the years. In 1966 he was declared 1-A for the draft. In 1967 Ali refused to be drafted into the army because of his family reasons such as his faith, and that his family had no other source of income other than him. Muhammad Ali was stripped of his title, banned from boxing, sentenced to 5 years in prison, and fined $10,000. Muhammad Ali felt that he was being mistreated so he appealed his case to the Supreme Court and was persecuted but won. Muhammad Ali persevered through being recognized as a criminal and not being allowed to fight for a long time. Ali also persevered through being known as the “tough boxer who was afraid of war”, Muhammad Ali was criticized by many for being too pussy to fight in the war against Vietnam, Ali said “I ain't got no quarrel with them Vietcong, they never called me nigger.”

Muhammad Ali amassed 56 wins and only 5 losses over his 21 year boxing career.

Muhammad Ali is recognized as one of the best boxers of all time. Muhammad Ali was the world heavyweight champion of the world 3 different times. Ali ended his career with 37 total knockouts, one of the most ever.

In 1984 Muhammad Ali made news that he had Parkinson’s syndrome public. The Ring magazine named Ali as the greatest heavyweight of all time. In addition to that in 1990 Muhammad Ali was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In 1996 a shaking and word-slurring Ali comes out of nowhere to light the Olympic torch. In 1997 Ali was given the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. In 1999 Muhammad Ali was named the Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated. In 2005 Ali was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, also in 2005 Ali opens the Muhammad Ali center in Louisville,

Kentucky(Denenberg).

In conclusion Muhammad Ali was a man who stood up for what he thought was right and inspired many other Boxer to not just be physical figures but also social ones too. Muhammad Ali was persecuted but persevered through a lot during his very influential life.
WORKS CITED
Denenberg, Barry. Ali: An American Champion. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.